What is personal branding and why it matters

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding involves self-presentation in the best possible light to others, through the management of thoughts on how a self is understood by other people.

It is the practical application of the concepts of branding products and services to the person in a way that the product an individual sells, which may arguably be the most important one: himself or herself. Personal brand does not refer to a reputation that everyone has, but rather the conscious process to manage the image. Personal branding is aimed at making sure that the story of you is true, consistent, compelling and differentiated. Unless you take time to develop your personal brand, people may not think and perceive you the way you would like to be perceived.

Personal branding is a well-established process initiated by the ideas of Tom Peters commonly known as Brand you philosophy, as explained in his book, The Brand You 50, which advances the ideas presented in his article, The Brand Called You published in 1997. In a 2003 book "Be Your Own Brand", marketers David McNally and Karl Speak described a personal brand as "a perception or emotion, held in someone other than you, that characterizes the sum experience of the relationship with you". It is the ability of exhibiting your special strengths, abilities, values and personality traits resulting in being noticeable in your profession or industry.

Basics of a Good Personal Brand

A good personal brand is constructed with reference to various significant facets that altogether transmit your personal value and personality.

These elements make your brand perfect, accurate and influential.

The Values and Purpose of Defining

The second step to entailing a personal brand is figuring out what you are, where you are going, and what are your aims. This is about inward reflection where you ask yourself what you are passionate about, what you are and what makes you unique and what value do you add into the life of other people. Your brand values are the beliefs that you uphold which you desire to express in your brand and they provide the truth and stable base of the brand. Once defined, you have the tools to create a succinct value positioning statement--a sentence that tells who you are and what you bring.

Stocktaking Brand Equity

Prior to developing a new brand it is vital to evaluate what you have in the way of personal brand today. This audit is based on taking into consideration such factors as your credentials (education, awards, achievements) social capital (quality and quantity of connections), and cultural capital (emotional intelligence and expertise based on life experiences). An audit of the personal brand allows one to see the needs and wants of the current perception and the perceived brand that one desires, and therefore possible ways of utilizing your existing capital to make it possible to meet your branding ambitions.

Writing a Persuasive Story

It is well known that the value proposition is supported through stories. Therefore, after you have come up with the purpose and what brand you are presently carrying, summarize stories that reflect on your value offering. Although a statement will do, real life examples and experiences demonstrate your worth in a conversation. Through these stories, you should get across your best selves and stand out and these should talk about when you calculatedly took a risk and it paid off.

Talking and Walking Your Brand

Once you plan, proactively talk about your own brand across platforms. This would involve utilising a combination of paid, owned and earned media to expose your value proposition to a broader part of the network. When you are interacting face-to-face, it is important also to reflect your brand, which is to show what you are all the time.An example can be given as when talking about a passion you might want to communicate a passion in volunteerism, then you can discuss your participation in charitable activities passionately. Being your brand further implies constantly increasing skills that contribute to your added value.

Networking and Reconsideration of your brand

In addition to self promotion, make sure others share and promote your value. This will include working through gatekeepers (whose support is vital), influencers (who can offer platforms), promoters (affections), and communities (collections of people working on your mission). Personal branding is an evolving process that needs constant evaluation and correction in order to make sure you live and exude the intended brand. Ask input of trusted colleagues, friends and industry contacts to aid in articulating and redefining your brand and worth.

Why Personal Branding is Important in the Contemporary Business World

Personal branding also has a key competitive benefit in the attention economy, in which the digital world of information is very large yet attention now is a finite resource. It can make you visible among your fellows and more powerful and professional.

Developing trust, credibility.

Personal branding helps an individual in being able to be recognized easily in connection with skill and expertise hence having a direct culmination of credibility and trust. Persistent messages and presence on- and offline enables people to familiarize themselves with you as a professional, thereby creating a perception of a relationship and trust. People tend to act upon personal recommendations more than advertising campaigns, as 92 percent of the people trusted the recommendations of individuals over the brand. This trust is converted to business because individuals purchase and interact with personal brands that they are sure about.

Appealing to Opportunity and Career Growth

Defined personal brand may lead to new career realms, job promotions and changes to work to your true self. It boosts your exposure and the likelihood of being remembered by both the hirers as well as job recruiters. On the contrary, 71 percent of the professionals report that a great individual brand can produce new work opportunities.Your personal brand would be the evidence of your knowledge, passion and desire to contribute, valued by the hiring managers. It also enables mobility and advancement of career, which will enable you to stand out in a competitive job market.

Maintaining your own Story and Digital Space

At the current times where prospective employers can screen any potential hire via social media, personal branding gives you the power to decide how you are viewed online. It helps you to put yourself in the best form and makes sure that your online self can contribute to your professional interests. Consistent portrayal on both professional and personal platforms generates congruence in brand image and prevents instances of unprofessionalism, an aspect that is likely to take a toll on career opportunities. Strong online presence, such as a professional profile, in social networks like LinkedIn, is a major tool in self-branding and in job-seeking.

Self Confidence and Inner Advantages

In addition to the outer benefits, personal branding gives you inner gains in growing confidence in your skills, having your goals and values understood, and removing imposter syndrome. Making a reflection and presentation of the unique contributions can be very much rewarding in terms of effectiveness in your confidence. Individuals with an active influence on the building of their personal brand feel stronger or empowered and are considered more employable.

Uncodemy Courses to help Build Your Personal Brand

Building a good personal brand is all about daily study and planning of action. Uncodemy is a leading training institute in information technology; therefore, the material provided in the institute can help an individual develop his or her personal brand. An example is in the Uncodemy course in Digital Marketing; this offers a bonus unit on LinkedIn personal Branding. This shows that they have understood the need to have an online presence and professional network when it comes to personal branding.

Although the particular Uncodemy course descriptions in personal branding stretch solely to a bonus module on digital marketing, there are basic pillars of personal branding instruction that can be applied with the aim of advancing your online appearance and image in the job market.These classes will usually involve learning how to establish your online presence, network, tell your story and how to promote yourself to your audience. 

Through using such educational resources, such as Uncodemy, a person can acquire the needed skills of defining and marketing his/her unique value in a strategic manner. Such personal branding investment will help to become distinctive in a competitive labor marketplace and attain professional and personal objectives.