The Brand of YOU

Branding Yourself

Whether you realize it or not, your personal brand is constantly being projected through your everyday interactions with the people around you and your online communications. Most of us understand the term branding when we discuss a company’s marketing efforts, but what some fail to realize is that our personal brands are very similar and have a big effect on our lives. This has become especially true with the new opportunities for online branding through sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Be Yourself

Branding yourself is so much deeper than just a logo or a picture. It is at a deepest root, who you are in your core and it can not be faked or made up. People have become more aware of fakes and if you want to lose credibility quickly, then act like someone you are not and see what happens.

Being authentic is the number one best way to build trust with people. This is something that I have noticed often with my Twitter account. I have received multiple direct messages telling me how appreciated it is that I say what I want to say and that I am who I am. My personal online branding efforts have come from what I know best and my personality. This can be seen in almost every single thing that I do online.

Figuring Out What Your Brand Is

What are your core values, beliefs and passions in life? This will start to give you an idea of who you are deep inside. Don’t lie to yourself. Once you figure this out, start thinking about how can begin to incorporate these into your online activities.

How do others view you? Ask people to give you just a few words that describe you. This will give you an idea of the brand that you have been projecting and how different or similar it is to what you wanted.

Be Aware of Your Brand

While it is very important to be yourself and be authentic at all times, it is also important to remember that your online activities are public. And when I say public, I mean anyone in the world can see it. Keep this in mind with everything you do online.

What has amazed me is the increasing use of the Internet in the hiring process. Many companies are now making hiring decisions based on what they learn about the perspective employee through their social media accounts. Twitter and Facebook now give these companies more information about the applicant than the resume does.

Stand Out From the Herd

One of the most important parts of your personal brand is identifying what makes you different, unique and memorable from the vast amount of people out there. No two people are alike and you need to show why.

There is so much noise out there these days and it is impossible to listen to all of it. People may hear your message, but you want them to attentively listen to it. This is done through seperating yourself from the noise with your unique twist and viewpoint.

Business Owners

While your companies brand is important, the human branding is more critical. Most small business thrive off the the owner’s brand more than the companies. People come to your business because they know, like and trust YOU first. Please keep this in mind in your marketing.

I would really like to hear what you think about online branding yourself. Please share your thoughts and let’s start the conversation.

Tagged as: Act, Branding, branding yourself, Core Values, Credibility, Everyday Interactions, Fakes, Few Words, Marketing Efforts, New Opportunities, online branding, Passions, People Online, Personal Brand, Personality, Single Thing, Twitter