Personal Branding—The Essentials

A brand is a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” (American Marketing Association) “Branding began as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp.”—Wikipedia

From the above definition, the essence of branding is differentiation. This differentiation is more effectively communicated without being spoken. It should exude and make a clear statement through non-verbal communication. That makes it authentic.

In personal branding, therefore, an individual should view himself/herself as he/she would a product; design him/herself, package him/herself and put him/herself out there as different from others.

Why Essential

Personal branding has become particularly important in our time because of the knowledge-economy we live in. in the industrial age, physical products were dominant and emphasised. Hence the design, manufacture and packaging of a product mainly had to do with physical products. That has changed now.

Knowledge-workers now dominate many of the world’s major economies. “Knowledge Workers are now estimated to outnumber all other workers in North America by at least a four to one margin (Haag et al., 2006, pg.4).”

It has therefore become imperative for a knowledge worker to brand and position him/herself strategically in order to succeed. Without such branding, he/she would not be seen or felt. And if you’re not seen or felt, you’re as good as nonexistent!

What are some essentials to look at then, as you seek to brand yourself?

The Essentials

Think strategically. According to the Center for Applied Research (USA) “Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction.

“It is the input to strategic planning—good strategic thinking uncovers potential opportunities for creating value and challenges assumptions about a company’s value proposition, so that when the plan is created, it targets these opportunities.

“Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and rigorously (and playfully) challenging conventional thinking about them, in conversation with others.”

According to Wikipedia, “Recent strategic thought points ever more clearly towards the conclusion that the critical strategic question is not “What?” (usually addressed by conventional thinking), but “Why?” (or “How?”)”.

Strategic thinking, therefore, has its roots in the quest to challenge the status quo and find answers to the “whys?” and the “hows?” That is what you should do if you really want to brand yourself.

“Love nonsense”. Information is often found in the most unlikely places such as in the garbage; while reading kids’ textbooks; riding on public transport such as a taxi or tro-tro (bush taxi); playing snooker or monopoly, even ludu; etc. Such information, invaluable though as they can be, can never be found in the classroom!

Thus in the quest to brand yourself, look for information from unconventional sources, challenge the status quo and think differently. Generally, strategic thinkers believe that there is always another way of looking at things and doing things; and that may as well be the best one at the moment. Their way of looking at things is more like what Dr. Seuss said:

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

That is what I call strategic insanity. To the majority you are insane. And that, simply because you’re not travelling the popular route. But unless you defy society’s matter-of-course, you would simply be just a statistic!

Create your own vision statement. As an individual or a professional do you have a vision statement? Do you have a clearly stated destination to which you’re headed? That is very critical to your success.

However, in creating your vision, be careful to avoid selfishness. If you create a vision with a parochial interest you’ll get nowhere and gain no satisfaction, unless you’re a narcist, which I believe you’re not!

What can you contribute to society? What difference can you make in someone’s life? If you are a spiritual person, how does your plan fit into the divine purpose? Questions such as these should be at the centre of creating your vision.

Once you have identified your vision, write it down! That is very important. Put it down in writing and refer to it every now and then. That would enable you gauge if you’re reaching your vision or not.

Create your mission statement. Your vision determines your mission. Your vision is your goal whilst your mission embodies your objectives. Just as objectives are a break-down of your goals—the steps that lead up to achieving the overall goal—a mission helps you to identify the little steps that you need to take towards the realization of your vision.

Mind you, it is the embodiment of your objectives. So you need to state your objectives and summarise these in your mission. Once again, once you have your mission clearly in mind, put it in writing. And let it be a reference point for you as you move along.

Determine your values. Your values are things you stand up for; virtues that you espouse and live by.

Caution: Since we’re fallible and thus vulnerable to selfishness, it is important that what values you pursue are in congruence with those generally accepted by society. Yet sometimes, certain societal values may even be flawed in themselves. Hence, once again, if you’re spiritual, then the values you adopt should be in agreement with the divine will foremost.

Values serve as an anchor; they stabilize your thoughts and actions. Holding to them helps to differentiate you from others and contributes in no small measure to your personal branding efforts.

Your values should also be clearly stated in bullets. And be sure to refer to them regularly to check how you’re faring.

Robert H. Wheeler identifies the following as what personal philosophy is made up of:

1. Personal Congruence
2. Desire
3. Commitment
4. Motivation
5. Value Set
6. Personal Definition of Success
7. Passion
8. Life Balance
9. Attitude

Yet, once again, as in all else, altruism and spirituality play a very big role in defining a virtuous personal philosophy. Once couched, put that also in writing.

Live Your Brand

After defining all the above and putting them on paper, be sure live them. Many business organizations project one thing about themselves but act differently. That should not be so in your case. Live your brand by living up to what you define as your standards and values. And be consistent. That makes you authentic.

If you do so, as mentioned earlier, your personal brand will exude itself, making your target market notice and feel you.

One article is not enough to discuss all the essential elements of personal branding. In subsequent articles, we will look at yet others and explore them much more in detail.