What’s your personal brand? You should already be able to answer this question based on our recent podcast ‘How to do brand you’. Now we are going to do something even more exciting, which is communicating your personal brand!
Communicating your brand can be super easy, as long as you keep these aspects in mind:
1. Be honest
People may know you for some skills and strengths…like your amazing organising power or your capacity for compassion and caring for others. But do they know about your creativity or your ability to think strategically about the future? If all of these feature in your brand, then be clear on which aspects people ALREADY know you for and which you would wish they knew MORE about. For those aspects you are known for, keep hitting that message home; for those aspects you’re not known for, you’re going to have to start being explicit about those parts of your brand. Make it CLEAR to others.
2. Know your audience
You’re bound to have people you particularly want to get on board with you (e.g. your colleagues, boss, boss’s boss). Well for each of these individuals or groups, you will need to work out why what you’ve got MATTERS TO THEM so that they can see the value of it and think of you more often when that kind of opportunity comes onto their radar. I might have creativity and strategic thinking but those are just words. For your boss, that might translate to getting insight and new thinking into their budgeting and planning process for next year. For the team, it might be coming up with new product or service ideas and then structuring these into a plan. Either way, just saying ‘hey I have these things I make available to you’ is only part of it, the other part is helping others see why this matters to them.
3. Talk about it
Let others know what you have, why it should matter to them and how they can use you more. Sounds easy but often it isn’t, because we tend to feel awkward when talking about stuff that we’re good at. A great way to do it is to say that you’d LOVE to have a go at that task or project because it’s something that you really enjoy and you’re trying to stretch yourself in that direction, plus you reckon you’d be pretty good at it. Think about the classic ‘elevator pitch’ – if you only had 10 seconds to pitch yourself to some super important megastar person in your life, what would you say that would get you noticed? And remember, you need to repeat these messages consistently to ensure you get your point across, to ensure that you get noticed.
4. Write about it
Talking is one thing but writing is another. I would highly recommend upgrading your CV and your online presence with the clear consistent messages you have developed in your brand pyramid and plan. So if you’re describing yourself on LinkedIn or in a CV, job board, website, wherever, try and keep the messaging as consistent as possible so that it gives that clarity to others on what you stand for, what you’re good for, and how that could benefit them.
Did you know this blog is also available as a podcast along with some other incredible content? Check it out on iTunes, Spotify, Acast.
