Personal branding is the process of creating an identity for yourself as an individual or business. This involves developing a well-defined and consistent look, message, and presence online and offline
Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, widen their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.
The process of personal branding involves finding your uniqueness, building a reputation on the things you want to be known for, and then allowing yourself to be known for them. Ultimately, the goal is to create something that conveys a message and that can be monetized.
Whereas some self-help practices focus on self-improvement, personal branding defines success as a form of self-packaging. The term is thought to have originated from an article written by Tom Peters in 1997. In Be Your Own Brand, first published in 1999, marketers David McNally and Karl Speak wrote: “Your brand is a perception or emotion, maintained by somebody other than you, that describes the total experience of having a relationship with you.”
Individuals sometimes associate personal names or pseudonyms with their businesses. Notably, 45th President of the United States and real estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name on properties and other enterprises (e.g. Trump Tower). Celebrities may also leverage their social status to support organizations for financial or social gain. For example, Kim Kardashian endorses brands and products through her media influence.
The relationship between brands and consumers is dynamic and must be constantly refined. This continuous process demonstrates the ambivalence of consumerism.
A personal brand is a widely recognized and largely-uniform perception or impression of an individual based on their experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large.
Personal brands may be deliberately modified to reinvent a public persona. This may be to recover from a public embarrassment, or to re-emerge from obscurity. The public perception of authenticity often determines the success of a rebranding.
The idea of positioning your personal or professional identity appeared in the 1981 book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, by Al Ries and Jack Trout. More specifically in “Chapter 23. Positioning Yourself and Your Career – You can benefit by using positioning strategy to advance your own career.
The concept of personal branding is often attributed to Tom Peters and his concept of “Brand You” from his 2001 book The Brand You 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an “Employee” into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion, building on his earlier 1997 Fast Company article titled “The Brand Called You.
Personal branding has gained significance due to the use of the Internet, as social media and online identities affect the physical world.
Employers are increasingly using social media tools to vet applicants before offering them interviews. Practices include searching an applicant’s history on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and conducting background checks using search engines and other tools. This is leading to the decline of resume-only job applications, in favor of presenting other forms of personal branding. These may include links to a professional profile (such as LinkedIn), a personal blog, a portfolio of industry-related articles, and evidence of an online following. These efforts may improve a person’s chances of obtaining a job.[citation needed]
According to Alberto Chinchilla Abadías “it is advisable for the company to train its workers and managers in communication and digital skills in order to effectively use these technologies”.
Social media and personal branding
Social media extends beyond just Facebook and Twitter and into the professional world as well. There are general professional profiles like LinkedIn and company or industry-specific networks, such as Slack. Because of these professional networks, self-branding is useful in finding a job or improving one’s professional standing. As an online open source, social media has become a place that is fulfilled with highly reliable and resourceful information to target user identities.
Building a brand and an online presence through internal corporate networks allows for individuals to network with their colleagues, not only socially but professionally as well. This kind of interaction allows for employees to build up their personal brand relative to other employees, as well as spur innovation within the company because more people can learn from more people.
Some social media sites, like Twitter, can have a flattened, all-encompassing audience that can be composed of professional and personal contacts, which then can be seen as a more “‘professional’ environment with potential professional costs”. Because of its explicitly public nature, Twitter becomes a double-sided platform that can be utilized in different ways depending on the amount of censorship a user decides on.
Personal branding focuses on “self-packaging,” where “success is not determined by individuals’ internal sets of skills, motivations, and interests but, rather, by how effectively they are…branded”; it is more about self-promotion rather than true self-expression. The difference between the two is that self-promotion is deliberately intentional in all aspects because the individual is purposely shaping their image or persona, while self-expression can even be a byproduct of promotion.
Aside from professional aspirations, personal branding can also be used on personal-level social networks to flare popularity. The online self is used as a marketing and promotional tool to brand an individual as a type of person; success on the virtual platforms then becomes “online social value [that could transform] to real rewards in the offline world.” When one is branding themselves on social media they need to consider these three things: “crafting their physical footprint, creating their digital footprint, and communicating their message.” A prominent example of a self-made self-branded social media icon is Tila Tequila, who rose to prominence in 2006 on the Myspace network, gaining more than 1.5 million friends, through expertly marketing her personal brand.
As social media has become a vehicle for self-branding, these moguls have begun to situate the maintenance of their online brand as a job, which brings about new ways to think about work and labor The logic of online sites and the presence of feedback means that one’s online presence is viewed by others using the same rubric to judge brands: evaluation, ranking, and judgment. Thus, social media network sites serve as complex, technologically mediated venues for the branding of the self.
Personal branding refers to the process of creating and managing a distinct image and reputation for oneself, typically with the goal of establishing a professional or personal identity that stands out from others. It involves identifying and promoting one’s unique skills, strengths, values, and personality traits to build a strong and recognizable brand.
Creating a personal brand can be beneficial for various reasons, including career advancement, building a professional network, attracting new business opportunities, and establishing oneself as an expert or thought leader in a particular field.
To develop a personal brand, one should start by identifying their strengths, values, passions, and unique selling points. This can involve reflecting on past accomplishments, seeking feedback from colleagues, and conducting market research to identify areas of expertise and industry trends.
Once the brand identity is established, it’s important to communicate this message consistently across all channels, including social media, personal websites, professional profiles, and networking events. This can involve developing a strong online presence, engaging with the audience, and showcasing the brand through relevant content, such as blog posts, articles, and videos.
Overall, personal branding is about creating a strong and authentic identity that differentiates oneself from others and establishes a reputation that reflects one’s values and goals. By developing a personal brand, individuals can position themselves for success and create opportunities for growth and development.