8 Steps That Will Help You Build Your Personal Career Brand
Who makes your favorite hot drink in town? Where do you go if you want to buy a new TV? Who stars in your favorite movies? Who’s a secrets-keeper in your circle of friends?
If you try to answer these questions, you would notice that your answers pretty much sum up your view of a particular brand; your personal perceptions about attributes such as quality, appeal, reliability, strength…etc that you’ve made either based on past experience or a response to advertising.
Try to remember one thing; others think about you as a brand too and will decide whether you are a favorite based on what you do and who you are.
According to International branding strategist Robin Fisher Roffer, author of “Make a Name for Yourself”, these eight steps will help you develop and showcase your personal career brand:
1. Identify the primary “product” (service, resource, special ability, etc.) you have to offer others
2. Identify your core values. What really matters to you?
3. Identify your passions. What things or ideas do you love?
4. Identify your talents. What have you always been recognized for (particularly as a kid)? What do you do better than most other people? What skills do people seem to notice in you?
5. From your hopefully long list of talents and qualities, choose the top five, the ones you do best and enjoy doing the most
6. Weave the items on all your lists into a statement of your specialty. What are you particularly gifted at delivering?
7. Write a paragraph emphasizing your specialty and your five key talents, weaving in your most important values, passions and skills
8. Now write your persona brand statement & tagline
The Personal Brand Statement
Before you write your CV or build your Linkedin profile; you should dedicate some time to writing your own personal brand statement or tagline.
Your personal brand statement is 1-2 sentences that answer the questions: who are you at the core? Who do you serve? And how do you do it differently?
A statement is not a job title or the name of your industry, it’s not your personal mission statement or career objectives. Those are more detailed descriptions related to your long term career or life plans but are not meant to market you to anybody.
A personal brand statement should be memorable, punchy and solution oriented. To give you an idea, rather than saying: Andrea is a pediatrician try: Andrea works hard to heal children and return their sweet smile to their faces.
After writing your personal brand statement, you should top it with a tagline that tells your story. And it would be very useful for you have it on your Twitter’s bio. Examples of good taglines are plenty but here are some for your inspiration:
Guy Kawasaki: ”Finding Enchantment and Setting it Free” (Silicon Valley venture capitalist, author, Apple Fellow)
· Casie Stewart: ”Awesome at the Internet” (Canadian Lifestyle Blogger)
· Brian Solis: ”Defining the Convergence of Media & Influence” (Digital Analyst, Sociologist, Futurist)
· Huda Kattan: “In need of some beauty?! Love to share” (Makeup artist, Blogger)
· Jillee: “Sorting through the beautiful clutter of life” (Author of “One Good Thing By Jillee”)
Use your brand strategy in public
All the lists that you spent weeks or months making, the dreams and the goals you have mean nothing if you don’t act on them. Keeping your brand strategy a secret will simply kill it. Take out all the details in your strategy and start updating your CV, Linkedin profile, Twitter account, Facebook page, Blog…etc
Keep in mind, your personal brand strategy is a work in process and something that you should revisit on a regular basis to improve and tweak as you learn more about yourself everyday.