Personal branding describes the process by which individuals and entrepreneurs differentiate themselves and stand out from a crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility, advance their careers, and build self-confidence. The Real Definition of Personal Branding
All successful companies brand themselves.
So do successful blogs.
And so do successful employees.
It’s all part of being the CEO of your own destiny.
Here’s a list of simple steps to help you design your brand.
But first, BMW.
BMW developed a couple of mantras to represent its mission. ”Sheer driving pleasure” and “the ultimate driving machine.”
What emotions do you feel when you see a BMW? What does BMW do differently? What target audience does it have in mind?
The slogan “Sheer driving pleasure” originates from 1964 and still holds true for all BMW brand models.BMW also uses “The Ultimate Driving Machine” slogan. That campaign helped define a decade of conspicuous consumption,particularly in the 1980s.
The campaign focused on BMW’s performance and was unashamedly elitist. The ads targeted the affluent and successful professionals who responded
to advertising that tapped into their sense of superiority. True Kolor
Write your business mission.
Have you written your personal mission statement? If not, read my article on how to write it. Then write your business mission using the same steps.
Make it into a business mantra.
Next, boil your personal mission down into 3-4 words. These words should capture the essence of what prospective customers to know you for.
Your mantra is the heart and soul of who you are and what you have to offer.
For example, Farnoosh, at Prolific Living, http://www.prolificliving.com: Smart Habits for Rich Living
Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, http://www.zenhabits.net: Breathe
Michael Hyatt, http://www.michaelhyatt.com: Intentional Leadership.
Here are some company examples:
Federal Express: “Peace of mind”
Nike: “Authentic athletic performance”
Target: “Democratize design”
Mary Kay “Enriching women’s lives”
Make three lists.
In The First Step to Building Your Personal Brand, Megan Marrs lays out some simple steps to coming up with your mantra.
The First List: Emotional Appeal
How do you make, or want to make, other people feel?
What themes have you discovered in your personality? (Take some of the personality tests I laid out for you in this previous article).
Ask yourself the following questions:
How do you make or want to make people feel?
How do other people benefit by working with you?
What words do others use to describe you?
The Second List: Determine Your Description
Your description clarifies the emotion word from the first list. For example, Farnoosh picked Smart and Rich to describe habits and living. BMW’s campaign mantras used “sheer” to describe “pleasure” and “ultimate” to describe “driving machine.”
Answer these questions:
What field or industry are you in (or do you want to be in) ?
What words describe your work?
Who is your target audience?
List Three: Determine Your Function
Write down exactly what you do. Are you a manager, a creator, or an organizer? A connector of people?
Check out my article about discovering your strengths get a clearer focus.
Answer these questions:
What service do I have to offer people?
What do I do that makes me stand out from everyone else?
Extra nugget:
In Tremors of Psychitude: One Little Trick to Find Purpose and Motivation, Leo Babauta recommends instead of asking, “What should I be doing?” or “What could I do to give my life purpose?” … try asking:
•What could I do to help people in need?
•What pain are other people feeling that I could help with?
•Who do I care most about, and what problems do they have?
•Who are my current customers, and what can I do to help them more?
•What problems are out there that strangers might have, that my particular skillset could solve?
Combine All The Ingredients Into Your Business Mantra
Review your business mission.
Review your three lists.
Write down a 1-5 word phrase (take a word from each list) that captures the soul of who you are and what you do.
Try this several times. Sleep on it. Run the phrases by a close friend or business partner.
Then pick the one phrase that rings true.
Have you written your business mantra? Feel free to share it with us!
Image credit: samuiarzt / 123RF Stock Photo
About Stephen Borgman
Very well explained, Stephen. I liked the way you broke it down to the nitty-gritty for people like me who aren’t a tad business minded.
It’s an instructive tutorial, one that makes a lot of sense and is worth a lot. It must have taken you a lot of time to simplify it like this. I don’t think I’m ready to design a brand as yet, but when I do (very soon) I shall be coming back here to go through your points step by step.
Anne @ confidence blog recently posted…Your Confidence Muscle
Anne, thank you for the kind feedback. It’s never too late to start designing your brand. You’ve got a lot to offer: it’s just a matter of designing the package to present it in.
Steve Borgman recently posted…Set Your Individual Branding On Fire With These Simple Questions
Stephen, I loved how you broke the steps down with such clarity. Congruent branding is one of the most important steps to take – and definitely should be very thoughtful from may perspectives before putting it out there. Great info!
Dena Lynn
Dena, thank you for your feedback!
Steve Borgman recently posted…6 Best Free Strengths Test Sites
Stephen—
Thanks for a post dealing with such an important dynamic for all of us that does not waste words. You lay it out in a readable, straight forward manner that makes sense which could serve as an “check list” for what we need to do.
Gene Call recently posted…Painting Trim
Thanks, Gene! I appreciate your encouragement.
Loved this article Steve! Recently I have been working with authors on branding and building a platform and it still stuns me to come across advice from an “expert” telling authors they should just forget branding. That advice is so outdated, and as I tell my clients – whether or not you buy into branding, the truth is you already have a brand – it’s everything you publish, all your communication, the look of your blog, whatever. I will be sure to share a link to your article because you’ve laid out the steps to branding in such a clear and concise way.
marquita herald recently posted…Exploring the Value of a Creative Pause
You’re so correct, Marquita. We already have a brand: it’s just a matter of whether we want to be proactive in shaping how we’re perceived, and how we want customer leads to see us. You have so much to offer with all your years of corporate experience: I’m sure I’ll be learning a lot from you.
This is awesome Steve!
Branding is everything! It is what we come across to the world. I see a gravatar of someone and their brand is immediately in my brain. So how do we do this effectively? Hey you just gave us a wonderful tutorial and fabulous links. There is no excuse not to brand ourselves. We do it anyway even if we are not aware. It is everything we write on our blogs, everything we comment on in social media, hey everything we express.
Great Tutorial
Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted…Strengths and Weaknesses
Thank you, Donna! I myself have a long way to go with continually reflecting upon and upgrading my own personal brand.
Steven,
What a great primer on finding your true centric business self. It’s so important to give a sense of who you are and what you intend to do in a brief statement. Here’s a couple of slogans a like:
“It’s everywhere you want to be.” Visa
“Because I’m worth it.” L’Oréal
“Have it your way.” Burger King
“The antidote for civilization.” Club Med
Much to be learned from the successful ones.
Thanks,
RICK
Rick Lelchuk recently posted…Life’s Secret Sauce – Gratitude
Hey Steve,
These are some great things to always keep in mind when posting content. Even if you never come right out and “SAY IT” in text, if one were to just simply think of these things when they create their content online, it will not only become apparent, but it will make all of their content relevant. We know that is super important when it comes to not only ranking in search engines, but giving our readers, clients, customers etc exactly what they are looking for from us
BTW, I learned something new… I always thought Nike was “Just Do It!” lol
Jacqueline
Jacqueline Waters recently posted…Content Will Always Be King!
Hey Stephen,
Branding is vital online. I can think of a number of companies off the top of my head that have done a great job in branding themselves, target, axe, and geicko. A lot of people that brand their business online overlook the branding aspect of their business.
Doing something creative will set you apart from others in their business. Also, creating an elevator pitch is a great way to get your brand out there. Think of what others are doing and show why your product or service is simply better than them. It’s all about sticking out from the crowd
Garen recently posted…http://guestpost.deaddogdesign.net
This is really the age of the personal brand. More of us are working person to person than ever before, and I am so honored to be a part of what feels to me to be a MOVEMENT. It’s an exciting time of life – even with the economy falling apart before our eyes! You put the steps together so well, Stephen, and anyone can follow what you have written to do. This is yet another article I need to share on Facebook. Thanks, buddy! Your content is always full of much-needed value!
Christi Johnson recently posted…I Didn’t Know The Problem Was With Me!
Stephen, well done!
You have given us a serious outline of great foundation base to Branding one’s self. This will have most understand the importance of completing due diligence and some serious soul searching. Just the mission statement alone is the core part of any business.
Now, this amazing detail with Branding would not be complete with one finding their passion first. Then based on this, develop your business from just that and make sure to be clear on how it supports peoples needs. Staying transparent all the way is great!
Stephen, your a strong leader in our industry and your brand has tested the times online and offline.
Thank you for being ethical in all your dealings and giving us real usable content all the time.
William Amis recently posted…Getting It Done Right The First TIme
This is an article that I know I will keep coming back to! You have laid out a prefect path for anyone getting started, Steve, and also one to revisit at least once a year to make sure the path has not changed!
Thank you
Alan
Alan Jenkin recently posted…Increase Productivity With These 3 Tips
Alan, thank you! And by the way, it’s okay for our brand to change a bit over time, since we change and our circumstances change.
This is a simple way to boil down what we do in a few short words. You can read plenty of articles about branding online and many of them ramble on and on without ever getting to the point. Your post helps crystallize this really necessary idea about businesses and what people think of when they hear about you.
The world on time, just Do it, any of those things are great ideas to distill down the idea of our business to its simplest form. its hard, and i think that’s why a lot of people don’t do it. Kind of like 4 paragraph mission statements put together by committee. But these are our businesses and no committee is needed.
Michael Shook recently posted…How To Get Positive Thinking Tips
Great points, Michael! It’s challenging to put everything down into a simple phrase, but powerful once we’ve done it.
What a useful post. We’ve actually been talking about branding in a Facebook group I’m in. You’ve made the whole process pretty clear. Keep up the good work.
DeAnna Troupe recently posted…Small Business Reading: Book Review-It’s Rising Time By Kim Kiyosaki
Thank you, DeAnna. I appreciate you stopping by and providing your input.
Stephen,
this is sure a great article, very well written and love the way you broke it down in such a way even me could follow.
Branding was not something I ever though about till last year… and that is when I start to pay more attention of what I do, how I do it, with whom I do it and the most important (for me anyway) why I do it.
This may be funny to people like you who studied about understanding people and how they react.. but for me who did attend very minimum formal schooling, branding ourselves in the traditional way (as you outlined so clearly) is not as easy as you believe it is… BUT at the same tiem we do it, but we do it in our unique way.
After reading all the steps to do it as you suggested, it was very clear to me this is the best way to do it… but I have to wait till I am open to do it and in the mean time will do my best as I know how.
Thanks so much for sharing such a great way to brand ourselves properly, I know many people will benefit a lot.
nickc
nick catricala recently posted…How do you handle life when a turn for the worse appear?
Thank you, Nick. I look forward to hearing your branding mantra in the near future!
I haven’t written my personal business mantra, but this sure excites me toward doing so!! Great post!!
Holly recently posted…You Can Lengthen Your Health Span!!
Holly, thanks for the encouragement. I, too, am working on mine.
This is great information Stephen. I will be reading this a few times and following up on the links within the post to get a better picture. You basically broke everything a person needs to know down to Barney style as I hear a lot running in military circles when the instructions are easy. I’ll be happy to share.
Melanie Young recently posted…Facing Down Fear
Hi Stephen,
this is like a one stop post, where you get the ‘whole enchilada’ of how to design your brand.
A while ago I read the book ‘The Answer” by John Assaraf and he has very similar suggestions.
But you have just provided it all in one post! Awesome.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Cheers,
Yorinda
Yorinda recently posted…Loving Kindness Prayer
Hi Steve,
This is one of the best posts I’ve read about branding. You provided a step by step process to understand establish branding. I especially like “The Real Definition of Personal Branding.” Thank you for the tutorial and links to help everyone understand and establish their personal brand. You’ve inspired me to analyze my branding and go through the steps to improve my approach. Branding is extremely important in this business. Great share!
Raena Lynn
Raena Lynn recently posted…Oh No! Not Another Challenge!
This is such a well put together post! I have been wondering how to really go about creating a brand lately. It seems like there is a lot of information about branding and how to get your name out there, but this is one of the clearest and most straightforward how-to’s on really creating a lasting brand that can be designed to fulfill your purpose and obligation to your followers. Thank you so much! I am going to get started on this!
Shawn recently posted…Are binaural beats safe?
What a Great Post Stephen! I can remember when I first got started online a few years back I was told to brand myself but really didn’t think about it at the time and really didn’t know how to go about it all. This is something I have been working on lately, and the way you have explained things was very helpful Thanks for sharing Chery
Chery Schmidt recently posted…Be Ok With Who You Are And Where You Are Now
Chery, it’s been fun to see you go through a new phase in your business. It seems as though your self reflection has paid off: I can tell you are so excited about your business now
Love the way you laid things out Stephen. Much of the personal branding advice that’s available typically focuses on a bland mix of job title, transferable skills, personal attributes, and accomplishments. But branding involves a ton more than that, and by digging deep to define your specific “brand DNA,” you are able to tell your brand story in ways that let you truly stand out.
Rachel Lavern recently posted…Why Am I So Tired?
Hey Stephen,
This really was an awesome post. I am for sure going to look up some business mantras for tsome inspiration and then try to make a good “foundational” business mantra for myself. I enjoyed reading through some of the comments to see what others takes were one this post! At the moment I am kind of doing a re brand. Since I have started online about 3 years ago I have gone through abotu 3-4 re brandings and I think I have finally found exactly what my personal brand is all about. Thanks for the motivation.
Kyle Nelson recently posted…What Is Link Juice and What Makes It Very Important?
Awesome post.. I came up with three words for what I do: Celebrate, Promote, and Inspire through my Radio show. I love what I do – making people smile and sharing their interests and passions with others. I was seeing how companies and people created a “mantra” with 3 words. Short and catching. Easy to remember. Wonderful post and full of great suggestion, thank you…
Lesly Federici recently posted…Guest: Donna Merrill, Social Media Expert, April 4
Great tips, Steve! I am definitely going to be coming back to this post to take your advice. My blog could be so much more than it is.
Willena
Willena Flewelling recently posted…FOCUS on One Thing
Excellent tips on branding yourself Steve! I am going to apply what you have covered in this post and I’m so glad you have taken the time to help all of us to be better at branding. My business mantra is: we make getting healthy delicious! I have built my business and blog around doing this and it has helped me to really be true to what I’m passionate about sharing with the world. Thanks for the great advice.
Shelley Alexander recently posted…2 Spring Energy Salads
Hi Stephen,
Thank you for your article and giving me something to start off with because I really don’t have much of an idea of these kinds of things but you’ve made that really easy to understand and follow,
Thank you
Kind Regards, Jessica.
Jessica vanZyl recently posted…19 Cans Of Fosters (part 1)