personal branding

Akin to social media, where the focus is on finding others – friending or connecting with fellow alumni or former colleagues – another phenomenon emerges as the way to find yourself.

Didn’t realize you were missing and needed to be found? Perhaps you are not. I, however, am. So off I go to discover my personal brand…

As a marketer I get branding, the process of defining a product, company or service so that it exudes an essence, a palpable existence that illicits a response – good or bad, but hopefully good when people encounter it.

There are many parts of a brand:

- Brand Message
- Graphic Imagery – logo, color, style choices
- Tagline

What is difficult for me is applying all of these branding methods on myself as the “product” that I need to elevate, promote and sell.

Do I know enough about who I am and who I want to be to actually build my brand?

Will I recognize myself in this brand I create?

I’ve asked some people whom I’ve worked with, whom I like and respect personally and professionally to help me with a “tagline, a brand statement” that they think defines me and I’ve gotten some good ones. They have helped me remember who I was back when I was happy in my work. Several gave me car analogies and you’ll see my own car self-analysis in a future blog.

But years have passed and the resume has changed. I know my core values, I know my strengths and yes I am well aware of my weaknesses. How to weave these in to a brand is my dilemma.

So I have found a great resource “Personal Branding Magazine” an online publication that comes out bimonthly published by Dan Schawbel. It has great columnists who can give you plenty of insight on discovering your personal brand and growing and using your brand online. I would highly recommend taking a look and seeing if it might be something you’d find useful for yourself.

In the meantime I am in discovery mode and I hope to share bits of my journey with you along the way.