You go for that scholarship interview. You are a fresh graduate and looking for a job. You are selling property. You are experienced at work and want a promotion. You are another blogger sharing travel experience.
Why would someone choose you? Personal brand.
Want it or not, we all have a brand. Your brand is how people would remember you. It can be your characters, expertise, strengths, or unique factors; something special for others to associate with. Just like when you see coffee you think of Starbucks, if you want fast food McD would probably be on your mind. Who’s rich? Warren Buffett. Who’s funny? Ellen Degenerates.
Your character is your brand. When people think of “that kind of person” they would straight away link it to you. “She’s fearless!” “He’s super tough.” “Give this to her, she is always self-driven and definitely can handle it.”
Or your brand could be something you are really good at. “She is the best for digital marketing!” “He is excellent at dealing with tough clients.” “That guy is the most talented guitarist you could find, get him for your band!”
It’s what differentiates you from others.
Photo from freeimage.com
Building Your Personal Brand
Let’s say you want to market your career as your brand:
1) Use testimonials. Always collect testimonials from your clients / colleagues / management. If we know that these people endorse you we would think that you are probably good. This is social-proof strategy! A video testimonial is more powerful than a text one, so please invite your clients to shoot one for you or write you one (with photo together).
2) Leverage on stronger brands. Be acquaintance with influencer / expert of your industry or someone famous (and relevant to your field). Meet them in person, hang out in their circles. If you can have a testimonial from them it’s really powerful to boost your own brand!
3) Aim for awards and media coverage. Put yourself up for challenges / competitions, go win something. Go submit your story to the media, they are probably having hard time finding some interesting news too, if you could provide great insights / interesting discoveries for them you are doing them a favor. Be proactive!
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5) Be a big fish in small pond. The more niche the market you are targeting, the easier it is to stand out from the crowd. Be expert in that niche market, craft your identify and message accordingly. For example – “SK is the funniest fitness blogger in Singapore, she entertains others every single minute” (this is not real ?)
You Don’t Have A Brand Until You Have Visibility
Nobody knows you if you are invisible! These days we live in an online world, online presence is very important. Build a profile page, display your portfolios, put up your testimonials and useful information there. Make sure you are Google-friendly (if someone type in your name, Google would display positive info about you first). No time to build a website? At least have a LinkedIn profile.
You also need to maintain offline presence as well – keep in touch with people, show up at events, volunteer for something relevant.
Consistency is Key
I remember very vividly a quote by a Hong Kong female artist Joey Yung, “No matter big stage or small stage, you do your best. You never know who is watching you.” She was uncovered by someone in the audience when she was performing at a small stage, who eventually helped to grow her career. Such an inspiration! I live by this standard and I always remind myself to commit my best and give my 100%. Walk the talk, be consistent in any scenario.
Building a brand takes a lot of effort, but it goes a long way. Once you have your brand established well, people would come to you, no more chasing clients around. Now, what kind of person would you like to be known as?
(article revised in Jul 2017)
Note: This post is part of the series Work In Progress (WIP).