What is a Personal Brand?

Feb 10 2016

You’re plugging away at growing your business and working to build your brand. Then you hit a common creative entrepreneur roadblock: You’ve poured your heart and soul into your business, but are you your brand?

The concept of personal branding can be abstract, and I’ve been in the brand building business since 1999. Add in the distinction between your personal brand and your business brand and it’s enough to throw you into a spiral of self-doubt and over-doing it…should I be on LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter AND Youtube?!?! (the short answer: No).

I want to save you massive time and energy when it comes to building your personal brand, here’s how:

Know your purpose. Design your life.

You deserve to create what you most desire—direction, purpose, and soulful clarity. Your passion is what’s needed to create a life, brand, business and career by design. What’s missing is deliberate action, focused support and mastery. Imagine knowing your purpose, feeling it with vivid clarity and blazing energy. You are turned on and tuned into what matters most to you and the impact you want to have. Let’s get lit up together today.

If this is resonating with you, I’m starting a #LiveBrightly Masterclass that is all about knowing your purpose and then designing your life from that purpose. We’re going to focus on personal branding because your purpose moved out into the world, that’s your personal brand… we don’t have to make it harder than it is. Class size is limited and I only open enrollment once a quarter, learn more here.

Today I’m going to breakdown what a personal brand is. If you are a heart-centered person who wants to make an impact…this is for you.

1. I’m going to define what personal branding is
2. The 5 questions to ask yourself to see if you already have a personal brand
3. And the next step to share your story in an intentional way

Let’s start with the definition of a brand

I have a celebrity crush and his name is Seth Godin. He is a marketing guru, author of at least two dozen books and I am a graduate of his marketing seminar program.

His definition of branding is:

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a customer or client’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

What I love about his definition is that it is absent of the word “design.” And this is coming from a professional graphic designer! If you have done branding courses in the past, you’ve probably developed your brand or personal brand mood board. People often like to focus on the visuals of a brand which is fine, but it’s not the first step. The heart and soul of a brand is really found in what you are most committed to.

Starting to build a personal brand from visuals and design is like saying a marriage is just the ring and the wedding. And we know that is not the case. A marriage is between two individuals who are loving, compassionate and committed to each other in their own special way. And like a personal brand, no two marriages are like.

Personal branding is a full experience. It is not just design or witty posts, it is an ongoing commitment from you to your audience, your cause, your reason for being. It asks you to be more of you, and show up from a place of energy and commitment.

“A personal brand commitment is the declaration you make every day that is an alignment with who you are and the impact you want to make in the world.”

My definition of a personal brand will inform your personal brand experience and ultimately your future goals. To declare something means you have made a positive and explicit statement and you are sharing this statement with others every day. I’m committed to full-expression, this shows up in my brightness, mindset and attitude and, obviously in my wardrobe choices:)

You are at the heart of your personal brand.

So, the question is, how do people see your heart?

Through your mindset and inspired action.

Here’s the catch, most people live their lives by default. Most people don’t think they have a choice for something as simple as choosing their daily mindset from what they are most committed too. You have a choice to make every single day in alignment with your personal brand commitment, your life purpose, who you are being and how you show up in the world. THIS is so powerful! If you offer advice, sell professional services or are working on a team, this POWERFUL WAY OF BEING is what people buy because they want to be around you.

“Do I need to make my brand about me, or about my business?”

A few weeks ago I was in a deep conversation about personal branding with another coach. She was not interested in sharing herself online, she wanted to keep the focus 100% on her clients and thought social media was “yucky” and not for her. I can’t tell you how often I hear this, and I get it, I totally get it, selling is slimy, sharing is sacred.

But listen, the people who hire you like to peek into your personal life just as much as they like to see and hear the results of your work. If you are an entrepreneur who sells services, guess what: people are buying you. Your expertise, your ideas and your spirit. They are hiring you because they want you in their presence. They want you to rub off on them. You, my friend, are a person with a brand.

Be you, be personable, relatable, authentic and share with genuine honesty. Without that personal touch, people who want to know more aren’t truly getting a brand experience. They want to know you, like you and trust you.