Personal Branding: Who Are You?

Whether you’re applying for a job, aiming for a promotion, trying to connect with leadership, or working with clients, we always do our best to ensure your credentials and experience are known, but can you say the same for making sure they know who you are? While it’s important to share your qualifications, you shouldn’t underestimate how important your values and personality are. Although this may be demonstrated through interactions, you’ll have a significant advantage if you can give people a sense of who you are before meeting them.

This idea of consciously creating a message of you as a person, with your different strengths, values, and characteristics, and then advertising it to others is called making a personal brand. Living in a time when we can connect with people even before meeting them, creating a personal brand has never been more critical. 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PERSONAL BRAND AND A RESUME 

Everyone has credentials, and because we’ve worked so hard for them, we like to show them off, but your personal brand isn’t supposed to lay out your education, experiences, and qualifications instead, it’s supposed to be a description of your experiences and values. When creating your brand, remember how you navigated and contributed to different experiences, what kind of role you played, how you collaborated with others, and how you accomplished your goals. Asking these questions is meant to help you understand what kind of person you are, what your strengths are, and where, and in what ways, you can best contribute to a goal; for example, are you open minded, professional, creative, attentive, strategic, or divergent? Your qualifications and experience are undeniably necessary, but who you are and how you act are as well.  

THE IMPORTANCE OF A PERSONAL BRAND 

Personal brands establish a persona of who you are, which is vital because it not only articulates who you are as a professional but also displays your values and leaves little room for people to make assumptions. Impressions are meaningful and personal brands are designed to ensure that people understand who you are and your values. Now someone who already feels established within a company might think that taking the time to create a personal brand isn’t worth the effort since they’ve worked with people within the company and have already made an impression, but this is only partially true. Although you may be comfortable in your position, what happens when you want to move up in the company or bring in a new client? Can you be sure those decision makers know who you are and your values? Employers and clients value good character; your brand is a shortcut to demonstrating that character.  

CREATING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND 

The first step to creating a personal brand is to take a moment for introspection and think about how you want to describe who you are and the kind of person you want to be. This process of self reflection can be difficult and uncomfortable for some, but if you don’t invest the time to understand who you are properly, you can’t expect to create a brand for yourself! Another way to think of it is you’re trying to advertise yourself as a product. If you were to try and sell a product, you would naturally showcase its values, but you need a strong understanding of the product to know where to start. The same could be said for creating your own brand; if you don’t know your strengths, how can you expect to create an accurate image for yourself?   

Although essential to the process, sometimes introspection can only take you so far. In this case, it’s all right to seek input from those around you; make sure that whoever you’re asking will give you an honest answer and not just want you to want to hear. Examples of good people to consult are mentors, coworkers, team members, community leaders, and not your best friend or direct family members.   

Once you’ve established how to describe yourself, consider your situation and how you want to present this information. For example, if you’re a candidate in a municipal election, you should use wording like “Community Builder” instead of “Lifelong resident of Norwich.” Between those two examples, one is proactive, impactful, and looking to the future, while the other may be relatable, but it doesn’t push your image as a leader.   

Here’s an example of my personal brand as a director at AgCareers.com: 

I am a strategic, divergent, critical-thinking leader who is always evolving to improve myself, not only for the needs of our clients but for my team. I continually seek feedback to empower the team and lead with the tools our clients need.  

If you are still struggling to develop your personal brand, here’s a way to reframe the concept; in the past, people handed out business cards to connect after a meeting or event. In today’s world, it is about leaving a lasting or memorable impression, often followed up virtually by a call, text, or social media. A personal brand is essentially a verbal business card designed to clearly articulate who you are at the same time as differentiating yourself.  

WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND STATEMENT? 

A personal brand statement is an integral part of your brand; it’s a catchphrase that says something about your expertise and what makes you unique. It gives people a glance into what you can do, so they’ll be able to understand how you can benefit them. And if it’s catchy enough, that’s how people will recognize and remember you.    

It can be challenging to come up with a compelling personal brand statement. It must be strong, descriptive, short, and catchy all at the same time. People reading the statement should know exactly what you can do and what you specialize in. It should also spark their curiosity and make them want to know more about your services.   

Let’s say you’re a motivational speaker and career counselor. Your personal brand statement could be something like this:  

“I help individuals reassess their life choices to discover their true paths to success.”   

You must carefully choose the right words and arrange them in the right way to get your message across effectively. But most of all, your personal brand statement should reflect your brand’s identity and values. In other words, it should reflect yourself and your abilities. 

Here’s an example of my personal brand statement as: 

“I’m Kathryn Doan Connector. Mentor. Leader. Entrepreneur. Creative. Thinker. Innovator. Turkey Farmer. Advocate. Friend. Family Focused.” 

Your career will continue to grow and evolve, and as it grows, so will your experiences, values, and responsibilities, so it’s important to ensure that the brand you’ve created for yourself reflects this growth. To stay on top of your brand and how you’re presenting yourself, you should check in with yourself, look at the different ways you’ve changed, and update your brand to match your personal and professional development. Above all else, ensure that whatever your brand, it accurately and honestly demonstrates who you are and what you believe.   

ADVERTISING YOUR BRAND 

After you’ve invested the time in creating your personal brand it’s vital to start putting it out there for everyone to see, because what’s the point in branding if nobody’s aware of it? Starting this process is easy. You can include your brand in your social media bios, personal posts, and job applications. I’ve even seen people who include them in their email signatures. Remember that you promote yourself and move your career forward whenever you advertise your personal brand.   

IN CONCLUSION 

Building and maintaining a personal brand isn’t easy; it requires you to take an honest look at yourself and get a better understanding of who you are, but once you’ve created your brand and a pairing statement, the advantages, whether personal or professional, will over time be hard to deny.