What are you doing with your personal brand?
Last night, after a good friend’s birthday celebration, I headed off to Trak in Toorak to hear Ben Hazelwood, a final 8 contestant on The Voice sing with Prinny Stevens.
They were brilliant. They clearly loved what they were doing and were coming to terms with their new-found fame in Australia. There were hundreds of fans completely absorbed by every word they sang. It was great to see.
As we stood around chatting in one of the private bars, I watched Ben Hazelwood at work. He was the consummate professional, exceptionally polite and engaging.
He is already a superstar and it is easy to see how his future will unfold.
A show like The Voice is a personal brand builder for each and every contestant, at varying degrees. If someone was an earlier contestant, they would have gain a certain amount of notoriety for singing on television and they would definitely be noticed by some people in the street. They probably have some fans.
As you get down to the top 8, your brand power is accelerated. People will recognize not only your face, but your name, the songs you sang and your voice.
Build a personal brand in a high profile environment requires a strategy. If you look at Justin Beiber, he has built a brand out of being the clean-cut, good boy next door. Now, if he had a picture in the paper tomorrow, shooting-up drugs, then this brand image would immediate be thrown out the door - similar to Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson when their misdemeanors became public.
Every person has a PERSONAL BRAND
It’s important to know what that ‘personal brand’ actually means and how it is viewed by others. What is your value proposition, point of differentiation and marketability?
A personal brand can give you a competitive edge
If you work hard in keeping true to your personal brand, it can give you a competitive edge. If you own a small business, you can leverage your personal brand to attract attention for your company brand, similar to what celebrities do when they endorse products.
An Employees CV is an extension of their personal brand. It is the first point of reference to their personal brand for a future employer.
How you can build your personal brand strategy
Build your personal brand by:
- Build a story – place emphasis on the personal. People like a story and person they can connect with. Talk about your journey & struggles and make a decision about how much you want to share.
- Think of yourself as a product
- Packaging - visual communication, online and offline
- Transparency - being human/ approachability
- Self-marketing - promoting yourself, without being too much of a self-promoter - there is a fine line
- Engage in social platforms - blogging, facebook, twitter - connect with your target audience and be strategic.
Personal branding is about making a connection with people and it is important how you do it. Remember, people make an impression of your personal brand in a matter of seconds.
If you are serious about your personal brand, then make sure you continually work on it and improve upon the base that you have. Stay true to your brand, while ensuring that it evolves and continues to add value to those who come into contact with it.
In the words of Dan Schawbel “if you don't brand yourself, someone else will do it for you”.
So next time you go to pick your nose when you are driving, get mad at your employees, or wear that daggy shirt to a work meeting because you couldn't be bothered - think again!
Leave a comment
Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.
comments ( 5 )
http://www.CelebsWithoutMakeup.Org
15 Nov 2012Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to check it out.
ReplyI'm definitely loving the information. I'm bookmarking
and will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and
fantastic design.
Kerena
09 Sep 2012I absolutely agree. We should all actively think about the image we are portraying in our everyday actions. Sometimes we may not realise that we are projecting a certain image of ourselves that can be attributed to a certain aspect of our personality.
ReplyWe probably don't like thinking about ourselves as a 'product', but it is definitely true that if we don't actively do something about how people perceive us, someone else will do it for us.
David
06 Jul 2012Every person having a personal brand is a great statement. No matter what you do in life, your personal brand is how others see you, the same as how people see brands and products.
Replypriscilla
04 Jul 2012I really like the quote “if you don't brand yourself, someone else will do it for you”. We should really be proactive about how we want to be perceived by others. Sometimes we blame other people for misunderstanding who we are, but maybe thats the message we are sending out.
ReplyYvonne
02 Jul 2012Personal brands are so important, and of course everybody has one, or many. Brands identify you, they can be used as leverage or they can completely ruin your image/name.
ReplyIt's a label... just like the 'cool kids' at school, or the 'rich girl', or the 'troubled musician'. I mean, David Beckham is used as an international celebrity endorser because he is known to consumers around the world.. and he's worth millions of dollars not only because of his personal brand, but also because of how his personal brand can be easily transferred to other brands. There are so many advantages to personal branding... people just have thoroughly understand their desired image first!