Why is branding important? Have you ever Googled yourself? A lot of what you find out there about yourself is out of your control. It was written by your high school, local newspaper, local sheriffs office etc. The main point I’m getting at is that you’re are not in control of your own story. We see it a lot with professional athletes. ESPN, CNN and local news are controlling these athletes narrative. When they do good but especially when they do bad. When athletes are involved in any kind of criminal case whether guilty or innocent the charges are always the number one topic of discussion. Now you may not be an athlete or have millions of eyes on you but it is important to know you do have eyes on you. Here are a couple things to think of when designing your personal brand:

Be Authentic

Being authentic is first because it may be the most important. If you’re not authentic then you are putting on an act which can be tiresome. It is okay to see qualities in others that you wish to have in yourself but it is important that you avoid becoming a copy of that person.

Know thyself

Become self-aware. Know your strengths. If you haven’t figured out what you want to do with your life yet that’s okay. Know your strengths and brand yourself around them. You can always narrow down what you’re expertise are later. This also depends on your goals. What are your branding yourself for. Are you looking for a promotion, new clients or speaking engagements? Those are things to think about. It is important to know who your audience is. Who are those eyeballs that will be looking at you. ?

WARNING

When going down the path of trying to figure out who you’re and how you want to brand yourself try to avoid branding yourself as one definite thing to0 soon. A lot of people do this and do this publicly and will switch and pivot multiple times. The problem with this is that you are now instilling into those who are watching a brand but not the brand you are aiming to portray. You’re now seen as confuses or a jack of all trades and a master of none.