Personal Branding: How to Build Your Brand for Career Success

Having a unique, well-defined and authentic personal brand is one of the keys to landing the job you want and having career success at the job you have. A strong personal brand will differentiate you from your competitors; ultimately making you more marketable. No two professionals are the same; and those nuances, differences and distinctions make up our “brand.” Are you multi-lingual? Have an MBA from a top school? Hold a top position at a professional association? Created a non-profit? All of these accomplishments are part of your brand—and set you apart from your peers. Here’s what you need to know about how to build your personal brand for career success.

Create a Personal Mission Statement

An important starting point for brand building is crafting a Personal Mission Statement. Your mission statement is a personal GPS system meant to guide you in your day-to-day activities and to keep you on track to meet your goals. Here is a sample of a personal mission statement crafted by a woman looking for a position as a brand manager: “To secure a position as a brand manager at a luxury goods company where I can utilize my proven track record in marketing communications and my quantitative skills. I will accomplish this by attending and eventually speaking at professional association meetings; utilizing social media to connect with experts in my field; and by blogging about the luxury good markets.” To see samples of personal mission statements check out www.quintcareers.com or www.timethoughts.com.

Become an Expert or Thought Leader

Becoming a subject matter expert is an excellent way to build your personal brand. If you are a “go-to” person in your field you are eminently hireable and desired. Some ways to accomplish this include:

• Create a blog; or contribute to a blog in your chosen field (check out www.technorati.com for top blogs in each industry.
• Do your own personal Public Relations: Perhaps you got a promotion; were quoted in an industry publication; or spoke at a professional association meeting: send out a press release on www.freepressreleases.com to help raise your visibility.
• Sign up for Help a Reporter Out: www.HARO.com this site matches reporters with experts and experts with reporters. With so many media outlets available, reporters are often searching for professionals to quote for industry articles or blogs: sign up to be an “expert.”

Monitor Your Brand

• Set up Google alerts (www.google/alerts) to monitor your name and your brand
• Search www.technorati.com to track your name mentioned in blog posts
• Track your twitter posts utilizing the search feature on www.twitter.com

Stay tuned Wednesday for more tips on personal branding and information on how to utilize social media to build your brand.