The Power of Personal Branding

"You are the way you are because that's the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now." Fred Smith.

You surely have something to offer. Who are you? What do you have to offer? These are some of the questions you must answer specifically. You must decide on the one thing that you are most suited for. The one thing that represents you best and for whom your clients and prospects care most deeply. Decide. You really only get one. Then you will indeed know that you have a powerful brand.

The concept of Personal brand building is not new. Even though I thought it was a new phenomenon I realized later that it had existed even in the bible. It is clearly stated in Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Another version says, “A good name is better than riches.” A good name really speaks to your integrity and credibility. It's about your reputation and the character that defines you. It identifies who you are from a moral and ethical standpoint. A good name provides goodwill and stability

How do you take charge of your brand? Define who you are and what you stand for?
Tell your story. You have a story and you have meaning to your life. Those two elements reflect who you are and what your personal brand is based upon.
Describe who you are in a few descriptive words.
Use your story and your descriptive words consistently in everything you do from marketing to interviews to what you print on your business cards.

You must know beyond any shadow of doubt that no matter where you are in your business, you have something unique and special to offer. You are special and no one does what you do like YOU do. You are greatly talented, excellent and extraordinary by nature, but do you truly believe in yourself? Are you really ready to accept the truth about YOU and share it with the world? If you answered in the affirmative then you are on your way to launch out your personal brand in a grand style.

As a personal brand you must understand and know the needs, wants and challenges of your target market or prospects, so you can competitively position yourself as the best solution to their problems. Some questions to ask that may help in your self-assessment process include:

Who is my target market?
What are my key strengths?
How can I minimize my weaknesses?
What is my key offering to clients?
What is the value created for potential customers of my brand?
What makes me unique? What qualifications make me stand out and different?
What is my personal and professional training and experience?

The personal brand economy is an emerging economy in the modern world. It is a marketplace where personal brands or professionals are treated like physical products, and are rated and judged based on their personal reputation and the perceptions of other people especially their stakeholders.

It has been established through research that 3% of the worlds population control 90% of the worlds resources. Why is it that so? If 3% of the worlds population control 90% of the worlds resources why would you not be among the 3%, instead of following the crowd?

A Paradigm Shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a complete revolution, a total transformation or metamorphosis. It just does not occur. It is a process that is driven by agents of change. A paradigm shift occurs whenever there's a significant change in the way an individual or a group perceives something, and the old paradigm is replaced by a new way of thinking, or a new belief.

Branding in general has become a contemporary global phenomenon and so is personal branding.