What Is Personal Branding?
Personal branding is crafting and managing a public image that defines your individuality and sets you apart. It entails effectively communicating your unique value proposition to your target audience. Your brand encompasses more than just your resume or the job title; it reflects your distinctive qualities, expertise, and values you have.
The Power Of Personal Branding
In the competitive work environment today, where we seek to have an impact on how to use our talents and support our life purpose, it’s a no-brainer that personal branding is an important career development initiative. Yet many professionals feel that they need more time or energy to build their brand. One question I’m often asked after my personal branding keynotes is what are the real benefits of investing in building a strong brand? Here are the nine most powerful results of nurturing, uncovering, and exuding the brand called YOU:
1. You become famous—selectively famous:
In the coming future, you’ll be recognized among the people who need to know you, but you’ll live in total obscurity in the rest of the world. Your aim should be to build a fan club of people who support you and share your goals and your values. The strongest brands turn those fans into promoters who taught their value to others.
2. You minimize imposter syndrome:
Personal branding is about uncovering your unique, genuine brand and living it proudly. It’s about authenticity and being yourself—your Best Self. When you’re willing to be yourself and live your brand fully, you avoid feeling like you are faking it and find true satisfaction in delivering your best work.
3. You attract positive opportunities:
When you are clear about your brand promise and commit to sharing and living it with the people who need to know you, your brand starts to take on a life of its own. People begin to see who you are, and you have no idea how they know you. You become magnetic, attracting the people and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.
4. You increase your energy:
The most exhausting thing you can do is to be inauthentic. It’s truly tiring to play a role every day. The true power of personal branding is that you are never playing a role. Instead, you are delivering on your brand promise in a way that’s unique to you. It’s not draining but it’s invigorating.
5. You amp up the joy factor:
Personal branding means aligning who you are with what you do and how you do it. It’s all about connecting your passions to your work while remaining steadfastly focused on your purpose which is your “why,”. When your work allows you to express your desires and have an impact, work goes from blah to bliss.
6. You grow your wealth:
We pay more for strong brands. A Starbucks coffee will cost double what it costs at the café down the street. An iPhone can earn back a thousand dollars more than most competing smartphones. The famous Hermès Birkin bag sells for between $10K and $300K. We pay a premium for strong brands because we get more than the product and we’re getting an experience. The same is true for the people. If everyone with the same job title were paid the same amount then there would have been no incentive to stand out and deliver greater value. Fortunately, that’s not the case. Strong brands earn more for the differentiated value they offer and for the value they add beyond meeting the minimum eligibility requirements.
7. You take control of your career:
Strong brands don’t take what comes to them but they pursue what makes sense. They have leverage in negotiations with their boss. They have a say in how work is done. They’re influential and they’re also the keepers of their careers.
8. You achieve your goals:
Although effective personal branding is based on authenticity, there’s an aspirational element. Your brand is aligned with and directed by your goals. Focusing your branding actions and putting effort towards your goals is one of the key elements of personal branding.
9. You increase your confidence:
The biggest byproduct of building your brand is confidence. The self-awareness you gain through the unique branding process translates into self-assuredness. And as your brand begins to pay dividends to opportunities, power brokers, acknowledgment, and accolades then you become more and more comfortable in your shoes. And that’s the best kind of wealth which is there.
You probably know people with strong brands and have witnessed them enjoying many benefits. It’s time, to sum up your branding actions to experience these benefits while delivering exceptional value to your work.
With the help of networking platforms such as ONFYX, additionally, it becomes very easy to get consistent as they make this task much easier for you. Personal branding is all about showcasing your unique skills, values, and personality to differentiate yourself and your business. It’s not just about creating a flashy logo or a snappy tagline but it’s also about building a reputation and establishing trust with your target audience.
