Whether you own a business, manage a business or work for a business, you have a personal brand.

Your brand is what you are known for.  It can help you or it can haunt you, it all depends on how much control you wield over it.

If you’re not in control of your personal brand, then you are allowing others to decide who you are. 

I’m not talking about creating a phoney persona or a character. I’m talking about being in control of the conversation people are having about you because you’re showcasing your authentic self.

Have you ever Googled yourself? (sounds dirty but its not). 

Do it now and look at the results. You’ll probably find one of three outcomes:

• There is nothing or not much there
• There is something there, but it’s not truly what you want to show the world
• There is something there and it’s exactly what you want to show the world

If you’re results are in the first or second group, (which most are) you have an opportunity to start personal branding on purpose. This means educating the world about who you are, what you do and what you stand for.

We’ve created a five step process to help you start CRAFTing your personal brand.

Credibility

Reputation

Activities

Follow-up

Training

Share your knowledge and expertise. It really is as simple as that. The more you help the more you attract. By showing what you know and how you’ve learned it (including mistakes you’ve made), you will attract the people you want in your life and give them proof that you know what you’re talking about.

I’ve heard people say “but if I do that, people will steal my ideas”. Yes some people will steal from you. But, keep in mind that because of Google and the internet, there really are no more trade secrets. If someone wants to find out something bad enough about what you do and how you do it, they can.

What showcasing your knowledge does is build trust and respect and help people learn what you can do for them.

What are you known for?  Is it what you want to be known for?

Reputation is built on action. To CRAFT a personal brand that attracts people to it, you need to do the right things. Those things include professional development, community building and participation in other’s success.

You become known for the actions you take. What are the actions you need to take today?

Activities

Are you doing the right things everyday to achieve your goals?  How are you building your network?

Strong personal brands are built over time. Everyday you need to be doing the things that move you and your brand forward:

• Share ideas, knowledge and skills
• Connect with new people
• Help people connect to each other
• Make your community better
• Participate and don’t sit back
• Hold yourself accountable to meet expectations and goals

Follow-up

Persistence is a tremendous skill. Yes I said skill.

The ability to keep moving forward, to overcome objections and obstacles and to keep things on track is vital to developing your personal brand.

Most people give up too early. Far too many people today want instant gratification. Your personal brand will benefit from your ability to stick with things, keep your word and meet deadlines and commitments.

By holding yourself accountable, you’re proving that you can be counted on and that you believe in something larger than yourself. 

Training

My favourite saying of all time is “when you’re green you’re growing, but when you’re ripe you rot”. It means that learning should never end. And that is so true when it comes to developing your personal brand.

This also applies to delivering the training. Like I send in steps one and two, share what you know and be willing to provide leadership and guidance to the people around you. 

So take some time today and think about what you want your personal brand to be, then take the steps to CRAFT it on purpose and you’ll find the success you’ve been looking for.