Social Business Success

What’s your brand?  Do you know what branding is?

Recently I attended a presentation on branding.  The speaker talked about us as individuals having a brand.  It’s just as important for individuals to have a brand as it is for businesses to have a brand.

What is branding?  In an article by Forbes titled “Why a Brand Matters”, they say when businesses brand themselves (the top brands) you know what you’re going to get from McDonalds, Coca Cola and Ford.

What is your brand?

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers”

Laura Lake in her article titled “What is Branding and How Important is it to Your Marketing Strategy?”  talks about branding as “it’s about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem”.

Now that we have the definition, what does branding really mean and what does it do for us?

Let’s take this one step further and talk about personal branding,  How does personal branding differ from branding a product or service?

In the book titled “A Brand Called You” by Peter Montoya he says your personal brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you.  It’s a professional alter ego designed for the purpose of influencing how others perceive you and turning that perception into opportunity.  The personal brand does this by telling your audience numerous things:

Who are you and what do you do?

What is your personal brand?

A personal brand is all about influence.  It influences how people in your target market perceive you.  To be effective, your Personal Brand must evoke three basic perceptions in the minds of your target market.

You are different.  Differentiation is the ability to be seen as new and original is the most important aspect of Personal Branding.

You are superior.  Your brand must encourage the belief that you are among the best at what you do in some way.

You are authentic.  Your brand must be build on the truth of who you are, what your strength is and what you love about your work.

Your personal brand tells people what they can expect when they deal with you.

How do you know a personal brand?  It’s the first thought that comes to your mind when hear or read that person’s name.  Or as Peter says “when you think of him or her, a single idea blocks out everything else”.  What is your personal brand?

Here’s a quick exercise that I received at the presentation conducted by Curtis Burndette of Grand Rapids, MI.  What one word describes you best?  What three words best describe you?  In 15 words or less, give yourself a one or two sentence professional tagline that markets your uniqueness and what you love.

The exercise mentioned above will help you develop your personal brand.  Remember, your personal brand is unique because you’re unique.