Despite the fact that the idea of personal branding has been around since 1977 when Tom Peters penned an article called “The Brand Called You” for Fast Company magazine, the concept of personal branding is still elusive for some professionals. I often am asked about how to create a personal brand, or what it needs to consist of or what it should look like.
A personal brand is not one of your personal marketing documents, like a resume or an executive bio. It’s not like a mission statement, although a personal mission statement could be part of your personal brand. Rather, a personal brand is built around those characteristics that make you unique; that help you stand out from the crowd. The concept of brand itself is elusive, since it is based on an overall impression rather than a specific, concrete formula. Think about the consumer brand experience. What makes McDonalds different from Burger King, or Target different from WalMart, or Macy’s different from Bloomingdales? Those brands are generated by a wide range of variety of expectations and experiences that give those stores and restaurants a unique personality. Your personal brand needs to convey that same sense of uniqueness and differentiation.
When you apply for a position, your professional expertise, your credentials, are a given as part of the price of admission. If you are competing with other professionals for a role as a vice president of engineering or CFO, then you have to possess a specific set of skills to be considered for the role – that’s the price of admission. What will make you stand out are those characteristics beyond your job qualifications.
Megan Koehler, founder of ContempoResume blogs about personal branding, and she recently posted a recent blog explaining what she calls “The Five Ps of Personal Branding.” These five characteristics are common to all of us, and if you can find a way to capture and package them and incorporate them into your resume, marketing documents, blog, interviews, and everything you do as part of your professional persona, you will be well on your way to developing your personal brand:
- Personality – Everyone has one, but the hard part is taking a look at your personality and define yourself.
- Perception – How do others perceive you? Ask a few trusted colleagues (rather than friends) if there are areas where you can improve.
- Passion – What drives you? Do you like to look at different ways of doing things, or are you a people person? What makes your life complete? It reflects on your personal brand.
- Presence – How do you present yourself? Unlike how you are being perceived, this is what you are projecting to others.
- Principles – What do you stand for? What values and ethics do you live by? These are also core to your personal brand.
