Start Creating Your Personal Brand

We’re used to thinking of branding as it relates to companies and products – such as Starbucks and Hershey Chocolate. Though branding goes beyond that. We all have a personal brand – we are individuals with unique qualities.

What do I mean by personal branding? It is creating and promoting who you are and the values you live by. Your brand is a unique blend of skills and experiences that makes up who you are.

What will it do for you? If will distinguish you from other professionals in your career.

How can you start creating a personal brand for yourself? Here are 3 ways to begin the process:

1. Think of yourself as a brand – Take a step back and think what you want people to think of when they hear your name. If you died today what would you want someone to say about you at your funeral? If you want to be recognized by a certain skill what qualities would you want to be associated to that brand? One major factor in this is to remain authentic. People will catch a person being a fake very quickly 
   
2. Know where you stand online – In today’s age we are able to share information quickly online Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, snapchat, etc. Remember it is easy for people to do a google search and find so much information on you. Have you done a google search on your name recently? I use do this this frequently just see what it said. Google has a great feature that you can create alerts that will email you for searches you set up. Google yourself and setup alerts your name on a regular basis. You might be surprised what shows up.                       
   
3. Create a personal website – I recently did this step. Creating a personal website is one of the best ways for you to show up in search engines. Buying a domain is pretty cheap and if you can get one that easily identifies who you are even the better. You do not have to go crazy on a website it can be real simple and include only a couple pages including resume, brief about you section, social platforms, and a contact page. Over time you can grow your website.