What do YOU want to be known for?
Today we are going to talk about personal branding... We’re used to thinking about brands in relationship to companies and products. But nowadays, anything can be a brand. Even as an individual, you have a personal brand! Your personal brand is how you promote yourself. It is the unique combination of skills, experience, and personality that you want other people to see. It is the telling of your story (Fabrikbrands).
«Personal branding is what people say about you after you leave the room.» (Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon)
Why is it important to brand yourself you wonder? Well firstly, personal branding helps you stand out from the crowd and is thus a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge about a particular subject or field. Secondly, it leads to opportunities. A personal brand is the building blocks that will lead to success for your future. It can help you reach any number of goals, both personal and professional, and it can also lead to many opportunities for advancement in your career.
Building your personal brand is an ongoing process. A good start is answering the following questions:
📍 What would you like to be known for?
📍 What do you stand/not stand for?
📍 What are your core beliefs & values?
📍 What is important to you?
📍 What do you want in life? Why?
📍 What's the story behind it?
And if you want to go even further in establishing and promoting what you stand for, check out this Forbes article, which summarizes the following 10 golden rules for creating an unique personal brand:
📍 Have a focus
📍 Be genuine
📍 Tell a story
📍 Be consistent
📍 Be ready to fail
📍 Create a positive impact
📍 Follow a successful example
📍 Live your brand
📍 Let other people tell your story
📍 Leave a legacy
We also have some book recommendations for you, which really helped us personally on our own journey to brand ourselves:
📍 Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi: is a guide to establishing and managing some of the most important relationships in your business life. These relationships can be used to open up new doors and opportunities, achieve great success and reach your goals. Ferrazzi emphasises the importance of networking, meeting new people and reaching out to people beyond your usual social circle.
📍 Nur wer sichtbar ist, findet auch statt by Tijen Onaran: definitely a must read! Onaran, a well-known speaker and networker, explains how to build a personal brand and how to find your own agenda.
📍 The Big Five for Life by John P. Strelecky: makes you understand what is important to you in life and can help you find out what you want to stand or be known for.
We know it can be scary to put yourself out there but believe us when we say that the reward is much greater than the risk. You can have the power to stand out from everybody else and really make an impact in the world.
You are your own brand - go out there and create it!