BUILDING YOUR BRAND
***Once again- remember that I am reading and sharing things I have learned from Personal Branding for Dummies (A Wiley Brand).***
Alrighty- so, branding is building positive experiences for the people who want to know about you and what you have to offer.
By creating a unique image. This is done in a few different ways. First, you want to stand out from the crowd. You also want to surround yourself with the best and brightest to help strengthen your brand. Who better to have in your corner but people who understand the process and can help in its creation. Be creative in the avenues you use to build yourself up. Bring your audience along with you when building your brand. Most importantly, be prepared and willing to evolve. You are not the same person you were a year ago and hopefully, you won’t be the same a year from now. Be ready to change at all times.
So, here’s the question- what makes you special? What will make you stand out from the
crowd? Think about it. Let’s say you are selling…apples. What makes your apples better than the apples down the street? Why should I but YOUR apples? We all want to believe that our “apples” are sooooo good they could sell themselves. Maybe they could, but you still need to market and brand them as the best damn apples EVER. How are you going to do that?
Labeling- organic, homegrown, no pesticides…these are selling words in the world of “apples.” What are the selling words in your desired arena? Of these words, which are the strongest and which fit YOU?
I am a writer. I call myself a writer because, I believe, I haven’t earned the title author until I have published my works. Which is coming after the new year. Anyway, my selling words would be based in the literary world. The best words to describe my work and me as an author. It’s all about the keywords you use to describe your work. When you shop on a website for a certain product you type keywords into the search bar to locate what you are looking for. What are the keywords you want people to use when looking for or describing you? That is your brand.
I asked people I know to describe what they thought of me the very first time we met. What were their first impressions- strong, independent, intelligent, honest, and funny were a few. But…stern, scary, and blunt were on that list as well. What’s funny is, I’m cool with all of those words. I tend to give off different vibes in different circumstances. If I feel I need to be cautious I whip out my resting bitch face and watch people back up. If, however, I want to feel excepted into a group I soften my approach and move slower.
Branding is all about you taking control of how the world at large sees you. Not everyone will like you, not everyone will care, but those that do need to know what you stand for. No one else will take care of your branding like you will. Get in the game and stay active in how you are seen. Make yourself memorable, meaningful, and appealing to your audience.
It is okay to focus on you and what you want out of life as long as you don’t hurt anyone along the way. Try to…
Find joy. Be joy. Enjoy.
New Ink. Used Ideas. 