ID idea? Consider how personal branding could help your career

If you’re a business professional, you’re likely familiar with the strategy that goes into finessing consumer perceptions through product marketing.

You may be less acquainted with the concept of applying similar strategies to your personal brand. But such strategies can be particularly effective when you act as the “face” of your company or your persona is closely linked with a given product or service.

Personal branding incorporated into your social media posts, blogs and other marketing channels can act as a competitive advantage by differentiating you from your peers and helping customers feel they know you better. Consider that 90 percent of consumers trust product or service recommendations from people they know, while only 33 percent trust messages from a brand. And leads developed through employees’ social media activities convert seven times more frequently than other leads.

“Success comes from self-packaging — the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands,” explains a definition of personal branding on ResearchGate. “It is the process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others. Your brand is a perception or emotion, maintained by somebody other than you, that describes the total experience of having a relationship with you.”

If you wish to take more control over your personal brand as it relates to your career, you may wish to start with the following steps:

– Think about who you are, what you do and why you do it, advises Michael Port in the Huffington Post, then write out a summary as simply as possible, giving yourself permission to be “your most idealistic, inspired, creative, powerful you.” The summary should explain who you can help, what you can help them with, what motivates you to do that and what you stand for overall. When in doubt, ask others how they perceive you. “The more bold, authentic and concise your personal brand is, the more easily you’ll attract those you’re meant to work with,” Port explains. “That’s how a personal brand works — it defines you, but first you must define it.”

– Write a marketing tagline or simple sentence summarizing your intent based on your “why you do it” statement. “It’s the way in which you want to touch others’ lives in a positive and meaningful way,” says Port, citing the sample tagline “I’m the guy to call when you’re tired of thinking small.”

– Incorporate those themes when promoting yourself in your resume and portfolio; on your business cards; within your email address; on your blog and/or website; and in your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles. Your branding might even extend to your hairstyle, wardrobe, home, car and attitude if you wish to take it that far.

“Successful people find their style, build a brand based on it, and boldly express themselves through that brand,” advises Port. “To let the world see your true, authentic worth is powerful, and it makes you memorable.”

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