From my countless interactions with people on personal branding, there seems to be a bit of confusion with what it is, what it does and for what. The common answers I received when I ask people 'What is personal branding to you?' sounds like the following:
It is about marketing and promoting yourself.
It is supposed to help you project a certain image that you want your future employers or customers to see.
It is learning how to promote yourself on social media.
It is supposed to help you advance in your career and business.
Only leaders, public figures, celebrities, and the like needs it.
It is to craft a statement about yourself.
As the name suggests, it is about you and how you can attract people and get what you want.
To debunked the common misconceptions about personal branding, it is none of the above.
Personal branding is not about shamelessly publicizing yourself.
Neither does it focus on dressing well and looking good. It is far more than projecting a perfect image.
While there are a lot of talks on branding yourself on social media, it is not about how popular you are on social media.
And it does much more than just helping you with career and business success.
Contrary to popular belief, personal branding is also for you and me. In fact, it is for everyone.
You would also have heard of the term personal brand statement. Well, coming up with a clever tagline is not really branding yourself and …
Surprise, surprise! It is not all about you! Yes, it's not all about you.
Personal branding has been in existence for close to two decades now. Yet, it is not clearly understood. The term first appeared in 1997 when Tom Peters mentioned it in his article 'The Brand Called You' in 1997. In it, he has given some great insight and information. He explained that every one is a brand. Every one has a chance to stand out.
In the article, Tom Peters said:
" Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. "
So what really is personal branding? Until you understand the meaning and significance of it, you would not be able to take real advantage of this strategy to help you stand out and make yourself count.
