71. Why you should build a Personal Brand as an Executive
When you walk into a Mercedes Benz dealership to buy a car, you know what kind of service you expect, you know what kind of price you are prepared to pay, maybe you have fond memories of Mercedes Benz cars you’ve owned in the past. You know the kind of image and prestige you get from owning such a care. Maybe you already know how fun it will be to drive that car.
You walked in there because you made a choice to buy a car of this brand over another.
As one of my favorite marketing guru’s would say:
“A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product over another.” -Seth Godin
So, if that is Branding, then “What is Personal Branding?”
Personal Branding is about applying the same principles we apply to a Business or a Brand, but to a PERSON.
A Personal Brand Strategy allows you to communicate your values, provide expectations, tell your story and develop relationships with those who come in contact with you.
When I talk about telling your story, I talk about the story of your Personal Brand . Read more in this article here:
Designing a Personal Brand Strategy is how you build trust, credibility and visibility aligned with your values. It is a compass that helps you build your reputation in an structured and proactive way.
Why is Personal Branding important for CEO’s, executives and managers?
As Garey Vaynerchuk, Chairman of Vaynerx, CEO of Vayner Media & Bestselling Author would say:
“It’s important to build a Personal Brand. Your reputation online, in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there in some level”
Consumers are asking for transparency in the businesses and brands they follow and buy from. They want to know who is in charge of the company, who is the leader behind the business, behind the brand.
They trust more the people than they trust companies.
A great example of a Personal Brand is Björn Gulden, who successfully lead PUMA as CEO for 9 years until December 2022. He left PUMA to take the CEO Position at the struggling Adidas. The announcement was a shock for many, but mostly for PUMA’s employees and fans. However, Gulden is headed to his new challenge with his principles and values, his leadership style, as well as his reputation, which made Adidas’ management believe in him to turn the company around. Only time will tell if he lives to that expectation.
Remember that you do more good to the company you work for, when you give a face to that company people can trust.
But what happens if you are not the CEO, but a High level Executive? And what about if you are a Manager? Do the same principles apply?
If you ARE a leader or strive to become a LEADER, a Personal Branding Strategy brings your LEADERSHIP to life, it is how you communicate your values & principles proactively.
But there is another aspect to Personal Branding. It allows YOU to differentiate yourself from the competition, and to advance in your career. You are able to increase your impact by expanding your influence.
For this reason, Personal Branding is key for managers wanting to advance in their careers.
How to build a personal Branding strategy?
A good Personal Brand Strategy will help you position yourself as an EXPERT.
One of the first questions you need to ask yourself under this capacity is: What do you want to be known for?
Is the perception that others have from you communicating exactly what you want to be known for?
So, How to build a Personal Brand? Consider the following:
Identify your Strengths. Are they supporting that what you want to be known for?
Clarify your values. You probably have many values, but there are a few which are the ones that define you better or maybe some you feel more strongly about. Choose your key values.
Who is your target audience (i.e. internal employees, external investors). There are often many different stakeholders. Decide which ones are most important. Understand what is important to them. And adjust your message accordingly.
Brand story. How will you tell your story. What story will you tell? It has to be truthful, honest, transparent. It doesn’t mean you have to open up without boundaries, but it means that the story that you tell needs to meet this criteria. If you want to read more about how to write the story of your brand READ THIS ARTICLE:
Brand message is the message that you communicate to your target audience about who you are, what you stand for, your values, your beliefs, your leadership style.
Choose your communication channels. How you communicate depends on where your target audience is. If your main target audience is internal within a company, then your communication channels can also be internal. If your stakeholders are within the company but also outside (investors, suppliers, potential employees or employers), then you need to consider channels that give you a wider exposure, like social media, conferences, podcasts, etc.
Personal Branding will happen to you whether you like it or not. It is up to you to proactively take responsibility of your own Personal Brand and intentionally manage it to create the impact and the scope of influence that you want.
Personal Branding on Social Media
Many wonder if they HAVE to be on Social Media when building a Personal Brand Strategy.
As Gary Vaynerchuk said (see the quote at the beginning of this article), yes, you do have to be out there in some level.
Do you have to be present on Social Media? Yes, probably this would be a good idea, but of course not the only channel. There are others like websites, press, PR events, conferences, podcasts, or being a speaker are only a few options.
Often executives and managers use LinkedIn as their preferred (or main) Social Media platform to build their Personal Branding online. Personal branding on Linkedin remains very professional, however don’t neglect giving it a dose of your own personality.
Read this article for a few steps that I suggest in building your Personal Brand as an executive https://www.blancamelendez.com/blog-entries/build-personal-brand-as-executive
Why are Personal Branding photos and videos important?
Did you know that 60 to 90% of the communication is non-verbal, which means that what you show is just as or more important than what you say… crazy isn’t?
You can be saying something, but if the expression on your face communicates something else, people won’t believe it. If you are talking of a particular sad event, but you are smiling, people will find it offensive. There needs to be a consistency between what you say and how you say it.
Along this line, when you use a consistent style of communication: being colors, graphics, taglines, you become memorable. People start associating your style with you.
You can read more in this article about why Brand Recognition is important for your Personal Brand:
And this one here about the different types of Personal Branding images and what they are used for:
https://www.blancamelendez.com/blog-entries/what-are-personal-branding-images-used-for
Professional images and videos help you elevating your image and your brand.
You got all the way here, so What's the plan? How do you build your Personal Brand?
You have two choices:
Do it yourself, if you have the time and can invest the effort in learning and implementing your own Personal Brand.
Find a Personal Brand Strategist that can give you a plan and guide you through different aspects of defining your strategy and creating a cohesive Content Strategy (photos, visuals, graphics) to support your communication.
If you are number 1, I offer you several options:
Read throught the many articles in my blog: www.blancamelendez.com/blog
Purchase the mini-course: Build your Personal Brand in 7 Steps.
If you are number 2:
Book a free consultation call to discuss your Personal Brand and a plan to bring visibility to your brand.
Hi there! I’m Blanca!
I’m a Brand Photographer and Personal Branding Coach, helping female entrepreneurs to create a Personal Brand online that STANDS OUT.
I bring your vision to life, help you come up with one and take you by the hand into the online World if you need me to.