Shaping Your Personal Brand
Jul 25I recently was invited to speak at EMERGE a conference in Los Angeles organized by my friend Mariano Faget, the publisher of Hispanic Magazine and Hispanic Enterprise. Mariano asked me speak on developing your personal brand. I found the topic interesting and compelled me to examine what I counsel companies to do in shaping their brands.
While we all know that brand is the holy grail of advertising, your personal brand can be the foundation of your success. The magazine, Fast Company, calls this ”Brand You.” We are lucky as Americans because we have so many examples of people who have successful re-made their brand. From Benjamin Franklin who went from being an inventor and scientist to a world renown diplomat to Ronald Reagan who after a successful career in the movie business transformed himself into a legendary politician who reshaped American politics to the Diva of Pop, Madonna, who reinvents herself every few years, we have great examples to draw from. Fast Company stresses that “Brand You” is not a one time thing. I couldn’t agree more. You need to revolutionize your portfolio of skills at least every half dozens years. This is a minimum survival necessity.
In this world, the only way to truly Brand You is to be the boss of your own show. Today, ordinary is boring. If you grew up thinking you were going to work at a bank for 40 years you are simply not going to survive today. Here’s some advice I gave those attending the conference on how to develop your personal brand.
Land the Best Gig Possible. Everyone who is successful turns projects into stuff that gets you noticed.
Promote, Promote, Promote. Market your worth. Spread the word about the great results you achieved.
Master Something. Find something you love and become good at it. Make yourself indispensible.
Its ok to Re-Invent Yourself. You have to able to change course. Love the game enough to thrive on new challenges and assignments.
Above All Loyalty. Loyalty is not dead. Be true to your colleagues, your work and your clients. This will grow your network of professional contacts.
Embrace the New. You don’t have to be an expert at everything but be aware of what’s going to change the world and how that impacts your work (i.e. who ever heard of blogging three years ago?)
Never Be Satisfied. Always strive to do your job better.
If you follow these principals you will establish Brand You and successfully position yourself. There’s no guarantee this will work, but it will make your professional life more engaging and fulfilling.