By: Riley Codero

If someone were to Google your name right now, what would they find, and would you be proud of that? In a world full of information right at our fingertips, reputation is everything. Being successful in the business world requires standing out to customers with your product or service. A great way to do this is to create a personal brand that aligns with what your business stands for.

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So, what is a personal brand and how can you create one? A personal brand is the way you present and market yourself to others, especially in professional settings. It’s how people perceive your skills, values, personality, and reputation, and it differentiates you from others in your field. When you think of Greta Thunberg, what do you think of? Most people’s minds go straight to activism, passion, and courage. When people think of Beyonce, they think talented, iconic, driven, and women empowerment. These are all examples of personal brands celebrities have built over the years to distinguish themselves from others in their field. There is not a simple framework you can follow to create your personal brand, instead, it’s more about the actions you take, values you stand up for, and the work you do in the world to inspire and influence. Creating a personal brand statement is a great way for people to remember you by. It differentiates you, clearly communicates your values, establishes credibility, and attracts the right audience.

When thinking about your own personal brand statement, there are many questions to ask yourself to make the perfect one for you. First, you want to ask yourself, what are your core strengths and values? It helps to make a list of these actions, but also to ask outside sources what they think. Asking close friends and colleagues aside from yourself not only allows for a different perspective but gives you an idea of what you want to improve on as a company. Another question to ask yourself is, who is your target audience? This can help create a statement tailored to your target demographic. This can all affect the tone and contents of your statement and can make or break the influx of potential customers. Some more include your diving factor and a unique upselling proposition. The main thing to focus on is how you want people to remember you and your company.

Rita Clifton is a prominent British business leader and brand strategy expert. She is widely respected in the branding world; known as a “brand guru” (Financial Times), “the doyenne of branding” (Campaign Magazine), and “the brand leading the brands” (Daily Telegraph). Shes talked about the three Cs of personal branding: clarity, coherence, and commitment, and the importance of purposeful personal branding. These are important things to think about when creating your brand statement. When creating your statement, are you clear about your purpose? For coherency, it’s all about language and style. Can your statement connect with who you are adhering to? And lastly, commitment is all about having a clear vision. What does having an idea of the areas you’d like to be involved in and what will be needed in the short and long-term to be successful look like for you? These are just all things to think about when creating a personal brand statement to be able to stand out against competitors.

Now that you have an idea of the contents in your personal brand statement, it is time to construct one! Again, there is no specific formula to create one, you just want it to sound like you and be short enough to be rememberable. Remember to make it authentic, and not overly formal, a two-three sentence structure is a good outline to make sure you are not creating a biography. A simple formula to use can include, “I help [who] by [skill and how it’s used], and so that [benefit/impact].” This is a straightforward way of describing your values, skills, morals, and who you are as a business and what you do. For more specific roles in business, a formula to follow is, “As the [role], I use my [strength/skill], to [create impact].” When creating a statement, using a formula that entails what you are trying to convey is crucial. It can vary on who is speaking and what your focus is. Do you want a statement that is future focused, about passion and purpose, or to even highlight what you are known for? That’s the great thing about personal brands, they are personal! Not one formula will fit for everyone, it’s about taking your personal experiences and capturing them into a couple sentences to stick with people. A great example of a personal brand statement is, “I help brands turn followers into loyal communities through authentic storytelling and digital strategy.” This is a short statement that highlights what they do and how they do it.

Once you have created and perfected your statement, it’s time to market it! Wherever people can find information about your business, you should put your personal brand statement! It creates a nice ring to follow the name of your business. Some places to include your personal brand statement are on your website, social media, and LinkedIn pages. You can add it to the About Me section in LinkedIn for easy access to personal information. Additionally, if you are making it for yourself and not for a company, add it to your resume! You can also include the statement as the end to an email signature, so it sticks with people you are in communication with. There are so many ways to incorporate your personal brand statement, and your website and socials are also a reflection of your personal brand.

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There are a couple things to remember when creating a personal brand statement. A personal brand is not a way to brag about all of the great things you have done. It is also not a biography about yourself and what your company does. It is a glimpse of what your company does, how it does it, and why it does it. Remember to make it align with your company’s social media presence and true morals. You cannot claim to be something in the statement that does not accurately reflect the operations of your business. Building a personal brand isn’t just about how others see you—it’s about understanding who you are, what you stand for, and how you bring value to the world.

References:

https://www.smartinsights.com/online-brand-strategy/brand-development/3-cs-of-personal-branding/ https://www.ritaclifton.com/ https://executivecareerbrand.com/what-personal-branding-is-not/