SELF BRANDING

Many people think that if they do a good job, their career will go fine. But no matter how secure your position seems to be, you are in competition with more people than you think.
To some people, branding may seem manipulative or phony. "I'd just rather be myself," they say, "to go with the flow and see where my career takes me." Or, the familiar line, "I'm not good at marketing myself."
If you don't brand yourself, others will. The fact of the matter is you're giving the power to other people to brand you if you don't do-it-yourself.

The Self-Brand Mindset

Self-branding means looking at yourself as a marketer would look at a product that he or she wants to make a winning brand. You don't think of yourself as an employee even if you work for a boss. You think of yourself as working for yourself marketing the brand…you. The first thing a marketer does is analyze the market and the product to understand what the opportunities are, what the threats are.
• What are the current conditions?
• What are the assumptions about the future?
• What problems need to be solved?
• What needs aren't being met?

Act Like the Marketer of the Product: You

In personal branding, after analyzing the market, you do a self-audit. What are my strengths and weaknesses? How does my brand compare with the people I am competing with?
You focus on key attributes and resources that differentiate you. Skills, abilities, even personality traits you have that are a solution to a market need. Then you adopt what Theodore Levitt called "the marketing imagination." You build a personal brand identity that is different, relevant and adds value.

Write Out A Marketing Plan

Develop a formal marketing plan that lays out a personal brand strategy and action plan. It is often in the writing that new creative options come to light.
It is important to set personal brand goals with a specific time frame and plan of action for achieving the goals. So just like a marketer would, you write down personal marketing activities to achieve your goals. And, of course, you execute the marketing plan. You can't get to where you want to go unless you plan it and then do it.

The Final Step Is Measurement: Assess Your Effectiveness.

How is my "portfolio" different now than it was last year? What new projects did I take on? How did I expand my network? What new learning did I acquire? If something isn't working, you change trains. Branding is a dynamic process that offers the greatest rewards to the receptive individual.