Well, it is a reliably new term that brings together Your Career and / or Your Business and Your Image and / or Personal Style, Personality and Behavior (how you look, act, talk, communicate) and aligning this with how you are perceived by the world.
The self-perception and world-perception must match for your Personal Brand to be Powerful.
And without realizing it, I've been the Queen of Personal Brand re-invention since I was about 3 years of age!
Why is a Personal Brand Important?
It's about connection. We are lucky enough to be living in a new digital era, the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" is more loyal than ever and as technology advances, being Online is the "norm" when it comes to communication, you MUST get on board with it, or you will be left behind and to be in with a chance of having any success, your Personal Brand must STAND OUT!
The trick to a really successful Personal Brand is authenticity. Basically, you need to Be Yourself and be seen as a human with interests outside of your work so that the people you want to work with are connected with you. Make sense?
So how do you understand Who do you want to connect with and then How do you go about doing it?
Having an Online Presence is the key, but standing out with your ability to reach in and connect with those who are just like you, or need you, or want to know what you have to offer is the trick.
A Powerful Personal Brand is also the ability for you to Sell and Market yourself successfully. With so much noise on the internet and so many distractions offline, it's hard to get noticed. And if you are person who tends to blend in, or just fit in what is it going to take for you to get yourself out there and Stand Out?
A lot of people worry about "putting themselves out there" and releasing anything about themselves that is too personal or too close to home. The truth is most of you already have a Facebook profile and if you have an obscure name, it's kinda almost guaranteed that you can be found online, whether you like it or not.
And I'm sorry to say this, but if you are a job seeker and want to get the attention of a recruiter, then you need to know how they work to get their attention and if you are not online, you is not gonna get that job (and you will not get a look in if your online Bio, Profile and Resume sucks either). How do I know, well, I was a recruiter for 13 years.
The first piece of the Personal Brand puzzle is for you to analyze yourself. Get to know your strengths and weaknesses, what you like and dislike so that you can reveal your natural gifts and talents (this my friend, is what you have to offer the world and you can package this up and sell it like a mofo, oh yeah baby!)
If you stick with me, I'm going to show you how to get to know what your natural gifts and talents are. But not today, you will need some time and space for this, so for now, it's important for you to understand Why you should have a Powerful Personal Brand Online and Offline.
OK, I hear you. Sometimes this is important and can be justified. Your situation may be different from most people, but when it comes to creating a career, business and life that you love, you need to be connected. If you are not, you may be left behind … and who wants that?
So how do you begin to create a Powerful Personal Brand that stands out and shows the world who you really are?
I'll be discussing the How in my next post.
In the meantime, feel free to comment below about how you feel about putting yourself online and creating a Powerful Personal Brand. I will answer all of your questions!
Love Susan xx
PS I am launching a new workshop "The Powerful Personal Brand" in 2014 – if you want to be in the know of when the pre-launch is live, you need to get onto my newsletter list. You'll not only be in the know of upcoming workshops and events, you will also get weekly tips, tricks and strategies to take your Personal Brand from Beige and Boring to Pink (erm OK, any color you like) and Powerful!
