Have you ever been asked the question: “What is your personal brand?” No one would expect you to give a highly complicated answer that is full of business school-type jargon. In this article, we’ll break down what a personal brand is, why it’s important and how you go about creating a brand for yourself.
The anatomy of a personal brand
Just as is the case with a product or service brand that you create for a company, your personal brand is about the thoughts, feelings and emotions that people have about you and what image you want to project.
To illustrate with a very simple example, if you are a warm and understanding person, who is always ready to listen to a friend and offer good advice, your personal brand will become one of counsellor and comforter. People will flock to you for advice or to be listened to as you will become known as a person who can be trusted.
Why personal branding is important
In Branding and Marketing YOU, author Donna Rachelson takes a very interesting look at the topic of personal branding. Rather than writing a textbook on the subject, she decided to interview 10 South African business leaders about their journey and what – about their personal brand – they believe makes them successful.
One of the chapters is an interview with Monica Singer, ex-CEO of Strate. She speaks about her personal brand values of persistence and sticking to the task at hand, at all odds. It is because of her personal brand values that she pulled Strate up and made it the success it is today.