Invent and Brand Yourself

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Early twentieth-century French novelist, Marcel Proust, famously wrote: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”. To see with new eyes, you need to begin with introspection. The ultimate result of introspection is change – change of the self.

Therefore, if Proust´s sentiments are to be applied to the world of personal marketing, it is more important for an individual´s brand to be constantly evolving than for the individual to venture farther and farther afield – although the bearing of one on the other is impossible to ignore.

If you feel like your personal brand is in dire need of a face-lift, consider the following simple principles:

The brand represents the promise behind the brand.

For personal branding, you have to ask yourself: “what do I promise?”

What are the things that you are willing to personally guarantee? This is something which you will go the extra mile to be known for – identify this and make sure your brand communicates this clearly.

In defining your brand promise, you must ask yourself some important questions:

1. What are my goals for next year?
   
   When looking at your goals for a branding purpose, you have to look outside of yourself and identify how you want to influence others, including your family, community, customers, employees, organisation and the world at large. By contextualising your goals, you start defining a direction in which to channel your energy. Energy that remains locked up inside of you turns into frustration – so start exploring where you want to put it.

2. What message do I want to deliver in my environment to advance my goals?
   
   Whatever your goals, you need to communicate and back them up to those around you. If, for example, you are studying in order to get a new job or promotion, make sure that you are communicating this to the right people in the workplace. Make sure that the way in which you represent yourself to others complements the goals you want to achieve. Do you come across as a go-getter who will take things to the next level or is a despairing attitude preventing you from being taken seriously? If you want to get support or funding for an endeavour, make sure that you come across as competent. Showing enthusiasm creates a powerful brand message that says: “I am already good at this but I want to be better at what I am doing”.
   
   Making a list of characteristics or values that you want to be known for may help. Do research and find the values or characteristics that really matter to you. This will help you to create a strong brand that you can really believe in.
   
   Write it down in a format such as “I want to be known for (being innovative) so that I can (work on more exciting and challenging projects)” or “I want to be known as (a hard worker) so that I can (ensure that my family is secure at all times)”. You can also define things you want; for example, “I want to be known as an MBA graduate so that I can effectively run large organisations”. These statements represent what you are thinking and so become affirmations.
   
   They are also powerful reminders of why you are doing what you are doing. Also ask yourself whether the characteristics you want to convey will help you achieve the goals you have in mind. For example, does hard work necessarily translate into security? If you think it through, you may see that there is more than one way to achieve your goals. Once you have written down several such statements, you will be on your way to defining the key messages that you want to communicate.

The experience of the brand should exceed the expectation created by the brand promise.

Whilst having some statements that define what you want and communicating these to the world is important, your brand promise must convey the potential of the brand, most importantly, to deliver more than expected.

If you buy a product and you later find that it is not exactly what was promised, your confidence in the brand is undermined. By the same token, if you find a product that satisfies or even exceeds your expectations, you promote it to other people. This is important as it will determine people´s faith in your brand promise.

How do you get closer to being the brand that you want to project? It is going to take work to create that “wow” factor. Always ask yourself what others expect of you and then deliver more than this. A promise with no follow-through will ultimately be detrimental to your brand. Once people realise that you are simply blowing hot air with your brand promise, they will lose faith in the brand as a whole.

Make good on your promises. If, for example, you generally advocate further study as important, make sure that you practise what you preach by enrolling yourself. Acting in accordance with your brand promise allows you to start creating value. It may also point to things that you need to stop doing. Don´t, for example, waste time engaging with issues that are not important to you; rather channel that energy into what matters.

The brand remains consistent and relevant.

Brands must look at optimising the experience around emotional and functional contact points to ensure that the brand message is communicated and experienced in the desired way.

By being consistent and relevant, the brand message re-enforces itself. If you consistently produce good results, you become associated with good results. When people talk about you, you want them to highlight the good results that were produced. When people do mention negatives about you, take note and, if possible, clearly communicate what you will do to turn the situation around. Never fight against negative feedback – this will only cause people to categorise you as a “fighter”. Remember that your objective was to be associated with good results.

A brand creates an advantage that optimises the positioning of the product or service in relation to other products or services.

You are your own product or service and so you need to ensure that your product/service remains consistent and true to who you are.

When you are consistent, people can easily predict your behaviour in any given set of circumstances. Brand positioning differentiates you from others.

Visibility is not enough. You need to be seen in a positive light. When you consistently behave in a manner in line with your brand promise, you are promoting your brand. If you always stick to deadlines and achieve outcomes, you will develop a reputation for this. When it comes time to decide who to promote, your boss will choose you over rival candidates based on this reputation. Notice how consistent application of a small behaviour ultimately generates advancement. However, remember that this works in reverse as well – if you are always absent, people will remember you as such and you will be passed over in favour of a person with a better brand.

The brand leverages all applicable marketing tools and media.

Remember that brands are built in all settings. From the moment you walk out of your house, step into your car, access your Facebook page, post a tweet or update your blog, you are branding yourself. What you say, both informally and formally, impacts on your brand. Your associations with other brands (especially other people) also shape your brand statement. Being associated with brands that contradict your own brand promise will have an adverse effect on your reputation. Attach yourself to people you want to be like and reinforce your brand by moving in circles that share your interests and values.

In this digital age, it is important to manage your brand identity online very carefully as well. The same principles apply – what you say, what you are known for, and how you are using all the services out there must deliver a consistent and positive message about who you are.

Accept that you cannot be all things to all people – your Facebook friends will find you on LinkedIn. As a professional, you need a consistent identity across all platforms. You need to manage your identity and your brand message on these channels as much as anywhere else. It is also better to use these services than to shy away from them. They are a reality that you cannot ignore – you have greater control over your message if you actively communicate it on as many platforms as possible. What´s more, if you aren´t using social media in your favour, others have greater power to use them against you.

Brands protect the equity value of organisations over time.

It is much easier to make claims for your brand when you already have an established brand identity on which to lean. This is why we build brands. Your brand allows your message to be spread without you even being present. It makes you stand out in a crowd and, if it is an effective brand, allows you to be the real you. As with all things, it is important to be authentic so that you can get the most out of a brand that no one else can offer – you.

Conclusion

Personal branding is as much about the tie that you wear and the company you keep as it is about who you are on the inside. It is no use keeping your values to yourself. Expressing your true identity is important in building a strong and consistent brand that, over time, will enhance the worth of your brand.

You can create any personal brand you like but it will only benefit you if it is based on who you truly are.