How to Uncover Your Personal Brand and Tell a Better Story About You
Marketers often spend a lot of time thinking about clients or company brands, but they may not take advantage of the very real opportunities to build their own personal brand, which can have a major impact on their careers. Mel Carson, Founder, CEO, and Principal Strategist with Delightful Communications walked through why personal branding is important and how to start building your own brand and become discoverable, shareable, and memorable.
What Is Personal Brand?
“Personal branding is what people say about you after you leave the room.” ~ Jeff Bezos, Amazon
While Jeff Bezos’ definition of personal branding is succinct, it doesn’t explain how you clarify and then create your personal brand. That is more than a one-time exercise; according to Mel, it’s an ongoing, intentional process. “It’s the practice of defining your professional purpose and being able to articulate your experience and value to your target audience through digital media and in-person.”
The heart of a personal brand is your professional purpose—what is it about what you do that ignites your passion? Figuring that out is key. But an effective personal brand doesn’t stop there. You need to be able to clearly articulate the value that your experience, your unique skills, and your strengths bring to your target audience. And that means that you also need to determine who your target audience is for your personal brand. Is it business owners? Other marketers? Certain industry professionals?
Why Personal Branding Is Important
If you, like many people, haven’t given your personal brand a single thought, the truth is that you still have one. Your online and in-person interactions are all contributing to the experience and impression others have of you. So your personal brand is out there, whether you own it or not. And if some sort of personal brand is already being created, then why not take the reins and shape it intentionally?
The effort of doing so can reap significant rewards because of personal branding:
- Establishes credibility and expertise
- Grows your network
- Attracts new opportunities
- Helps you reach your professional goals
- Benefits your company
While there are cautionary tales of people who have had problems putting themselves out there online, the benefits of being out there with your personal brand outweigh the possible problems. (As long as you are thoughtful with what you post.)
Personal Brand Components
So how do you show up in person and online successfully in order to build your brand? Mel shared the DNA for a successful and enduring personal brand, which consists of four main elements that can be remembered by the acronym AURA:
- Authentic - Authenticity has become a buzzword in marketing circles, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important. Your personal brand should reflect who you really are.
- Useful - The more value you can give to others, both those who interact with you directly online or in-person and those who are lurkers that follow your career without your knowledge (and there are more of those than you may realize), the more successful your brand will be.
- Relevant - The things you share must be relevant to your target audience. Personal things, like hobbies, family activities, and other non-work related posts, can also be relevant because it humanizes you. People connect with other people, not just a “brand”.
- Actionable - Give people something that they can do with the information you provide. This will help you be more useful as well.
Focusing on these components can help you build a successful personal brand through digital and in-person strategies that focus on relationships and connections. This is how you nurture loyal fans throughout your entire career.
Getting Started on Your Personal Brand
Mel gave some practical takeaways to get started:
- Discover Your Story - How did you get where you are today? What are your strengths? What do you love about what you do? What do you want to be remembered for?
- Craft Your Professional Purpose - What is your mission? Who is your audience? What value do you bring them?
- Search for Yourself - What impression are you making? How welcome and approachable are you? Can you be trusted to deliver?
- Determine What You Will Do Next - Taking what you’ve learned through this presentation and the exercises above, now what? What are your goals? How can you inspire others?
No matter what your level of experience, you can start building a successful and impactful personal brand for incredible, rewarding results.
Mel’s presentation was insightful and timely, with good examples and actionable takeaways. It was another valuable DMC event. If you haven’t been to one yourself yet, it’s a great way to network, learn, and stay abreast of the quickly changing digital marketing landscape.
Be sure to follow Mel Carson on Twitter.
If you couldn’t make this event live, you can see the replay below. Towards the end of the video, there was a great Q&A session where Mel answered viewer submitted questions as well.
Be sure to check out and register for all of our upcoming DMC online events (and watch all the past ones too). We have events planned twice a month through the end of 2020. We hope to see you there!
Want More Detail? Enjoy The Replay Below!