There are many different ways to run a business and a brand.
And there are many different ways to run your personal brand alongside it.
These include:
- Construct one and tell that story.
- Just be you and tell that story.
- Don’t.
Personal Brand.
I was asked to talk on this subject alongside my friend Sarah Hall at the Northern Power Futures event in February 2019.
If you think that having some kind of a discernible personal brand can enhance or add value to the brand or business within which you are significant, here are some pointers.
First, keep in mind that your ‘personal brand’ has been described by many (including Jeff Bezos) as:
…what people say about you when you’re not in the room.
So if we take this definition as accurate, you have a personal brand whether you like it or not.
And if you have one whether you like it or not you may as well manage one.
And if you may as well manage one it may as well be an authentic one.
Or you can be pretty sure that, at some point, you’ll get found out.
What an Authentic Personal Brand Really Is
An authentic personal brand means being deeply authentic.
It means creating and sharing content about you like this.
- Show all sides of yourself. Go off-piste. You’re not just an MD. You’re a woman or a man too. You eat in good restaurants occasionally. You have family events. You have opinions on design. You may run through fields with your dogs to keep fit and alert. Real resonates.
- You’re not the consumer of this content, your audience on social media is. Or the community that has bought from you or may one day buy from you. So – there’s no need to polish or romanticise for your palate.
- Go cross-media. Write it. Create audio. Create video. Your audience consumes in many ways.
- Document content. Don’t create content. This results in much richer content that you can then re-edit for many different things. Audio for podcasts. Written copy for articles. Video for YouTube or Instagram.
It’s easier when you’re you.
It’s the person you do best.
