Personal branding

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According to personal branding expert Nick Nichols, your personal brand is the firm impression or fixed image that comes to mind when people think of you. A personal brand is the mental picture that people conjure up when your name is mentioned.

Nichols says there are two types of branding: tangible and intangible. Tangible branding involves tying your name to a specific benefit that people will get from dealing with you. Intangible branding involves creating a positive feeling in people about you.

Nichols advocates creating a personal branding statement by first identifying your target market and then pinpointing the most important benefit they want from a person in your position.

Then you must create reasons why people should believe you will deliver on your benefit promise.

And if possible, you should create a unique difference between you and your competition. Creating a personal brand identity helps you become known as the one to call in your industry. Using the Internet is a very cost effective method of promoting your personal brand.

In a Fast Company article [1], business guru Tom Peters advises individuals to follow the lead of the corporate world and do what they have been doing for years: create your own personal brand.

Peters says that no matter what your career title, you are really the CEO of your own personal service company: Me, Incorporated. He says each of us is "a free agent in an economy of free agents" and that we all must establish our own "micro equivalent of the Nike swoosh." [2]

Peters says that "everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark."

[edit] Other takes on personal branding

"If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. If you CAN'T then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective." Al Ries Laura Ries "World Class Brands” Executive Excellence, March 1999 [3]

"A Personal Brand is the measure of AttractAbility(TM) that the owner commands from their prospective audience. Proprietary research has revealed the seven drivers of attraction which determine the degree of trust that others will bestow on their dealing with you. Personal Branding is therefore a emotivational process of creating and sustaining trust in communicating your unique value to your target market." (German brandologist Dr Nikolaus Eberl, author of The IziCwe Code, Academy Press 2005).

"One of the big misconceptions about branding is that it's mostly about brand awareness, or "getting your name out in the marketplace." I think awareness is the most overrated branding characteristic. It is only the first step in the branding process, not an end in itself. By focusing too much on awareness, companies tend to spread themselves a mile wide and an inch deep, squandering their resources. I am much less concerned with how many people know my clients' names than I am with having the right people not only know their names but attach a deep meaning to their names. This is a meaningful distinction; awareness is a very expensive thing to buy, and it's an investment whose return is often not positive." Steve Yastrow, Brand Harmony [4]

"Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something - to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in your brand. When you create a compelling brand you attract people who want the promise of your brand - which you deliver." Dave Buck, Captain Quirk [5]

According to William Arruda (http://blog.williamarruda.com), the personal branding guru, Personal Branding is a revolution in the way we manage our careers or businesses. It's a way of clarifying and communicating what makes you different and special and using those qualities to separate from yourself from your peers so that you can greatly expand your success. The first step in the process involves understanding your unique promise of value. It is only after having a clear understanding of your brand that you can begin expressing it to your target audience. (http://www.reachcc.com)

According to Peak Persona Image consultancy for business etiquette , People absorb more powerful messages about you and your company from the way you present yourself. Impressions trigger them more than they consciously realize.