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"Your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room – remember that."– Chris Ducker  Personal branding has been a hot topic lately. In early 2016, I kicked off work on my personal brand. The need came from me living in a new country and having to re-introduce myself. I took a holistic approach to build my brand by covering my personal and professional brand as well. It included working on my online presence, offline activities, networking, joining groups and most importantly self-discovery.
Today, I'm writing from the perspective of someone who has tested a few personal branding strategies and is continuously learning. As a starting point, your journey will be different; these are some ideas that you could add to your list. In this blog post, I'll share top strategies I used and some tools I use to keep my brand fresh. Check out the "Great Resources" section at the end of the post for more tips to help you build your brand. What is your personal brand/ personal branding?
Who needs to work on their personal brand? You. Me. Everyone Why you need a personal brand?
How to build your personal brand Be clear on why you want to build your personal brand As with everything we do and want to be successful at, we need to be clear on why we are working on it as well as the results we want. Building your brand takes work and requires a clear direction. When I started building my brand, my objective was to create a platform to build deeper connections, share my experiences and promote what I care about. Looking back over the three years that I've been developing my brand, I can confidently say that I have seen great results. Tools for your Toolkit
Get to know yourself more When I started writing this post, I reflected on the most valuable exercises I did with my life coach. Getting to know myself better was the first. Self-discovery has been a key pillar of my branding journey. For me, it all began with discovering my strengths through self-assessments. Being clear on what I'm good at, helped me frame my message when I talked about or presented myself. I also spent time getting clarity on what my values are and what I stand for. My journey to discovering myself has been very rewarding. Tools for your Toolkit
Own your narrative and tell your story One of the principles I heard that helped me understand the importance of my brand was "If you don't own your narrative and your story, others will own it for you." The realization that I am the best person to tell my story helped me take ownership and think about how I want to be seen or heard. Growing up in Nigeria, I was not taught the value of talking about yourself in a positive way when you present yourself to the world. After going through my learning journey, I can say that we all have unique experiences and a great story to tell. Tools for your Toolkit
Share your knowledge and ideas that help you stand out Your co-workers, potential teams or clients should know your expertise and what they can come to you for. Create content and showcase yourself as an expert in your field. It is very easy to start this. Be mindful of what you share as it represents you. One of the great benefits of having my blog is that I have a great way to introduce myself and what I care about. There are many ways to go about it; you can start with gathering insights on topics you care about and sharing on social media, supporting causes that you care about or sharing ideas with your community. Tools for your Toolkit
Have a consistent message across all online and offline platforms Does your online presence tell the same story as the one you share when you are meeting people in person? Your social media and professional platforms like LinkedIn should represent you the way you have chosen to present yourself. What you post, like, share and subscribe to, is a clear indication of where your heart is. Be intentional about what you put your name on, especially online. Imagine the great opportunity you have to associate yourself with good causes and things that help you grow. Tools for your Toolkit
Keep learning and developing your brand As you progress on your personal branding journey, take the opportunity to tweak and improve your presentation. Track what's working and what's not working to help define your path forward. I want to emphasize this point as it allows you to start with something small and keep expanding as you progress on your journey. Your brand is built one step at a time. This is the same approach I've been taking for the past three years. Tools for your Toolkit
Build your community and join productive groups Interestingly, it is in my nature to build a community and look for them. However, I never considered the importance of how my community influenced my brand and vice versa. Especially professionally and in my business, my affiliation with certain groups helped me build and grow my brand. While you search for communities, keep in mind that you want a community you can give to and gain knowledge from. Remember the people you surround yourself with are a reflection of who you are. Tools for your Toolkit
Final Thoughts
Great Resources
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February 2019
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