INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 61
STORY JESSICA MUDDITT
BRAND
CONSCIOUS
T H E WAY W E P R E S E N T O U R S E LV E S – B O T H I N P E R S O N A N D O N L I N E – A D D S
U P T O A P I C T U R E O F E M P L OYA B I L I T Y. TA K I N G O W N E R S H I P O F O U R P E R S O N A L
B R A N D C A N PAY D I V I D E N D S O V E R T H E L O N G T E R M , S AY E X P E R T S .
A
mazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been credited
with saying your personal brand is what
people say about you when you’re not in
the room. While some of us may cringe at
the idea of promoting our own personal “brand”, the
reality is that we all have one – the question is whether
the one we’ve got is the one we want.
“Everyone is a walking, talking brand,” says Rebecca
Taylor, a leadership brand photography specialist. “It’s
about shaping what others say about you, so that you
create the most authentic and credible representation
of yourself.”
Personal branding elevates others’ understanding of
who you are and what you do. It is important, because
when it’s done well, it can create significant business
opportunities. On the other hand, simply ignoring it
can have unforeseen downsides.
“Personal branding is optional,” says personal
branding expert Andrew Ford. “Yet if you’re doing
wonderful things but not telling people, their
perception of you isn’t altered, because they simply
don’t know about it.
“Personal branding is getting all of those elements
that are part of your personality already and just
putting them all out there in a considered way, so
that your stakeholders get to see it.”
AT A
GLANCE
A personal brand is
similar to a reputation in
some ways, but personal
branding is more
forward-looking.
Contrary to the
assumption that personal
branding is about selfpromotion, effective
personal branding is a
considered approach
to presenting and
communicating elements
of your personality.
What is relevant to an
individual’s personal
brand can change over
the course of their career.
Afraid of inviting others’ attention? You already have
done, argues Ford – simply by having an occupation or
career.
“Some people don’t want to do personal branding
because it involves putting themselves out there. I
would argue that anyone with customers already has,
because they are in the spotlight for those people.”
ELEMENTS OF A PERSONAL BRAND
A personal brand is made up of all the things that
people think and feel about you. “If you Google
someone, [their brand is made up of ] all the elements
that come up, such as LinkedIn and other social
media,” says Ford. “But that’s only for people who
don’t know you. Those who know you base it on every
interaction you’ve had, what other people say about
you and what you yourself have put on the record. That
all goes into a melting pot.”
A personal brand is similar to a reputation, although
the latter is more concerned with what an individual
has done in the past. A personal brand, on the other
hand, can be moulded for the future, and, contrary to
what some may assume, personal branding is not about
self-promotion.
“Saying things like, ‘Buy my book’ or ‘Use my
business’ is advertising, which creates short-term
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