Personal Branding
We’ve all heard about Personal Branding. It is your unique selling proposition that will differentiate you from all others. The great thing about Personal Branding is that you don’t have to pretend to be someone your not. In fact, it doesn’t have to perfect either. You will attract people as long as you are genuine in your message.
Psychology
There are a lot of psychological factors in play that cause people to be “Attracted” to you. I don’t mean strictly physical appearance here, though that can have a factor. If you can figure out what these psychological factors are and feature or accent your strong points and identify where you can improve in the others, you will be able to separate yourself from all the others. This may take a bit of introspection on your part. The number one reason people are attracted to someone else is that they feel that they are just like them for a host of reasons. They are looking to try to identify themselves with others.
Characteristics
What makes people identify themselves with others is different for everyone. It can be a combination of many things. It can be, and not limited to, age, gender, physical characteristics, experience, vocabulary, exuberance, and presence. It can differ from day to day as well. It depends on each person’s frame of mind. So no matter what your brand or what your strengths or weakness are, there will be someone who will connect with you, start following you, and start studying what you are doing. In a nutshell, you can’t be everything to everybody, nor should you try. You just need to be YOU. However, there are things that you should try to do though that will attract more than just a narrow band of people.
Your Voice
In your writing, your video, and communications you need to sound confident and sure of yourself. People are attracted to confidence, plain and simple. You need to be honest. If you need to write about a concept that you are not totally unsure of, let your readers know. By being honest and admitting some of your shortcomings people will feel an attraction because they know they are not perfect as well. You can divulge these with a pact to learn more about them and a promise then to write about what you learned. This will provide your readers with a sense of belonging while you discover together.
Where To Go From Here
Personal branding isn’t something that occurs right from the get go. It is something that evolves. You will need to take the time to learn to write better. We all do. What’s the best way? By writing of course. You also will need to read the writing of others, especially successful writers and bloggers. Try and see how they frame their ideas and concepts. Try and isolate how they involve their readers and try to start incorporating those concepts into your own writing. I know I tend to write more in an expository manner and it can become a little dry at times. So these little tips, which actually aren’t so little, will provide you with the means to create a Personal Brand that will shine above the rest.
Chris, this is an excellent and original blog entry on personal branding. I’m glad you recognize that branding is just as much about differentiation as it is appearance and personality.
.-= Dan Schawbel´s last blog ..3 Personal Branding Thesis’s For The New World of Work =-.
Hey Chris
This is a great post about personal branding. The points that you make about being yourself is huge. Making a mistake, an error, or just telling your readers that something is not your area of expertise is so important and I am glad that you stated these points. They really can make a difference in the respect and understanding of your readers.
Totally sending this out Chris.
Talk later.
Steve
.-= Steven Downward´s last blog ..SEO Tip – How To Determine Page Rank For Any Site =-.
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I hadn’t thought of personal branding in the terms of “attracting others.” But I suppose that’s really what it is. Your article was helpful to me, as I’m writing a blog post for artists about branding themselves. I’ve had a tough time writing it – because artists are so funny about doing marketing and thinking in terms of themselves as a brand. You gave me a new angle to think about. Thank you!
.-= Maria Brophy´s last blog ..You Aren’t Doing Anything Wrong – It’s Just Hard (To do Great Things) =-.
Chris, great post. I love the fact that you said personal branding doesn’t happen over night. It’s so true, and it’s so fun to evolve and “come into” ourselves. I’ve just been thinking recently that our world in all types of businesses is turning toward personal branding, whether you’re a lawyer, janitor or an entrepreneur.
Thanks for your great content.
By the way, love your header!
.-= Sue Vittner´s last blog ..Haiti =-.
From my own experience I can tell you that it takes a long time to penetrate a market based on personal branding. Branding is great but don’t expect mirracles to happen just because you are personally branded,