The brand called YOU

She must be in her late 40s. A software engineer who loves to bake. She dislikes rightists. She has a troubled marriage. She is a fierce feminist. Strongly opinionated, her sense of self righteousness makes one avoid getting into an argument with her. Overall, a person with depth, I'd say, but someone I'd want to catch up over a cuppa? Maybe not. And I know her only over Facebook!

Consciously or unconsciously, each one of us is doing that: perceiving of people in a certain way from their activities, online or offline. Consciously or unconsciously each one of us are creating our own brands: a brand called “YOU”.

Someone is always watching

Everything you do contributes to your brand. Every. Single. Thing. And the advent of Social Media, touted as the biggest shift after the Industrial Revolution, has unlocked immense possibilities. All the content you share, updates you write, photos you post are visible to your future employers, potential spouses or people who may end up working for you. So, stop, think: how do you want people to talk about you when you are not around? What do you want your story to be? 

Personal branding

Branding is a conscious effort. It is like taking a grip of your life, identifying gaps between what you are and what you want to be, developing yourself and making yourself visible to the right target audience, at the right time. In other words, highlighting certain aspects of your personality which are more attractive to specific people than certain others. Why do it? Author Tom Peters, says it best in his book “A Brand Called You”: Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

Don’t you agree? We are all marketing ourselves: to prospective employers across interview tables, to our subordinates in the boardrooms, to customers over a presentation, to probable spouses’ families at their homes. And no matter who you are, what you do, it all boils down to creating an impression.

So, how do you do it?

Understand your true potential

It begins with self-retrospection. Who are you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you do best? Or what is it that you want to do and how are you going to be better at it than others? Begin with jotting your thoughts. Use mind mapping tools if required. And while you do, be true to yourself. If there are gaps to be bridged, take up courses, train, work hard. Dumb people can play smart, but for how long? So, be genuine. Identify your true potential because that would be the most effortless to develop yourself on and hence build your brand around.

What do you bring to the table?

Identify your value proposition. Just like the brands you buy, why not write yourself a tagline? And push that ONE brand message in everything you do, but very subtly. Especially, in the age of content marketing, the trick is in selling your product without asking anybody to buy it. For example, for someone looking at becoming an Influencer in the travel industry, he would typically publish travelogues, share dos and don’ts over Tripadvisor etc. But to really carve himself a niche, he will have to consistently show value through meaningful contribution to his industry and most importantly, at the relevant platforms. Relevant or high impact platforms for him could be anything from social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or others where he can physically make his presence felt, like travel summits, bloggers’ meets and so on. Once again, it isn’t enough to have a good story unless it’s told to the right people, at the right time. 

Make yours a happy story

No matter how difficult a situation, it can be dealt with in a positive manner. And human beings, by nature, are susceptible to negativity and get drawn towards positivity. Remember that when you write your own story. Make it one that inspires, one that shows it’s been written with great passion because those are the brands that will attract, those are the brands that will go on to create lasting impressions. 

Happy branding :)