Build Your Personal Brand

Your brand is how people think of you. Tom Peters says that “a brand is a trust mark, it’s shorthand, it’s a sorting device.” Think of the well-known brands that you know - Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dell computers, iPods - all of them are shorthand for a product. When you think cola, you probably think Coke or Pepsi. When you think computers, Dell probably comes to mind. When you think portable music players, iPod is probably at the top of the list. Some brands are so strong that they have become a generic name for a type of product - think Aspirin, the original brand name for the Bayer product.

People can be brands too - Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan. Peyton Manning is becoming a brand. I’m a brand - albeit not as well known as the people I’ve mentioned above.

I’m the Common Sense Guy

This didn’t happen by accident. I work at it. I’m starting to get some brand recognition. A few months ago, a client of mine was doing a talk to an industry group. He decided to give me a plug. He said, “We used a consultant, Bud Bilanich, to help us with that project.” One of the people in the audience said, “Isn’t he the Common Sense Guy?” Pretty cool, huh?

The point of this discussion is that people with powerful personal impact are their own brands. This isn’t just for people who are self-employed. It’s for everyone. In their excellent book, Be Your Own Brand, David McNally and Karl Speak suggest that you answer three questions in developing your personal brand:

1. What are your core competencies?
2. What are your standards?
3. What is your style?

Remember, a good brand will repel almost as many people as it attracts. That’s OK - you can’t be all things to all people. Your brand should reflect who you are and how you operate. For example, I know that people who are looking for a highly theoretical approach to solving their problems are not going to be attracted to me. I avoid wasting my time trying to sell them my services because they aren’t going to buy my common-sense approach. Don’t be afraid to let your uniqueness show through as you build your brand.

You don’t want to be a vanilla brand that appeals to everyone. You want to be a Cherry Garcia brand - something that is uniquely you.

For more wisdom on building your own brand, investigate The Marketing Mastery Program from Trump University.