As Tom Peters said, "Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called, 'You.'"
Personal branding was not considered a 'good' thing in our society in the past decade, because 'bragging' or talking about own-self was never a good thing, it reflected 'over confidence'. With the ever changing time, a change of perception resulted in personal branding to be one of the key factors that portrays a person's personality.
Now, what is this personal branding? What does it mean? Personal branding is about identifying and then communicating what makes 'YOU' unique, relevant and differentiated for your target audience so that you can reach your career and/or business goals. If you understand your strengths, skills, passions, and values, you can then use this information to separate yourself from your competitors and stand out in the crowd.
How will you enhance yourself as a better brand? You need to figure out the real power you have, your strongest personality suit, and work on it to make it the first impression to the person next. Most importantly, remember that power is largely a matter of perception. If you want people to see you as a powerful brand, act like a credible leader. When you are thinking like a brand, you do not need to stereotype charts authority to establish 'YOU' as leader. The fact is you are a leader. You are leading 'You'!
In today's competitive job market it is important that you think yourself as a brand. You need to channel your key attributes, qualities, and differentiators to 'unique promise of value' that the targeted employer is looking for. Branding breathes life into your career advertising documents (which are often quite "flat" and "boring") and creates a vivid way to generate interest in you, helping you land faster and hopefully, at a higher compensation level. If you are a small business owner or solo- entrepreneur, branding helps you narrow down the target market that you want to serve and develop highly differentiated messages for the target audience.
What are the benefits if you have a strong personal brand? Personal branding enhances your self-awareness. When you go through the personal branding process, you develop incredible self-understanding about what makes you unique, valuable, and powerful. It helps to optimise your strengths. It helps you to clarify and reach goals. Personal branding requires you to be crystal clear on what you want to achieve and helps you to set goals to get there. This makes you more efficient on whatever you attempt to do. It helps you to create visibility and presence. Once you know what is unique and compelling about you-- your super-power, you can use this information to create visibility/presence to those people--- the targeted audience who will help you achieve your goals.
Last but not the least, it is all about differentiation. Personal branding will help you to differentiate yourself from everyone else. Make 'You' a brand, get yourself seen and your voice will be heard before all in the crowd. This is the secret to a smoother path to reach your goals.
The writer is a student of Accounting Information System (AIS) at United International University,
doubblea_abda@live.com
You, the most important brand
Abda Ali Rinthuna | Published: May 21, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
Share if you like