At times you have to think of yourself or your business as a commodity that needs to be promoted and sold, for a job, selling something or a range of reasons - same as you need as a gardener to sell vegetables with good brand, representing good brand values.
At those times you need a plan and a range of Brand Values that you represent, you have become a brand that these represent.
Whether it’s a higher salary, a better job or more influence in your
industry that you’re after, your personal brand – how colleagues, headhunters
and managers perceive you – could be your most vital tool.
Image
is everything
While the idea of having a personal brand is not new, it was first
spoken about in 1997, the idea has reached its time. Business is booming for
Emily, who says the company has grown by 200% every year in the four years it
has been operating. What is perhaps surprising however, is that more men than
women have taken up their services, with a roughly 70%-30% ratio.
“Men actually love the program,” she laughs. “Because most men don’t
want to think or worry about this stuff.”
And Emily points to examples of clients who have received major
promotions and pay hikes after presenting themselves differently in the work
space. The message; improving your personal brand might significantly
transform, or fast-track your career.
Self
promotion
Here, we outline five simple ways in which you can build and promote your
personal brand, in order to achieve your business and career goals.
1. Know your strengths
Emily says it’s all about finding the one thing that makes you
different, and learning how to embrace and enhance it. “The fundamental idea
behind what we do at Brand New You, is to get an understanding of who our
clients are, work out the best parts of them, and then enable them to
demonstrate in two seconds, to anyone they meet, just what they’ve got to
give,” she says. Unearthing those characteristics that make you such a great
asset, then knowing how to promote them, is key.
2. Conduct a social
media audit on yourself
Brad Schepp, co-author of, How to Find a Job on LinkedIn,
Facebook, Twitter and Google+, says it’s not just about making sure those
drunken party snaps are safely hidden from your public profile, but making sure
the information that is available publicly paints you in the right light.
“Build compelling, professional profiles for yourself that include your job
history, going back no more than 15 to 20 years,” he advises. “LinkedIn is an
obvious place for such a profile, but Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, among
others, are also sites where you can include this kind of information. These
profiles should demonstrate not only what you've accomplished, but where your
strengths are and what you can offer future employers.”
3. Position yourself
as an expert
In today’s economy, it’s more important than ever to differentiate
yourself as someone an employer can’t afford NOT to hire. “People are looking
for specialists, not generalists when recruiting and promoting now,” says Dan
Schawbel, author of the upcoming, Promote Yourself: The New Rules for
Career Success. “If you can become the best at what you do you will become
sought-after”. It seems like obvious advice, but honing your skills in an area
that differentiates you as a leader is a great way to fast-track your career
goals.
4. Publish and Curate
You don’t have to be an author to publish great content these days
- in fact, anyone with a Facebook profile or Instagram account is already
an experienced publisher. Think about the information you’re putting out there.
Can you contribute to a project, or write a guest-blog post about your field of
expertise? Can you share fantastic and relevant articles with your professional
networks to prove you have your finger on the pulse? The best way to become
known in your field is to engage with ideas and concepts that are relevant to
your work. If you can establish yourself a thought-leader, then most of the
work is already done.
5.
Educate people as
to why they need your services
Part of developing a personal brand is identifying the reasons an
employer or business partner couldn't so without your skills. Once you’ve got that
figured out, it’s time to let them in on the secret, and make them see why
you’re such a valuable asset. “You have to learn how to listen and pull out of
people the things that they want or do research to find out what companies
want, then tie what you do well to what they want, so that you can directly
link successes you’ve had in the past to a goal they are trying to achieve,”
says Pamela Rucker, Chairwoman of the CIO’s Executive Council’s Executive Women
in IT.
So we have a range of activities to assist you to build and promote your brand and the brand values that you are representing.
To help you with this - contact the Business Gardener = Tony Park
tony@businessgardener.com.au
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