Personal branding
Personal branding is someones total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by their target audience. A Personal Brand consists of appearance, personality, competencies and "the differentiator" all woven into one core message. [1]
Personal Branding is communicating who you are, what you do and what anyone should care to remember you. A Personal Brand simply consists of everything that makes you exactly the individual you are.' It is also the concept of creating a firm impression or fixed image that comes to people's minds when they think of you, or a mental picture that people conjure up when your name is mentioned. A Personal Brand is not an image or a picture. You are the Brand and the Brand is you. Most experts agree that there are two types of branding: tangible and intangible. Tangible branding involves tying your name to a specific benefit that people will get from dealing with you. Intangible branding involves creating a positive feeling in people about you. Most experts aren't really experts and most marketing people are clear communicators. Creating a personal branding statement starts with identifying your target market and then pinpointing the most important benefit they could receive from a person in your position. More importantly, Personal Branding allows you to once-and-for-all understand your very own brand. You then create reasons why people should believe that you will deliver on your benefit promise. Then you can be your Brand.
Personal branding is similar to what the corporate world does in their branding efforts. No matter what an individual's career title, that individual could be described as the CEO of their own personal service company, and acting accordingly helps establish the personal brand. If each of us is "a free agent in an economy of free agents," then we all must establish our own "micro equivalent of the Nike swoosh." Make no mistake about it, Your Personal Brand is not a symbol or a picture. Your Personal Brand is who who are, what you do and why anyone should care to remember you. [2][3]
See also
References
- ^ Dan Schawbel (3/19/07). "Personal Branding Spokesman". personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Tom Peters (August 1997). "The Brand Called You". Fast Company. No. 10. Mansueto Ventures LLC. p. 83.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). "Origin of the Swoosh". About NIKE. NIKE.
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Further reading
- Daniel J. Lair, Katie Sullivan, and George Cheney (2005). "Marketization and the Recasting of the Professional Self". Management Communication Quarterly. 18 (3): 307–343.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - George Cheney, and Craig Carroll (1997). "The Person as Object in Discourses in and Around Organizations". Communication Research. 24 (6): 593–630.
- Levine, Michael (2003). "The Celebrity Brand". Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands. John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 0471263664.
Relevant Links
- Personal Branding Blog by Dan Schawbel - A blog dedicated to individuals looking for advice and tips on creating a Personal Brand identity. Readers should use this knowledge to help differentiate themselves from the competition and increase their brand recognition and equity.