Whether we like it or not, people will be creating their own impressions of you and/or your business. It is therefore critical that you take control of this process. It doesn’t matter if you starting your own business, or are an employee, what is important is that you are able to communicate who you are and what you stand for. Whilst many people talk about ‘Brand You’ (as Tom Peters first coined the phrase in the 1990’s), really what this process is about is identifying your values and ensuring these are communicated in your own way – congruence is key here.
You need to start by asking yourself some basic questions. For example:
- What are your values?
- What do you love?
- What do you hate?
- What are you great at doing?
- What are you most proud of?
- What do you want to be?
- What is important and valuable to you?
- What do you want to be known for?
Basic, fundamental questions, yes, and yet, sometimes these are the most difficult to answer. But they must be answered and must be true.
To help in this process you might want to sit down with some close friends and ask them how they see you.
The three pillars of a good brand are authenticity, consistency, and clarity. Use these three pillars as your guide when evaluating who you are and how you communicate that message . By delving deep into yourself during this process and working hard to define who you are and what you stand for, your brand message will become clear. It will be clear to others precisely because it is clear to you. When it’s clear to you, and you ensure that everything you say, do or present reflects this, then you will attract new business and build a reputation based on your own voice, not someone else’s.
