3 Components of a Strong Personal Brand
Get Noticed with an Authentic Personal Identity
Sep 28, 2009
The job market is always changing making it more critical than ever to have a strong personal brand. A personal brand highlights an individual’s strengths and talents to help them stand out from others in the marketplace. There are three elements that individuals need to embrace when building a strong personal brand.
A Personal Brand Should Be Authentic
When developing a personal brand, it should be authentic and believable. Reaching for the stars is fine when working to achieve individual goals, but it’s important to tame those aspirations down to create a personal brand that is original and easy for future employers and clients to believe.
When promoting skills and expertise, individuals need to be careful to not over inflate their key attributes. Building a strong personal identity takes work and careful personal examination. Sit down and honestly review contributions, skills and personality traits. Individuals should avoid making unrealistic claims unless there is evidence to back those claims up.
For example, instead of building a personal brand around being the hardest working designer in the marketplace, a belief likely shared by most designers and difficult to prove, focus on career aspects that can be proven and documented. For example, the claim of an award-winning package designer could be a part of the personal brand for a designer who has won awards for his package designs.
Strong Personal Brands Are Consistent and Dependable
Similar to commercial brands like McDonald’s, individuals need to provide consistent communications with their own personal brands. Individuals need to be consistent in the look and tone of blog postings, websites and newsletters. Post new information at regular time periods to build customers' trust. Stay true to personal identity by providing consistent tone, content and style in all communications.
Business cards, emails, marketing materials, websites and blogs should have a consistent look to carry a personal brand across all communication channels.
Clearly Communicate Personal Identity
A critical component to any strong personal brand is clear communication. In order to succeed, individuals need to stay true to their personal brand and clearly communicate those traits through their website, blogs, and social networking sites. Don’t risk confusing customers and clients by posting irrelevant information.
Before posting information to a website or blog, individuals should take into consideration how the information reflects upon their personal brand. If there is any doubt whether or not the information accurately reflects their personal identity, the information should not be used.
In a global marketplace, it is more important than ever to have a strong personal brand. Individuals can develop their own personal brand by being authentic, consistent in look and message and striving to always communicate clearly.
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