In today’s fast-moving professional landscape, “people branding” has become a pivotal strategy for career development and entrepreneurial success.
No – this isn’t some sadistic practice engaged in by cowboys with a steaming hot iron.
Instead, it’s the art of turning what’s unique about you into a saleable commodity, and one that can earn you an excellent living.
Although at first glance it may sound faddish, personal branding is far from a mere trend. It’s a foundational step that shapes your career trajectory and business ventures.
This article will explore the ideas behind personal branding and why prioritizing it can be a game-changer for your professional journey.
The Enduring Asset of People Branding
What do you have when everything else falls away?
Or to put it more positively, what can you count upon to assist you 24/7, 365 days a year?
You… that’s the simple answer.
All entrepreneurs begin by selling themselves first and foremost. After all, why would an investor trust you will potentially millions of dollars of their hard-earned cash without admiring something about you, believing in you, and trusting you deeply?
Your personal brand extends beyond your current job title or the company you work for. It represents your professional persona and values, evolving with you throughout your career.
Unlike specific job roles that may change, your personal brand remains a constant, growing in stature and value over time. It’s an investment in yourself, one that should accrue dividends in the form of opportunities and professional growth.
Some Examples of Personal Brands
Let’s consider three contrasting high-level entrepreneurs and see if we can identify their personal brands.
- Elon Musk – blue sky thinking, impetuousness, determination, hard work.
- Oprah Winfrey – triumph over adversity, empathy, spirituality.
- Richard Branson – boyish enthusiasm, adventurousness, ambition.
As you can see, not all qualities of an entrepreneur are 100% positive (impetuousness), but all contribute to an individual’s uniqueness and to the attraction of their personal brand for their followers.
What People Branding is and isn’t
Here are some things that could become an aspect of your personal brand:
- The kinds of parties you throw.
- Your style of management.
- The clothes that you wear.
- Your sense of humor.
- Your attitude to risk.
Here are some things that probably aren’t relevant to your personal brand:
- The car you drive (except for Michael Connolly’s The Lincoln Lawyer)
- Your favorite sports teams or bands.
- How tall you are.
- How many friends you have.
- Your age, race, or gender.
The former are all things you’d bring to work, and that colleagues would be impacted by. The second list may be quirky or interesting, but they are not intrinsic, or sufficiently unique.
While some aspects of a personal brand (like how you dress) are simple to change, others are less flexible (such as your sense of humor). Many can be changed over time (how you manage your employees, for instance) but may require some hard work.
Career Versatility Through Personal Branding
A strong personal brand is synonymous with career resilience and flexibility. It paves the way for smoother transitions, whether you’re climbing the corporate ladder or switching fields.
For entrepreneurs, it forms the basis of your working relationships with clients, suppliers, and the buying public.
As Veloce International highlights, people branding is pivotal in advancing your career by setting you apart in the competitive job market. It gives recruitment professionals something to grab hold of when trying to position you within a competitive analysis of candidates.
What benefits does your personal brand contribute to business success? Let’s break them down one by one.
Establishing Trust and Credibility
The primary benefit of people branding is its ability to foster trust and credibility. These qualities are the cornerstones of professional relationships and business dealings.
Consider real estate agents for a moment.
We might assume people buy houses based on the intrinsic qualities of each property. However, what often seals the deal is the trustworthiness and empathic qualities of the agent. When we make what may prove the largest purchase of our lives, we are placing our trust in the individual facilitating that deal, after all.
Different personal brands suit different audiences, of course.
If you can develop a reputation for being trustworthy and honest, for instance, as well as hard-working and high achieving, you may be an excellent politician. You’ll soon have the public on your side.
If your personal brand is more about innovation and telling difficult truths, sometimes at the expense of being polite, this might suit a tech audience or a group of particularly brave venture capitalists.
A well-crafted personal brand conveys your expertise, values, and reliability. It is vital for both traditional career progression and when stepping into the entrepreneurial arena.
Networking Power of a Personal Brand
Your personal brand can significantly boost your networking potential. It opens doors to new connections, collaborations, and opportunities.
A well-defined brand resonates with your professional circle, enabling you to build a network that’s aligned with your career goals and values. People branding is critical in today’s interconnected world, where opportunities often arise through networks.
By defining your unique qualities, you can draw compatible collaborators towards you, and build teams with sympathetic priorities.
In addition, having a powerful personal brand helps others find you, whether it’s through a LinkedIn search, a visit to your website, or encountering a piece of your thought leadership.
Laying the Entrepreneurial Foundation
For aspiring entrepreneurs, personal branding is more than just a tool; it can become the foundation of business success.
Consider Richard Branson, for instance, whose youthful ambition, enthusiasm, and innovation led him to launch a counter-culture magazine, create a mail-order record distributor, and launch a music label. Branson achieved all the above by attracting the collaborators he needed to make it all happen.
A robust personal brand helps in building an initial audience, fostering loyalty, and differentiating your venture in a saturated market.
As Brand Credential points out, your personal brand is instrumental in attracting customers, recruiting employees, and differentiating your offering from your competitors.
Managing Your Digital Footprint
In the digital age, your online presence often makes the first impression. What have you written online, what sorts of visual footprint have you left, and what does your landing page say about you?
Strategic people branding enables you to control this narrative, ensuring that your digital footprint aligns with your professional goals and persona.
Websites like TopResume emphasize the importance of a consistent and professional online presence as part of your personal brand.
Remember that one of the first things prospective investors, collaborators, or employers may do with your name is Google it. What shows up in an online search? Is it consistent?
Curating your digital footprint is important if you want to maintain a convincing personal brand.
Authenticity and Unique Value
Lastly, people branding is about authenticity and highlighting your unique value proposition. What can you offer that your competitors can’t? Think this through in terms of the skill mix, personality, and experience you bring to bear.
Your personal brand has a fingerprint’s uniqueness – nobody else has that specific blend of qualities and experience. Leverage what’s best about your personal journey to bring collaborators onside.
Developing a personal brand allows you to showcase what sets you apart in the competitive job market or business landscape.
A key takeaway is that this cannot be faked. If you’re not a bullishly confident person, there’s no point in trying to “fake it until you make it.” Sometimes a little humility and honesty goes a long way.
Embracing your authenticity not only helps in building a relatable brand but also ensures that your career or business resonates with the right audience.
Resources for People Branding
A good way to identify your personal brand is to ask some honest, long-term friends, to describe what makes you unique. What brought them to you as someone to spend time with?
You could also identify and obtain the assistance of a mentor. This senior figure should have succeeded in a related field and should have a sympathetic personality. They achieved success by leveraging their own unique qualities, and so can you.
There are also several good books on this topic. For more insights into building a powerful personal brand, consider exploring my book Anti Agency: A Realistic Path to a $1 Million Business, which goes into more detail about this vital aspect of entrepreneurial progress.
We all have personal brands… whether we like it or not.
If you really think about it – everyone engages in personal branding in one way or another. When you curate your Instagram feed, hang pictures in your office space, or write a LinkedIn profile, you are building a personal brand.
The difference is that entrepreneurs need to engage in personal brand-building self-consciously and deliberately. It can’t just happen organically.
People branding is not just about self-promotion.
It’s a strategic approach to shaping your career and business success. By investing in your personal brand, you’re setting the stage for long-term success and fulfillment in your professional journey.
Remember, in the world of entrepreneurship and small business building, everything really does revolve around you.
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