Personal Branding, is a big, hot topic right now. I’ll lay my cards on the table and firstly say that I’m definitely no marketing or personal branding guru! However, I feel that in my short 38 years on this planet, that I’ve had a decent amount of exposure to different types of people around the world and have enough of an idea to grasp the concept of personal branding to share my two cents.
These days, your personal brand is all about how you portray yourself on social media and what your profile looks like on the various platforms. That is all well and good, however, it is probably only 20% of the real picture. A lot of people will say that they are something online, or look a particular way with fancy photos and a well written biography, but when you meet them in person, you will quickly find out the truth in one way or another.
The other 80%, comes from the old school values of who you really are, in real life. Your personal brand is something that you garner and nurture from the minute you are born. You build your personal brand from how you treat people on a daily basis and how you communicate with them. Your personal brand, is about how you lead with your actions and how you act in front of others.
Personal Branding is essentially the sexy way of saying ‘REPUTATION’! It’s the values you align yourself with and the morals and ethics you live by. People are not stupid and will eventually find out the real you! So it’s important to remain, nothing but authentic, and make sure that your actions reflect and represent the message you are spreading.
The perspective that people have on you is huge and they will gravitate towards, or away, from you based on how they perceive you. So be conscious of all the micro-moments and interactions you have, because they certainly add up over time and define you as a person.