Brand Yourself

I can still remember the overwhelming feeling of excitement I had when I first moved to New York City almost four years ago.  All of the buildings, people, lights and flashy advertisements everywhere created an energetic atmosphere that I had never experienced before. But in between all the madness and euphoria, I experienced something that I will absolutely never forget.

As I walked down Wall Street one day, I saw a sign written on the wall that said: “1,000,000 people over-seas can do your job, what makes you so special?” While the one million person evaluation seemed a bit exaggerated (I would hope) I couldn’t help but ask myself, how can I become successful in such a competitive market? What can I do to make myself superior to those also in my industry? Although I am only entering my third year in the work force, I have done some research and would like to share my findings and thoughts with everyone.

Another way for companies to measure success in addition to the yearly revenue generated or market share, is brand recognition. Let’s take a look at some definitions of brand or branding:

1. Brandingis more than a name or a symbol. A brand is created and influenced by people, visuals, culture, style, perception, words, messages, PR, opinions, news media and especially social media. Similar to when a child is born and given a name, a brand needs nurturing, support, development and continuous care in order to thrive and grow. Some brands have a life cycle and can grow old like people. Some brands are timeless and never die or are “born again” or reinvented. Other brands live a short but powerful life and have an iconic legacy.  Lisa Buyer – The Buyer Group
2. A brand is the meaningful perception of a product, service or even yourself –good, bad or indifferent — that marketers want people to believe based on what they think they hear, see, smell, taste and generally sense from others around them. Josh Moritz
3. A brand is “The intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised.” David Ogilvy, Author of On Advertising

We all know of companies that have achieved a “Brand” level of success. These include companies such as Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nike, Starbucks, Google and others; whenever you hear their names or see their logos and/or symbols you know exactly what they are all about. The question is: Do you need to own a company to create a brand? Do you have to be a professional athlete, actor or celebrity to be a brand? Can a single individual somehow become a brand? ABSOLUTELY! Or at least you should treat yourself as such. In this article I would like to emphasize four main topics that will aid you on a process I like to call “self investment” and will allow you to build a platform towards branding yourself.

Identify your market

It is extremely important that you decide exactly what you want to do or what you are looking for before you enter the job search and even the workforce. Whether you decide to follow your passion or need a job to pay the bills, in order to achieve your goals and be the best that you can be you must first identify your Niche Market. This will not only allow you to focus specifically on certain goals, but it will also give you a much clearer vision on how to “scale” yourself.

For example, in my case I found true passion for managing talent and recruiting/headhunting. Since it is possible to find quality talent all over the US technically my market could be the whole country, however my Niche Market is my office. My goal is to become the best recruiter within my division, office, company and one day New York.

Study your market

It is absolutely essential to recognize the playing field before you enter the game, even though most of your knowledge will be acquired along the way as you make mistakes and learn from them. Make sure you are constantly researching the market, your competitors, different trends, system updates, etc.

Who is the best in your office/industry and why? What type of qualities do they have? What kind of certificates they have acquired and what are they doing everyday that you are not? You must be well versed on your competition and know even more about them than they do about themselves. This will enable you to find that “X” factor that will ultimately provide you with the competitive advantage. Having the competitive advantage is key!!

LinkedIn offers amazing tools to research and connect with the best of the best across every single industry. Take a look at people’s profiles and see how many connections they have, what types of groups they have joined and what kind of articles they are posting. Every little detail matters.

Build yourself

After learning about yourself, finding your passion, establishing the market you want to “attack” and learning about your competition, it is time you build yourself. This step goes hand in hand with the prior step, because you should never stop studying your competitor. Learning is the process that never ends, especially when it comes to self-investment.

The impact social media has had on today’s society and networking experiences is and will continue to be huge. If you aren’t sure where to start a good first step is updating your LinkedIn profile. There are lots of articles you can find on LinkedIn or online. Personally, I am a huge fan of the one below:

http://blog.linkedin.com/2014/07/01/creating-a-killer-linkedin-profile-tips-from-link-humans/

After your profile is setup begin to determine what factors are preventing you from becoming number one within the Niche Market you have chosen. It could be market share, not enough connections, certificates and/or publishing articles. Whatever it is strive to improve these areas and always be open to new learning experiences. My suggestion would be to find 2-3 people you identify with or perhaps individuals that are in the same industry striving towards similar aspirations. Use these individuals as your benchmark. What are they doing differently? How did they get to where they are?

Don’t forget that besides time, knowledge is your most valuable asset!

Maintain and learn to adapt!

While it is good practice to never get too comfortable in your position, you will eventually reach a point in which you feel good about your professional standing (your LinkedIn page, network etc.). This does not mean that your work is finished. Just as athletes train for their sport you must continue to work to maintain and constantly strive to grow. 

In the fast paced and continually evolving society we live in, we must always be ready and willing to adapt. Don’t fall into thinking that because whatever you are doing right now is proven to be successful, you don’t need to change it or add new things. Every industry and market is in constant motion; you can either jump on the boat or simply fall behind. Maintain and learn to adapt!

Unfortunately, I can’t promise that this article or my advice will make you the most popular or most successful professional in your industry. However, I do hope that my recommendations will assist you in building your platform towards self-investment and personal branding. In closing, I would like to reiterate Josh Mortiz’s definition of brand one last time: “the meaningful perception of a product, a service or even yourself”. With that being said, always remember that absolutely everything you do at work and outside of work should contribute to building a positive perception, reputation and a brand for yourself. In the end, this brand will enable you to grow your network and in turn increase your business and/or market share.

What are you doing to become something special? What will you do to make yourself irreplaceable?

**Thanks for reading!! Please comment, critic and share. **

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sources:

Heidy Cohen – Actionable Marketing Guide (www.heidicohen.com)

Reid Hoffman, cofounder and Chairman of LinkedIn – “The Start up of you”

Alexis Baird, Sr. Product Manager at LinkedIn – “Creating a killer LinkedIn Profile: tips from link humans”

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