Creating A Personal Brand – 5 Questions to Ask

Your personal brand is who you are as others see you. It’s what people think about when they hear your name, see an image of you, or interact with you.

In our professional lives, we try to shape our personal brand to emphasize the positive characteristics of our personality that make us unique, such as our individual strengths, talents, passions, core values and life experiences.

Here are five things to think about when creating your personal brand.

  1. What are your priorities? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What things are most important in your life?
  2. What are your talents? A talent is something you’re naturally good at. You don’t need to put much thought into how to do it because it comes naturally to you.
  3. What knowledge and skills do you have? Knowledge is anything you’ve learned so far like facts, street smarts, and lessons from experience. Skills are the processes by which you do something. For instance, you might take a class or hire a coach or trainer to refine your skill set.
  4. What are you passionate about? What subjects can you talk about for hours? What are your hobbies and interests? What would you do if you won several million dollars and no longer had to worry about bills?
  5. What are your core values? These are the morals and ethics you live by.

The five elements listed above collectively form your strengths. A strength is an inner talent that you’ve developed skills and acquired knowledge around. You can do it consistently on a day-to-day basis. It’s in line with your core values and you are passionate about it. Your strengths are your competitive advantages in business. They are what differentiates you from others.

Now that you’ve thought about each of these, fast forward a few years. You’re now 90 years old and are reflecting on everything you’ve accomplished in your life. Imagine you are telling your great grandchildren in vivid detail about your accomplishments as a successful business person. What will you tell them?

This vision will form the core of your personal brand statement, which is a short phrase describing who you are and how you want others to see you, professionally. It should be authentic and describe the real you at your best.

Even if you’re not quite at the place where you want to be, your personal brand statement will serve as motivation to become what you claim to be.

Written by: Krista on September 1, 2009.

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