Your personal brand is the story you tell about yourself. It’s how people perceive and identify with you, whether it be through your words or actions.
Whether you’re a talented CEO or an aspiring entrepreneur in the making, understanding and leveraging your personal brand can take your career to new heights. The most successful people understand that branding is not just what they say and do – it’s also how they make others feel. And if we want to make people feel something, why not create feelings of confidence, competence, warmth? That way, when someone thinks of us, they think of us as credible experts who care about them and have their best interest at heart. The more people trust us – the more they want to work with us and support us.
According to Wikipedia: Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition to ultimately advance their career, increase their circle of influence, and have a more significant impact.
So We Have Established That Your Personal Brand Tells A Story, The Question Is What Story Are You Telling?
Before you begin to tell your personal brand story, it is a good idea to put your brand blueprint together. A personal brand blueprint will save you a lot of time when putting together your CV or Resume. It also saves you a lot of time deciding what to write about yourself on your website and social media profiles.
A brand blueprint acts as a palette for words. Much like an artist would use a paint palette to create a painting within specific colour spectrums. Likewise, you use a word palette to project the image that reflects who you are authentically.
Taking the time to put together a brand blueprint document is a significant investment. Don’t worry if you don’t have the time; you can always put together a personal brand statement in the short term.
Your Personal Brand Is Also A Lot Of Fun To Create
I know you are impatient to tell your story, but taking the time to plan is crucial to success.
Putting together your personal brand blueprint document before you get your headshots and begin to tell your story is a good idea.
This ensures your message remains consistent across the board.
Of course, if you were a business, you would have a brand plan. You would know your key business drivers when putting your strategic brand plan together.
It is no different when building your brand blueprint document. When deciding what story to tell and what your key personal drivers are to make you successful, using a time-honoured process is key!
When building your personal brand blueprint, it is important to include
• Explanation of what you do in words a 12-year-old understands
• Authority and credibility boosting statements
• Reasons why you are different or better than anyone else
• Your own private words that sit behind you as an individual
• Authenticity is at the core of all of your wording; without it, you are a copycat
Check out this topic in more detail: The Ultimate Guide To Personal Branding
No Matter What You Need To Be Authentic To Build Relationships
Don’t forget authenticity is key to being successful with your storytelling. It will enable you to connect with people on a deep emotional level. This will help you to build relationships and a strong connection.
Much like telling a story about a business brand and how it came to be respected by its customers; You can use your own story to assist in building your brand. Providing your story is consistent with the message you want to get across is key. Using your brand blueprint as a foundation for all communications is key. This helps when growing your authority, credibility and relationships with people.
Making sure you don’t lose your authenticity along the way is key. Within your storytelling ensuring your message is consistent across all your communication channels is essential—an absolute must for your personal brand to aid you along your career path.
Today we are all competing for attention, and to tell our personal brand story must engage.
Knowing how to explain what you do in simple words that anyone can understand is essential. This will stop you from wasting your time, and everyone else’s! People will otherwise just glance over your wording and if the words mean nothing to them. They will just get on with their day.
Create a clear picture of who you are, what you offer and who your offering is aimed at to succeed.
If you need some help finding a suitable personal branding consultant, then do get in touch: https://legacymediahub.com/contact/