Personal Brand Building and Networking - Essay Example

Personal Brand Building and Networking 10 Steps to Building and Managing Your Personal Brand In his article of various ways of building an excellent personal brand, Matthew asserts that personal branding entails the way an individual presents themselves to their counterparts in both offline and online networks. The author proclaims that, with the contemporary advancement in social networking, blogging and use of search engines, it is pertinent for any successful career person who is a leader to portray and establish a positive career light via articulating their unique values and qualities (Royse). The author presents several core steps towards the development and control of a personal brand. Foremost, the author explicates that it is imperative for any individual, willing to create an appealing personal brand, to familiarize themselves with search engines to confirm whether the results that emerge prove a unique identity. The author of this article takes a technical stance when giving examples of useful tools useful for cleaning up an individual’s web presence. This is to ensure that the emergent information that does not appeal to the individual disappears for new branding. Creating a reputation with handy tools online is the author’s next point. A personal website falls in this category. It is necessary to further claim personal web profiles and individual URL addresses on all, social interactive sites (Royse). Being active in networking is imperative for gradually creating a personal brand. Next, purchasing a unique domain is pertinent because the ownership avails an opportunity to customize a person’s profile. Failure to secure a domain name leaves reputation in the possession of unknown parties, which may destroy a personal brand. Google Alerts aids in monitoring the individual’s website. The next useful step is creating a blog where sharing of individual perspectives and personal brands is easy. Blogs help in expanding personal networks beyond borders because it reaches many people, portraying expertise in various topics. Posting material that is helpful to counterparts and the entire world depicts social responsibility and progressive leadership qualities. The author stresses that personal brands, like company brands, deteriorate with time. A feedback loop is a channel through which an individual can obtain support, advice and counsel from colleagues, family and mentors (Royse). It enhances constant rejuvenation on an individual and establishes a tacit and unique personal brand. Personal Branding Wailen-Daugenti, in her article, affirms that companies promote their brands to augment social awareness, visibility, popularity and sales by giving instances of Apple and Nike companies that invest immensely in brand promotion. According to Daugenti, a personal brand offers individuals a chance to promote and highlight their careers. She points out that personal brand is pertinent because numerous recruiters use search software to perform track checks on their job candidates (Wilen-Daugenti). Social networking provides a diverse branding platform. She gives examples of how social networking hubs such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube have large numbers of subscribers. Personal brands depict how qualified an individual is to their potential customers, employers and recruiters. It is important to appreciate admirable brands of people that have succeeded in leadership and profession. People willing to establish their unique brands should network and interact with other people who can rate their brand (Wilen-Daugenti). Building a personal brand begins with listing skills, talents, accomplishments, goals, and individual traits that may be of use when perfective a personal brand. The author recommends the virtue of evaluating the brand periodically. Things to avoid when creating a personal brand include anticipating immediate stardom, misunderstanding weaknesses and strong points, leaving the brand to go stale, neglecting input from colleagues and inclusion of inconsistencies in the brand (Wilen-Daugenti). The author recommends that a person should concentrate on their goals to elicit an appealing personal brand, one that depicts ability of leadership. The Importance of Building Your Personal Brand In his article, Schawbel proclaims that the modern epoch depends on branding. He asserts that the affiliations in the contemporary social working environment depend on career people who can enable them reach their goals. These people exist as leaders with unique personal brands that yield the aptitude to run the organization or business. The author asserts that top executive officials in companies should begin creating personal brands because clients prefer interacting with them or rather demand it (Schawbel). Companies use networking to create wide fan bases and facilitate efficient communication between their employees and clients. The author defines personal branding as an approach to discover one’s special characteristics and communicate the same information to the proper audience. Schwabel gives an instance of an individual who has a software firm, expressing that they would seek to be a security expert (Schawbel). Such a senior leader engages in interviews with media personalities to build their personal brand and that of the affiliation simultaneously. These leaders can invite awareness via blogging, talking in social events and writing to enhance their brands. It is possible to enhance leadership via creating and promoting personal brands. Creating an online presence is a viable ingredient to promoting personal brands, whereby the leader establishes a diverse network with their clients and the workforce. The author pinpoints that branding consumes time and that a prospective leader should not anticipate branding results overnight. Leaders should be keen to identify and differentiate their unique brand and that of their affiliation to and cease waiting for other parties to brand them, specifically the competitors. Personal branding is, thus, a pertinent ingredient to achieving success and profitability in careers and business. Schwabel is a major founder of millennia branding, an affiliation that deals with personal branding issues, which qualifies him to preach useful advice regarding personal branding (Schawbel). His article has augmented my understanding of this concept, and I believe it is a worthy resource that guides people with an urge to discover their brands and polish them for successful leadership. Important Building Blocks for Your Personal Brand Rachelson affirms that she has learnt that when her clients discover their unique personal brands, comprehend their special selling proposals and identify the space they wish to hold in other’s minds, they ask her for aid in various personal branding aspects. She claims that when an individual possesses an appealing brand packaging, they have the opportunity to think strategically around their brand facets (Rachelson). The chief building brands to determine include an individual’s image, online brand, networking and communication. She has explicated on each point in a way that succinctly proves the pertinence of great networking skills and the ultimate effectiveness of building a unique personal brand (Rachelson). The author asserts that the image appeals more than individual capabilities, qualification and intelligence. For instance, career people with decent grooming depict a positive image that builds their personal brand. The online presence is another building block of an ideal personal brand. She offers evidence from research, which shows that approximately ninety-two percent of recruiters preferred using social media when receiving prospective employees. It is highly probable that people look up details of one individual or another when trying to learn about their brand. It may be an ally, a competitor, critic, or boss. It is thus, important to check one’s personal brand regularly and ensure that it portrays the best traits and identities possible (Rachelson). The author expresses that communication with other people has an immense impact on how they view a personal brand. It is necessary to observe effective communication through quality practice use of resources. Finally, the author asserts the pertinence of having quality networking skills. Such skills enable an individual to diversify and extend their relationships with other people. A person with an appealing personal brand ought to possess a command in all such aspects. Works Cited Royse, Matthew. 10 Steps to Building and Managing Your Personal Brand. 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Wilen-Daugenti, Tracey. Personal Branding. 24 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Schawbel, Dan. The Importance of Building Your Personal Brand. 3 May. 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Rachelson, Donna. Important Building Blocks for Your Personal Brand. 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Read More