Nehlsen Notebook

How Do You Build a Personal Brand?

By Nancy Nehlsen - Owner  4.30.10

Client:  “I want you to create a personal brand for me.” 

Me:  “You already have one.”

Everyone is talking about personal branding. Funny, because it is certainly not a new concept. Lee Iacocca did it brilliantly in 1979, saving Chrysler from bankruptcy with his personal straight-talking approach to the public, along with some fancy footwork with the government. 

Tom Peters wrote The Brand Called You in 1997 as if it were a new concept, re-igniting interest in CEOs to take center stage, using their personalities and character strengths to build their businesses. Of course it’s fairly easy for the concept to backfire. Because a personal brand isn’t something you just create out of thin air.  It’s something you have already, whether you know it or not.

Personal Branding is really the process of building on your personal brand. So to start your personal branding campaign you have to be brutally honest about who you are. What are your core strengths?  Are you a leader in something – business, philanthropy, politics? What contributions do you make, or want to make, to society? What is distinctive about you? How do people see you right now?

Once you have honestly determined the answers to those questions you can go about the business of creating visibility for yourself. Create a white paper on topics you can speak intelligently about and send it to groups who regularly hire speakers for their organization’s meetings. Let the media know you are available for interviews on topics in your field of expertise. Teach classes at community colleges to show that you’re an expert in your field.  Volunteer to chair a committee that reflects your brand strengths. Make sure your business card, website and social media sites reflect the strengths of your brand. But you must remember that building on your personal brand means being honest in what you do every day, in every activity you’re involved in. It means living your brand…or you lose it.

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