Mind your own business

The Power of your Brand

Personal branding is something I’ve taken an increasing interest in over the last few years (and I’m still learning all the time). There’s no doubt that how you brand yourself or come across to others is critically important to the growth of ‘you’ in a business sense. Your brand is your trust mark.

Whether you own a business or work for someone else you are a brand. How you look, how you sound and how you make other people feel is all part of your brand. It’s the ‘experience’ of you. We are all familiar with how powerful personal branding is just by thinking of people like David Beckham, whose image rights are worth millions because of the value of his association.

We need to build a strong personal brand because we are literally selling ourselves to whoever we meet. If we look wrong, sound awful or bring personal baggage into our business lives then this creates a certain impression.

My partner Katri came in from work the other day and we were talking about her day. She told me about a guy in her office, which is open plan, who every time he finishes a call he just loudly rants on and on about how much pressure he’s under and how he can’t stand it. This is part of his brand.

My friend Paul always does what he says he’s going to do. He’s utterly and completely consistent all the time. This is part of his brand. It’s one of the reasons he’s top of his field.

It’s often the seemingly small things that can make all the difference and we are not always aware of the messages we are giving out. Maybe we should occasionally take a step back and ask ourselves and others ‘how do I come across?’

If you want to find out more about branding have a look at www.walkingtall.org and www.allaboutbranding.com I’ve found some useful information on both sites.

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