The Unemployed Life

How to Get to Brand You

You know the score. It’s all about personal branding these days. You know what to do: the blog, the Twitter account, the Facebook page, the … you know, the branding stuff. You need a job, and to get it, or that fat yet elusive raise and promotion, you have to distinguish yourself. With branding.

Hold the phone, there, sweet pea. Before you go all Seth Godin on us, take a moment’s pause. Just a moment – well, OK, I lied, more like several moments. And get clear on just what kind of brand you’re communicating to those prospective and current Powers That Be.

What the Heck Is a Personal Brand Anyway?

A lot of folks are writing about personal branding without a clear understanding of what that is. So let’s clarify our terms first.

A personal brand is not just the way you present yourself. It’s not merely your self-image. It’s that, and a promise you make to others – a promise that you’ll deliver on that image. That you’ve got the goods to back it up. In short, your personal brand is an assurance that your ego isn’t writing checks your skill level and experience can’t cash.

Merely saying (or writing) “this is my brand: _________” won’t work, either. You have to show your brand.

That’s why all the best advice out there centers on avenues of communication such as blogs and social networking; they’re perfect for succinctly demonstrating your expertise, whatever that might be.

There’s a catch, though: in order to show your brand, you first have to get absolutely and completely clear on what it is about you that’s capital-S “Special.”

Answering the Hard Questions Leads to a Clear and Memorable Personal Brand

To get the crystalline-clarity that leads to a sparkling and memorable personal brand, you first have to ask yourself some hard questions. Here are a handful to get you started. I suggest you write the answers to these questions longhand in a journal or notebook – something about the act of handwriting in this kind of self-exploration gives us a nice little kick of authenticity, and that’s a very good thing for branding.

So, carve out some “me time” and turn the cell off. Get quiet and centered, and then literally ask yourself the following questions:

What is it that I want to do, more than anything else? If I were hiring someone to do that job – if my life depended on hiring the absolute best person for that job I could find – what would I look for in a candidate? (Start with skills and knowledge, but then go deeper into personal characteristics and work habits.)

Where’s the nexus between me and that idealized (and hence mythical) perfection? Where do I come close?
Where do I fall short? What don’t I know? Can I learn what I don’t know? Is there a way to fill the gaps? (Hint: There’s your plan for the immediate future, right there. Fill that gap!)

Putting all that aside for a minute, what is it about me that’s so damned special? (And don’t kid yourself: there’s something. Probably a lot of somethings. Now? Is NOT the time to be shy. List them all.)

Yes, this is all a lot of tedious, “woo-woo” work. Except, not really. Getting straight on what you bring to the table that no one else ever could isn’t just a good idea; it’s a prerequisite for any kind of advancement.
You’re selling yourself, after all. How can you do that, if you don’t know what’s so great about you?

Sheryl Sisk runs the website The Inspired Solo.

Tags: personal branding