(Version Française: Les 4 questions cruciales pour définir votre Personal Branding)
How do you create and define your own personal brand? What kind of personal brand should you have?
This is THE question 😃.
There is no right or wrong answer because it is very personal.
However, there are many ways to help you like those 4 questions you need to ask yourself and asking also people who know you well.
Seat down comfortably with your fav drink and a note pad, and answer those questions, it will help you tremendously to get clear! 🧐
1 - WHAT IS YOUR GOAL IN BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF IT?
WHY ARE YOUR READING THIS ARTICLE RIGHT NOW?
Like everything in life, the first word that comes at the origin of everything is WHY 🤓
You are reading this article right now because consciously or unconsciously you feel that you have to define and step up in terms of personal brand.
Ask yourself why you feel that need? Why now?
Are you aiming 'secretly' at a promotion at your work? Or have you been running your business for some years but you are reaching a plateau in terms of sales, and you feel that your brand is not different enough from your competition? Or you are at a turning point of your life and you feel the need to redefine what you want out of life and what is your next step?
Answering that question will help you define many elements of the next questions, like who are your targets, how will you communicate about your brand, etc.
2 - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR?
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY ABOUT YOU?
It can about a skill that you have, a craft that you master, a business that you grow, a product that you sell, but it can also be about soft skills that are unique to you, a way of being that people comment positively about you, etc...
If you have a hard time answering, you can push it a bit further, even if it could seem quite dramatic to answer that question in that way... but if tomorrow you would happen to disappear, what people would say about you during their memorial speech? What your obituary article would say about who you are, what you are accomplishing, and how you are doing it?
Another, more positive way to answer is also to imagine how you would like your best friend to speak about you to her/his friends? Or your best client referring you to other friends?
In short: what do you want people to say behind your back 😉 !
3 - WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU SOLVE? ✅
For the ones who offer a service or sell a product: you better already be super clear about the answer to that question. It is CRUCIAL to your business.
If you are working in a company and are in the corporate world, think about all the different tasks and missions you enjoy accomplishing every day and what problem do you solve through those.
More on the 'soft skills' side, you can also ask yourself: what problem do I solve with my qualities and the way I do things? With my values?
(If you have a hard time verbalizing what values are important to you, a good way to put a finger on it is to ask yourself: in general, what breaks your heart in the world? What makes you angry?)
4 - WHAT ARE YOU GREAT AT & WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOU THAT SOLVES THAT PROBLEM?
Now we are 'looping' the answers to the last 2 questions.
Your personal brand, your personality, your energy, and the combo of your knowledge + experience are what will differentiate you from your colleagues or competitors.
So what makes you the BEST person on earth to solve the problem you are solving? Soft skills, hard skills, network, education ... where your business is located ... or the fact that you personally know someone or.... anything! Anything can enter that answer as long as they solve the problem and they are unique to you.
After answering those 4 big questions, you should have a very clear notion of how you want to be perceived, what differentiates you, and why you are uniquely YOU to achieve what you want to achieve.
But let's not stop there!
Next is :
All the women executive portraits showcased in that article have all been taken by Alice Prenat, professional portrait photographer in NYC at the photography studio Portrait Madame.