Branding Yourself

Who am I right now?

Dimensions of a Personal Brand

How do I go about creating a brand? Tell your story Effective personal branding is based in authenticity―you need to know who you are and what makes you exceptional before you start to build and express your brand. Uncover your strengths and determine what you want to be known for.

What makes you stand out? Which of your skills motivate you? Which get others excited about you?

Tell your story via skills What skills do you possess that will advance your brand or make you stand out? This includes things like social media skills, experience in the use of various software, skill in leadership, social skills, etc.

My Skills Social media Analytics Writing AP style Wordpress MS Office Photoshop InDesign Excel data SPSS HTML SEO

Tell your story via experience What personal experiences have you had that support your brand? Have you served in a leadership capacity, served as a problem solver, served in a capacity that is linked to your career goals, served in the classroom in these areas? Have you had internships or jobs in which you exhibited the types of experiences you want to highlight?

My Experience Waitstaff Childcare worker Writer at Spinnaker Volunteer with One Spark Communication for church Extensive videography on YouTube channel President of PRSSA SGA Fundraising Club

Tell your story via personal attributes Inventive, Powerful, Proactive, Productive, Achiever, Knowledgeable, Leader, Initiator, Outgoing, Team leader, Industrious, Accomplished, Adept, Articulate, Artistic, Successful, Talented, Intelligent, Customer-oriented, Dependable, Enthusiastic , Enterprising, Facilitator, Focused, Sincere, Skilled, Responsible, Results-driven, Results-oriented, Organized, Knowledgeable, Flexible, Adaptable and Leader.

My (Good) Personal Attributes Dependable Creative Honest Assertive Enthusiastic Good social skills Communicator Results-oriented Team leader Team player Innovative Responsible Humanitarian Volunteer Friendly

Define Yourself Create a personal brand statement.  Several sentences that sum up who you are and how you want others to perceive you.  Then use this as a guide for your future internship- or employment-seeking activities.  Pursue those activities and interactions that support your brand statement to ensure that your message stays on topic.

Stay on message Consistency is essential when it comes to defending your personal brand.  Is there a cohesiveness to your various online profiles, or are you sending out conflicting messages about yourself?  Is there a purpose behind your social media activities?  Presenting a clear, unified picture across all of your social media properties will help reinforce how others perceive you.

Stand out online (in a good way) Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube can help you express your brand to a much larger audience. You want people to see the real you in the virtual world. But make sure they represent your brand as you want it to be shown. Set up profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Search engines tend to rank their links higher and you can use them to overshadow unflattering material. Update daily: Having an active presence makes it easier for people (like job recruiters) to find you. And, the most recently updated information usually moves to the head of the line. Claim your name: Visit GoDaddy.com and purchase the domains containing your name (yourname.com, yourname.me.com, etc.). Sign up for alerts: When your name appears in an article or blog post, Google.com/alerts will let you know about it. Socialmention.com has alerts that will inform you when you pop up in a tweet or are tagged in a photo on Flickr or Facebook.

Create a personal brand By creating a branded bio and a personal brand master plan, you will be able to keep branding top-of-mind as you continue your studies and beyond.

Listen to the experts Building a Personal Brand

Why Use It? The Website Why Does It Matter?