{"id":17234,"date":"2023-07-18T03:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T03:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/?p=17234"},"modified":"2024-03-20T03:46:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T03:46:23","slug":"how-to-brand-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/how-to-brand-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Brand Yourself In 7 Simple Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Fifteen years ago, professionals entered a job search armed with their resumes and professional reputation. And that was enough, thank you very much. Learning how to brand yourself was not part of the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, only celebrities like Oprah and Bono thought about self-branding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those days are in the past, and personal branding is a crucial component of success in corporate careers and business activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must learn how to sell yourself in order to rise through the ranks.<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Why Is Personal Branding Important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most people point to the Internet as the driver of the personal branding phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while the Internet certainly plays a part, larger economic and technological factors are also at play. Thomas Friedman, the author of the international bestseller The World Is Flat<\/u><\/em><\/a>, explains it best:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average won\u2019t earn you what it used to.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Being average doesn’t cut it anymore – because employers have direct access to above-average, cheap foreign labour, robotics, software, automation, and genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Important!<\/h3><\/div>

Everyone needs to find their “extra” \u2014 their unique value<\/u><\/a> that makes them a superior choice in the eyes of employers.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What Is A Personal Brand?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consider Jeff Bezos\u2019s famous quote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour personal brand is what people say about you when you\u2019re not in the room.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, you\u2019re not in the room when a recruiter Googles your name, or looks at your resume<\/u><\/a> or LinkedIn profile<\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Related: <\/strong>Complete Guide to Setting Career Goals<\/u><\/strong><\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means you must invest time in creating your own personal brand \u2014 regardless of whether you\u2019re an active job seeker or a passive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your personal brand is the unique set of qualifications, strengths, key personal attributes, core values and curiosities that communicate your value to employers, colleagues and clients.<\/em><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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How To Brand Yourself Like A Pro.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A successful personal brand is built using layers of messaging across a number of platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must build your personal branding strategy from the inside out, as outer layers derive their strength from the inner layers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Above: A successful personal brand starts by articulating your commercial value.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, writing content and building your social media presence is largely an exercise in futility – until you develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Expert Tip.<\/h3><\/div>

A successful personal brand doesn’t need to have all four layers in place to be effective. In fact, building the first two layers will give you a competitive advantage over 70% of your competition.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1. Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A sound personal branding strategy begins by defining and articulating your unique point of difference in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A crisp USP will set a north point for all your future personal branding activities and prevent you from creating an unfocused, meaningless, “everything to everyone” brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Above: Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) exists at the interseciton of market needs, your innate curiosities and your track record of success.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start creating yours, explore the intersection of market needs with your motivations and competencies. For example, you may be a B2B sales lead with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n