Here’s a secret that most people don’t tell you: you already have a personal brand.
We all do. It’s what our mothers used to call “first impressions,” that lasting perception people have of you after just a brief meeting. You refine that personal brand every day even if you’re not trying: by how you look, how you speak, how you behave, how you eat, and so on.
The difference between people that don’t hold our attention – or worse yet, hold it in an unflattering way – and those who we consider to be excellent “personal brands” is that those with the top-notch reputations usually work pretty hard to maintain them.
And their brands show it.
It is usually easier to create a personal brand in a vacuum – in other words, in a land where no one has every heard of you before. However, most of us don’t have that luxury; even coming right out of college there’s going to be someone who knows about your grade-point average and the time you set the frat house on fire. Therefore, it’s up to you to re-create yourself while you’re still on the market.
Don’t even think about waiting until you’ve landed that new job. Chances are that without a brand makeover, you’re unlikely to shine in your job search. And even if you do get the job, you’ll be unable to overcome the same issues that have held you back in your current position.
You’re acting like one kind of person, but you want to be perceived as another.
Consider the people that you admire – whether you’re looking for a job, or a place as an Internet guru of some kind, or even as a date on Match.com. What characteristics or habits do they have that you want to emulate?
Remember, this is the time to be realistic. Make the most of your best assets. If you are a woman with seventy or eighty pounds too many on your frame, it’s probably not going to benefit you to wear the tightest, shortest skirt you can find two sizes down on the sale rack. If you are a smart entrepreneur who can’t do his own public relations, hire someone else to do it – you should spend your time doing what makes you money.
Look at how those people whose positions you covet dress. Take note of their clothing and their grooming, as well as their accessories. Look like the job, and you are more likely to get it. I know a woman who dressed down for her job because she believed – truly believed – that she was so talented that it didn’t matter how she looked. Well, she was fairly talented, but she certainly didn’t look like the boss. This was a person who worked really hard to get to a certain salary point, but could never rise above it.
Also consider your personality – and that’s the personality you reflect on your Web site as well as in person. You need to be the person you can be.
One of the worst offenders in my office was a short, stocky guy who liked to call the women in the office “darlin’.” The fact that he was neither charming nor the Marlboro man did not stop him from this ridiculous behavior. He annoyed the heck out of the women, who complained vociferously about him. Although he was relatively talented as a software engineer, management looked at him as a walking sexual harassment lawsuit.
You also need to be able to express your competencies. That means using adjectives that count – if you use words like “great” or “strong,” you will be part of that pack, not ahead of it. Focus on keywords – for the Internet and beyond – that describe what makes you different and better than the competition.
By keeping your eyes on the goal – a personal brand that stands out – you’ll be able to meet your objectives.
Related posts:
- Personal Brand, Professional Brand – What’s the Difference? What do you think is the difference between your professional...
- Analyze Your Personal Brand When you brand yourself, it’s important to take some...
- Create Your Own Self-Brand for More Success Has someone else ever decided for you: who you are,...
- The Top Ten Secrets to Mastering Your Personal Brand What do Sir Richard Branson, Barack Obama, and Suze Orman...
- Why Should I Care About a Personal Brand? Are you Nikon? Or Audi? Or Pepsi? Your brand is...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
