Defining Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Defining Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Before you can create your personal brand, you have to know what your personal brand is. This post will help you to define your own personal brand through taking a look at your unique personal brand attributes. Once you have your personal brand attributes you can begin sharing your personal brand with the world. Simply put in a word Simply put, a personal brand attribute is a word that describes a characteristic or quality that you possess. It can also be defined as how others would describe you if they could only chose a few different words. Lets take a look at my personal brand attributes so you can get an idea of how this works. A few months ago I won an award at work for my performance on the award were five words that best described the winner of the award. When I won the award I thought to myself, these words are my professional personal brand attributes and exactly how I want to be perceived in the workplace. Here they are: Work Ethic: I have a very strong work ethic and believe in making sacrifices that others wont. Accountability: Im believe in my work and others can rely on me to get the job done. Professionalism: I put forth a professional demeanor in my actions and words. Intelligence: I take the time to learn the trends affecting my industry and how my company fits in. Im knowledgeable. Confidence: I put forth a quietly confident attitude that rubs off on others and instills credibility. I would also add these: Light-hearted: I try to not take myself to seriously, I like to laugh and enjoy life. Motivating: I like to help others and myself reach peak performance I like passing on what Ive learned to others. These seven words describe my personal brand very well and they are the characteristics I promote on a consistent basis through my personal brand. Even more important, these attributes are how others describe and view myself. What you represent and want to represent Through this exercise you will gain a real understanding of what you represent or want to represent to the world. Many people put off doing this exercise because they realize there is a disconnect between how others view them and the way they want to be viewed do not let this stop you. Each small step in the right direction is better than no action at all make sure you discover your personal brand attributes so you can share them with the world! What are your personal brand attributes? Please list them in the comments below so we can all get an idea of the different personal brand attributes out there! Enjoy the weekend! Author: Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt. Defining Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Defining Your Brand Defining your brand is critically important to your personal and business success. Beginning years ago with The Brand Called You by Tom Peters, the importance of defining and building your personal brand has been growing and is hitting a tremendous stride in 2009. Peters pioneered the idea that your brand is not the company you work for but rather who YOU are in that company. These days, superior skills, great resources, and inside knowledge are merely prerequisites if we even hope to compete in todays global marketplace. Rising above, standing out, and hitting your target has become more difficult than ever. It is very crowded out there and its said people receive literally thousands of branding messages every day from news media, movies, online, print, billboards, radio, TV, etc. Our personal brand the words and phrases we want others to think of when they think of us is all thats left to differentiate us from the rest of the pack. Add to that the fact that people are now changing jobs and careers so often, and your personal brand has become more important than ever. You first define and then communicate your brand with a clear strategy. For many, navigating that invisible line between clear and effective communication of your brand and offensive self-promotion is tricky. It’s important to be authentic and speak to your accomplishments. However, you will wear out your welcome if you try too hard, sell too much, speak too fast. On Broadway, it’s called flop sweat. You’re not sweating because of the bright, hot klieg lights. You’re sweating because you’re losing the audience â€" you know it, and they know it. Develop a Compelling Brand Message On the other hand, people will pay close attention to a strong and compelling message. They’ll lean in to something that resonates with them. Since its the first of the year, take time to review your brand message: Conduct a personal brand audit to determine your how your values and vision might have changed over the past year. Define who you are by writing a list of words that describe who you are and what you do. Review your online presence to ensure youre maximizing the new tools available. When was the last time you Googled your name? At the beginning of this year I wrote down the following words to describe what Ive been doing for the past few years: I consult, teach, write, and speak. Whats changed in 2009 is my messaging strategy. My personal brand audit turned up an opportunity to ramp up my online presence significantly via social media tools. Social media is an outstanding communication channel and network builder for personal branding. My focus on my Twitter presence alone has already brought new clients and opportunities this year a clear indication that the strategy is working. Make sure 2009 is your year! Define your brand. Decide on a compelling message and audit your online visibility to make sure youre maximizing social media tools and tactics. Update your Linked In profile and get on Twitter, if youre not already there. Explore blogging, podcasting, Facebook and more to learn how you can expand your visibility online. Be authentic and consistent. Make sure 2009 is your year! Suggested Reading: Tom Peters What Your Personal Brand is NOT Author: Beverly Macy is Managing Partner at YM Partners LLC in Beverly Hills. She also teaches a social media class at UCLA and is organizer of the Gravity Summit event at UCLA February 25, 2009.