In this situation you need a viable solution to make yourself stand out ... the CEO of your own life, thanks to Gil Bozer for that one, and as such you have complete ...
Building Your Own Personal Brand What do Mick Jagger, Justin Timberlake, David Bowie and Lady Gaga have in common, but more importantly what do YOU have in common with them? The answer is rather simple: the above artists are not only highly successful people in their own right, but they each have a uniquely powerful personal brand and you have the same opportunity to give yourself a distinctive and recognisable personal brand of your own. Inhabiting the entertainment business is a daunting task especially when you are embarking on a career. I’ve likened the entertainment business to being in a room packed full of hyperactive teenagers all with attention deficiency syndrome, all high on E-‐numbers and all trying to shout louder than the person next to them. In this situation you need a viable solution to make yourself stand out, your brand. Ask yourself this, what is your brand? What is it that separates you from the pack, linking your unique skillsets to your experience and reputation? I’ll let you into a secret here a brand is not the exclusive province of specially qualified marketing executives in huge, complex trans national organisations. Branding is not the dark mysterious and evil art, practiced by the hidden persuaders of capitalism. You are the CEO of your own life, thanks to Gil Bozer for that one, and as such you have complete control over the construction and maintenance of you own brand. Think of your brand as ‘You’ PTY, Inc. Ltd or .com etc. If your reputation is what people say about you, especially behind your back, and your resume/CV is what you say about yourself, especially on paper, your brand is all that but plus. Your personal brand is your professional identity, the one you create in the minds of others. In your long-‐term career, do not look to a specific company or industry to take care of you. As in every other arena of life, you must take care of yourself, after all you are the CEO of you own life. A well-‐built brand will probably be your life raft. But what does it mean to brand yourself? As our untouched selves we are, alas, merely one of the worker hordes, a wage slave or office drone. As a brand we become distinctive and desirable, whether in-‐house to managers, outside to clients, or across the globe to potential employers. A resume may summarise what you have accomplished, but a brand shouts louder: "Pick me off the shelf. Pick me. I'm special, reliable, trustworthy, high quality, creative, excellent, expert. Pick me." Branding means different things to different managers and employers. Some emphasize the importance of establishing niche expertise. "I am a Pro-‐Tools Jedi”, or I work in a specific musical genre (not advised), etc. Branding means creating visibility and recognition as that expert, which makes our customers want to talk to us and, more important, believe what they are saying. This is, of course, the biggest obstacle to successful self-‐branding. Anyone concerned with authenticity and complexity might resist the idea of reducing themself to cereal-‐box proportions for
the purpose of marketability. But that sensibility gets in the way of sales, time to wise up. After all, you still need a great cereal in that box. The packaging just makes it more likely everyone else will try it. Be serious and think about what your brand is and how you will develop it. A great brand gives you stability, loyalty and growth potential in a very fickle business that has the attention span of a goldfish. Consider the alternative. If you don’t have a brand, a set of meanings, that works for your customers/clients both rationally and emotionally, then where does that leave you? I would argue, and I’m good at arguing; it makes you a commodity, just a useless set of functions rather than a set of meanings. OK you want some ‘takeaways’ for free here right, that's why you are reading this? Here are ‘Tim’s Top Tips’ to building or improve your brand: 1. Remember that every appearance, appointment, meeting, phone call, and e-‐ mail offers opportunities to help or hurt your brand's image and you control that. Showing up on time, dressing correctly for the occasion and using positive body language will all work in your favor. “5 minutes early is on time” is one of my favorites. 2. Use social media to craft a clear concise, hard-‐hitting brand statement. However you feel about ex-‐music business entrepreneur Richard Branson, he’s got a compelling Twitter bio that reads: “Tie-‐loathing adventurer and thrill seeker, who believes in turning ideas into reality. Otherwise known as Dr Yes”. 3. Use social media responsibly, that digital footprint can’t be erased. Use Facebook for family and friends ONLY, lock out everyone else, if you use Linkedin make sure its business like and reflects your brands USPs. Badly managed social media is like an outbreak of Ebola, once the damage is done its done. So be prudent with what you post online impulsive, strident, and inappropriate comments or photos can undermine your brand fast. 4. Come up with a quick pitch, an elevator pitch, that transmits who you are and what you’ve done: This one-‐liner belongs to a guy named Jeff Weiner, who happens to be the CEO of LinkedIn: “Internet executive with over 19 years of experience, including general management of mid to large size organizations, corporate development, product development, business operations, and strategy”. 5. Bench mark your brand against similar people’s brands. The simplest of all benchmarks of your brand is to think about how it performs on two measures: strength and positivity. Who knows of your brand? what do they know about your brand?, do you have to keep explaining what your brand is about? In which case it probably isn’t working. 6. Never put a limit on your ambition or imagination, you are amazing one of a kind, there are plenty of people who will try to do that for you. Ambition and
imagination will help you locate and define your authentic purpose in life and that's a key to happiness. Johnny Rotten of UK punk band the Sex Pistols, later re-‐branded as John Lydon, in his superb 1978 album ‘Public Image Ltd.’ Hits the nail firmly on the head when he wrote the lyric: -‐ Public image You got what you wanted The public image belongs to me It's my entrance My own creation My grand finale My goodbye
