It’s easy to have brands fresh on our mind as we see them everywhere we go. Clothes, shoes, makeup, electronics – they all have a brand name. Why should you be any different? Let’s talk about your personal brand – what is it and why is it important?
Start here!
Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. Do you have any idea what they’d say? It’s more than what people see, it’s how you make them feel as well. Personal brand’s have been around for all ages, people just look at them differently (yes, you have one!)
Social Media
Take a look at your social media accounts. Hopefully you’re putting goodness out onto the world wide web. Think your privacy settings have you covered? You’d be surprised what slips through when you thought you had full on armor on those social media accounts. Take the time now to double check your settings, I’ll wait for you. Back? Ok, good. If you’re struggling with what you THINK your personal brand is scan each of your social media accounts – they represent YOU! If you’re unhappy with what you see it’s never too late to change what’s there. Every stage of life brings a different version of yourself, it’s ok to go back and do some spring cleaning on older material (no, you’re not old).
Google Yourself Bam! There you are, all over Google. Like what you see? If yes, congrats! If no, I’ll help you fix it. The idea doesn’t sound that fun and you may not think you have a presence online but you will probably be surprised.
At the very least, if you’ve ever had a social media account of any kind you’re out there! Did you know the most current content you put onto the Internet returns at the top of search results? If you don’t like what you see, start pushing updated content as much as you can, even if it’s on social media. If you’re in the job market there’s a good chance your potential employer is Googling you. Some ways to get updated info out there are as follows: create social media accounts, create an about.me page, create a blog/website, etc.
Personal brand = your voice + your vision + your visuals
Make it a goal to improve yourself by 1% per day. Create ways to get in front of your target audience and present yourself. Out of your comfort zone? Push yourself, it’s how you grow. People don’t start new jobs, relationships, etc and have the world wrapped around their finger in a day, these things happen over time – time that involves representing your personal brand. I’ll leave you with some questions to help you get started on defining your personal brand:
- What types of things do you enjoy doing?
- Who are your role models? Why?
- What is your dream job? Does it align with what you’re currently working towards?
- Describe yourself in 30 seconds. Have difficulty doing so? Brainstorm and nail it down
- What are traits you admire in others? If you admire them make sure you have the same
- What makes you unique from others? Personal brand selling point!
Want to continue fueling your personal brand? I’m here to help and I want to.
Kindness, beauty & strength,
Alicia
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This post was originally published on 7/28/2017 and has been updated to include new information and pictures as of 3/25/2022.
