One of the most powerful tools you can use to market your company is personal branding. Actors and actresses learned long ago that publicity designed to create a certain image in the public’s mind could lead them to greater success in the entertainment industry. That soon spilled over to having stars promote products. When we like and admire the person behind a product, we’re more likely to buy the product.
Within the past several decades savvy business men and women have fostered their own celebrity to help ensure their companies’ success. Colonel Sanders made Kentucky Fried Chicken a household word through TV advertisements as did his protégé Dave Thomas of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers. Lee Iacocca’s sincerity boosted Chrysler’s sales when nothing else could, and media darling Donald Trump continues to draw investors and buyers to his various real estate ventures.
When it comes to the local community, it’s smart leaders who use personal branding not only to inspire confidence in themselves, but also their organizations. When we see or hear positive things about leaders at charitable events, in the newspaper, and on TV we’re more prone to support the causes they support and buy the products and services their companies offer. Conversely when a leader has a negative brand, our view of the organizations they represent is negatively affected.
But you don’t have to be a company leader to benefit from developing your personal brand. A positive brand will help advance your career. No matter who you are, your brand is created through a combination of appearance, personality, reputation, credentials and associates. Simply put, everything we do that’s witnessed or heard about affects our brand in small and large ways. Running to the grocery store in grubby clothes is sure to set tongues wagging as will always showing up beautifully dressed. In close-knit communities especially, word spreads fast.
Managing Your Personal Brand
Smart business leaders don’t take chances with their personal branding, they take charge of it, putting their best foot forward at all times. That means managing their personal and business reputation at networking events, gracefully sharing their achievements in the media, and spreading their good news online. It also means making sure their company offers quality products and/or services because a company’s performance reflects back on the leader and all employees.
Leaders must continue building their personal brands over time. Like your garden, your brand must continually be maintained and replanted. But don’t try to cheat on building your reputation. Be true to yourself and your moral principles. When it comes to personal branding, if you’re not who you say you are, eventually you’ll be found out. Not to say you can’t improve yourself and brush up your image. As they say, “If you want to be admired, become an admirable person.”
Your brand will evolve over time. No matter what your reputation is today, it can always change for the worse or better. Think about how Bill Gates used to be considered a bit stingy with his vast wealth, and Microsoft seen as a fairly ruthless money-making enterprise. Now Bill and Melinda Gates are seen as two of the greatest philanthropists in the world, which hasn’t hurt Microsoft’s image. And Bill Clinton, who was terribly disgraced at the end of his presidency, has become one of the most popular and admired former presidents ever.
For more information:
Refer to Tom Peters' classic article on personal branding. (Tom Peters, “The Brand Called You,” Aug. 31, 1997, Fast Company.)
Dan Schawbel has written two excellent books on the subject, The Brand Called You and Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success.
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