The internet has sparked a trend called 'Personal Branding'. Branding identifies and differentiates you, your business, and your products and services so you stand out from the crowd, get noticed – and get hired.
Personal Branding can be the most powerful tool for success in your self-marketing toolkit. It involves identifying your key strengths and expertise, identifying the real needs that you can meet for your ideal clients, and then communicating your message consistently in many different ways.
You can identify, package and market who you are to build a personal brand that leads to business growth, influence, and income.
Here are three key things you need to develop a strong personal brand:
1. A clear, unique strength, talent, or expertise.
Get clear on your personal strengths, talents, values, and core area of expertise. Understand how you connect best with people. Consider what your target audience needs and wants, and then identify the value and the experience that you can deliver to meet those needs and wants. Communicate in ways that reach into the hearts and minds of your target audience and connect with their core values and deepest desires.
2. An ability to clearly articulate that uniqueness.
The personal branding process is about having self-awareness of your strengths and talents, and then letting everyone know about your gifts, talents, and experience. It's about giving a clear impression of who you are, what you value, what you're committed to, and how you can be counted upon to act. It's about having clear, key marketing messages to convey in all of your communications with prospects and clients.
Your branding statement must provide a clear, concise view of your unique set of strengths and tell why you can do it better than anyone else. You need to be able to state clearly and unequivocally why you are different than everyone else, and what services you offer that make you unique and set you ahead of your competition.
3. The persistence to communicate your brand consistently through many channels.
Consistency is one of the keys to building a strong personal brand. Be aware of being consistent in every interaction you have, both in what you say and how you respond.
Your brand is developed over time by all the associations made, the expectations met, the messages communicated, and the services delivered. A great way to deliver a consistent message is through an email newsletter that you send on a regular basis to clients and prospects. You can write articles in your area of expertise so that over time people come to know and trust you. They'll know what you stand for, how knowledgeable you are, and how you work with clients.
Establishing a Professional Brand is absolutely critical to long term, sustainable business growth. In an overcrowded marketplace, if you're not standing out, then you're invisible. Branding your products and services will give you an edge over your competition and enhance your value to your target market.
Personal Branding will differentiate you, your business, and your products and services so that you stand out from the crowd, get noticed – and get hired.
The marketplace is waiting for you to make your mark on it. What are you waiting for?
Personal Branding is all about knowing what you have to offer to your marketplace and what makes you different from everyone else so that you can stand out and be recognized and remembered. It is having a reputation for delivering a product, program, or service that delivers extreme value to your target market.
Fill in your answers to the following to gain clarity on the unique aspects of your Professional Brand:
1. My top three personal strengths:
2. My top three talents:
3. My core area of expertise:
4. What my target audience needs and wants:
5. The value and the experience I can deliver to meet those needs and wants:
6. What I can do better than anyone else:
7. What services I offer that differentiate me and set me ahead of my competition:
Developing a brand identity is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. With some thought and creativity, all the pieces will eventually fit.
Copyright 2006 by Jan Marie Dore. http://www.janmariedore.com
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- E-smart24: Importance of finding home based business best niche markets
- Pointers on How to Boost your Home Based Business by Niche Marketing
- Internet Home Business Ideas: Niche Marketing
- Small Business Failure -- a Marketing Approach
- Niche Markets, Niche Market Products and Services Are Like Sleeping Elephants
- Small Business In Online Market
- The Truth About Niche Marketing and Why you Need it to Make Big Money Quick on the Internet at Home!
- Make Money On The Internet With Niche Marketing




How to Make More Money: Stop Procrastinating!
By: Jan Marie Dore | 29/06/2007 | MarketingHave you noticed how procrastination creeps up on you and builds up over time into all manner of unfinished business?
Six Step Checklist to Deliver Teleseminars
By: Jan Marie Dore | 28/06/2007 | MarketingChances are that you've attended a teleseminar lately. Why not create your own?
Think Small: Micro-Niche Your Way to Success
By: Jan Marie Dore | 28/06/2007 | MarketingConventional wisdom tells us to think big. Having coached hundreds of small business owners, I find the ones that have the greatest success tend to think small.
Twelve Creative Ideas for Using Teleseminars to Grow Your Business
By: Jan Marie Dore | 28/06/2007 | MarketingTeleseminars offer a very versatile and efficient way to deliver your services and build your business.
Learning to Zigzag
By: Jan Marie Dore | 25/01/2007 | MarketingIf you own a business, what could you try that you've never done before? Take the more interesting path to reach your goals. Step off the well-trodden, predictable path and learn to zigzag.
Attract Lots More Clients by Writing Articles
By: Jan Marie Dore | 15/01/2007 | Non-FictionAre you missing out on one of the most powerful strategies for attracting more clients? Writing articles on the web is one of the best ways to attract attention to your business and establish yourself as an expert. Here are four great ways you can use your articles to drive traffic to your website.
Article Marketing: Twelve Tips for Writing Articles to Grow Your Business
By: Jan Marie Dore | 04/12/2006 | MarketingWriting articles is one of the best ways to market your professional services. Listing your articles online at article directories and article banks will drive traffic back to your website.
How Full is Your Marketing Funnel?
By: Jan Marie Dore | 22/10/2006 | MarketingThe Marketing Funnel is a basic marketing concept that can have a huge impact on your profitability and the success of your business. It makes it easier for prospects to make the decision to buy so your business becomes more profitable and you don't have to work so hard to make sales.