Personal Brand (you already have one, is it the one you want?)

Your personal brand is there whether you like it or not. You have a choice to just accept the personal brand that has evolved or you can take control of your brand. The benefits of controlling your brand include, better and targeted referrals, a reputation to be proud of, and being first in other people’s minds when they have an problem they need help with. You can control what you are known for.

What are you known for?

 Now you are probably thinking about all the groups that you belong to; family, work, clubs, neighborhood, maybe even a political party, and thinking, "well it all depends". Of course it does, but for this example let’s stick to the work sector of your life.

What are you known for at work?

If you are not sure, or even you don't like, what you are known for, then you probably should put some thought into your personal brand. Before we get into any specifics, let's think about what a brand is and then we can consider what this means for you and what benefits the right brand will create for you. A brand like Ford will mean different things to different people as it is a global brand known to many people in different countries. For me, it means conservative, reasonable quality, good value for money, and American-centric. What does it mean to you? What is the Ford management team trying to be known for?

How does Ford develop it's brand? They sponsor things, they advertise on television/print media/radio, and sponsor events to name just a few brand activities. The point is that if they left it to others, they may end up with a brand not to their liking. This lesson is also relevant to you. Why don’t you try applying the below 3 Step process to you:

Step 1: Determine what you ARE known for Step 2: Define what you WANT to be known for Step 3: Take some ACTION to achieve  or maintain your personal brand

For the first step, ask yourself “what are you known for today?” If you are not sure I suggest that you ask people around you questions such as, "what do people say about me?" or "what do people think my strengths/weaknesses are?" This first step is the hardest step to take and will then become easier. 

The next question to consider is, "what do I want to be known for?" if you are thinking that you would like to be known for always doing what you say, for being innovative, and for being very knowledgeable about customer service, then that's what you write down.

We are already at step three! Compare your results from steps one and two. Do they align? Are you already doing well on something? If, for example, you are seen as being innovative, but not as an expert in customer service then do something about it. You could google "customer service" and look for some innovative articles that you could email to other people. If you find more innovative articles on other topics, by all means save them, but for now just send out the customer service articles. You may even offer to speak on customer service during your company "lunch and learn" sessions. Why not offer to coach others in customer service?

Following these three simple steps will start you working on your personal brand. By now you have probably got some ideas for developing your own brand. If you do let's keep going. Why not start a blog on the area that you want to be known for? There is no end to what you can do if you keep working on it and not leave it to chance. The key is to invest the time into a personal branding activity every month and you will find you will become known for something very quickly.

One final thought on your work personal brand is that you may find there are two dimensions to your brand; an internal work brand, and the external work brand. You probably need to work on both, but you should find that the activities will be very similar, if not exactly the same. Good luck with developing your brand.