You know many brands. Think of a couple. Pepsi, Audi, Nikon … you.
Each brand makes you something of particular attributes. A company leaves no stone unturned when it comes to its brand. The shape of the logo, the color of the logo, the design of the website and even the user manual carefully shape the brand. Businesses spend a lot of money creating their brand in the minds of consumers.
Individuals should also be concerned with their personal brand. Recruiters, HR staff, and hiring managers are all consumers of your brand. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your personal budget, however you will have to be careful about how your personal brand is built.
But why should you care about a personal brand? Here are the top 10 reasons you should be concerned:
- Opportunities have a way of finding you. It’s hard enough to go out there and find an opportunity. You certainly don’t want to pass up any job opportunities to find yourself. What a concept!
- You will have an audience to validate your opinions and broaden your horizons. Part of establishing a personal brand is creating a professional network and demonstrating your expertise to your network.
- Your credibility wounds. The more people begin to understand your brand, the more they will value your opinion.
- Search Engines Become Your Friends – Your personal brand is usually built through numerous online sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, forums, and blogs. These pages show up in search engines, and people see your name in a search query. They will recognize your experience.
- You can get promotions (and more money) than you normally would. It will set you apart from your peers. Supervisors (and peers) will notice.
- You have the opportunity to shape your own brand. You don’t want to let others launch your brand for you. You do?
- The more people you meet and the more relationships you strengthen, the more you grow as a network.
- It feels great when your self confidence skyrockets!
- Success will come much sooner because you have a network of people who see you as an expert in your field.
- A friendly network gives you something to fall back on if necessary. Their network is there if you need career advice, help finding a job, or just a friendly discussion on an important topic.
Well, now you care. You should start building your brand today.