JUST DO IT...LAUNCH 'BRAND ME'
We are all brands.
Regardless of job, position or age, every one of us can benefit greatly from spending a little time honing our personal brand.
We are the only ones that are capable of making ‘brand me’ a success.
In fact, to be successful, our most important job is CEO of ‘Brand Me’.
Do this well and you’ll find that incredible opportunities happen; jobs come your way, you win that business, maybe start that business, get great feedback and smash through your objectives. In short, you shine.
Ignore it and expect to wave politely at everyone racing past you.
The good news is that everybody has the chance to shine and be a real success.
Look around at your favourite lifestyle / food / drink / tech brands.
They know how to do it.
They have invested hundreds of people-hours understanding who they are, what value they offer you, how they are different or better, and they make goddam sure that you notice them too.
They know that having a strong brand is crucial for them to differentiate themselves from their competitors, to deliver growth and survive.
The secret?
Starting from the inside and working out.
These brands make sure they know exactly what makes them tick, their brand essence and their values. They own their strengths and points of difference, know exactly what they need to improve and how they want to grow. Once this is aligned, and only once this is aligned, they then translate that into a communications plan.
Never attempt to market yourself without knowing who you are and what you stand for.
That’s just daft.
However, it’s so easy to do! The tools are available for anyone to create a super slick digital presence.
But, that’s the end, not the beginning.
It’s like decorating a house with decaying foundations.
All the gear, no idea.
There’s no alignment between who you believe you are, who you want to be and who you are currently perceived to be.
Without working through your ‘actual you’, from within, you will never be able to convincingly grow ‘Brand Me’.
So how do you approach creating ‘Brand Me’ the right way?
There are 3 steps.
1. KNOW YOURSELF – look inwards at your strengths, understand how others perceive you, get feedback, face up to your weaknesses and identify where you want to change. Write down what you value most in work and life. Categorise the 8-10 areas of your life (such as career, health, hobbies, friends) and allocate a score to how satisfied you are with each. Ask yourself who you want to be. Be ruthless. This is you, laid bare. Awesome.
2. Now, start thinking like a marketeer and BRAND YOURSELF. Ask yourself the killer question: what do I offer that makes me different? Do it in 15 words or less.
Read it out loud. Does it sound pants? Write it again.
You need to convince yourself first and then think about the recipients of ‘brand you’- what would they think? Write it so they can’t help but engage with you.
Take what you have learned from step one, your core strengths, points of difference and essence, values and interests and document them. Maybe have some fun, create a vision board, collect images, whatever captures your thinking.
Once you have done this, you can start planning how you want to pitch your brand and amplify it to the world (or whatever your goal is). Think about how you want to be discovered, how you want people to engage with you and when.
3. Lastly, DEVELOP YOURSELF. Everything you have achieved in the first two steps will already be making a huge difference, however living and breathing ‘Brand Me’ won’t happen overnight. You need to practice. Reflect, evaluate and refine. Just like all brands, one of the secrets to success is consistency, ensuring all our actions are aligned to your personal brand. Then you are ready to tell everyone you know (of course with style and integrity) your well-crafted narrative. Social media, LinkedIn, Blogs and speaking opportunities are just the obvious ones. There are loads of channels you can use to amplify your personal brand.
So, it’s pretty straightforward.
Believe me, sorting your personal brand out will make you feel amazing and give your career and life the boost it deserves. It’s really going to be the best investment you make in yourself and will give you your edge.
Start today.
Finally, a quote that I love:
“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as WE are.” – Anais Nin
Good luck and hit me up if you want some help.
If you found this interesting, please give me a share.
Niki Jones is an Executive Coach. You can find her at www.gobrandyourself.uk
#Coaching #Success #PersonalBrand #Personaldevelopment #self
