New Year, New You, New Brand

As the New Year is upon us, it seems like a natural time to make important changes. It’s like a universal pressing of the “reset” button, turning a new page in a book, or a fresh start. Resolutions can be a great way to motivate yourself to be a happier, healthier, or more proactive individual. Whether choosing a resolution intimidates you, or you’re just not sure what path to take, a great resolution to consider is developing or improving your personal brand.

What is it?

Largely through advent of the Internet, branding has evolved from the promotion of product and services to include the branding of a person. Managing perceptions and controlling and influencing how the public perceives you, is the Art of Personal Branding. Your personal brand is the cumulation of expectation, images, and perception created in the minds of others when they see or hear your name.

The Importance of Personal Branding

The world today has become completely digitalized; the way we shop, communicate, and go about our everyday lives has been revolutionized thanks to technology and the Internet. Personal branding Pioneer Tom Peters stresses that personal branding is the key to personal success, and individuals are marketers of their own brand; in fact, the most important product an individual will market is himself or herself.

The importance of personal branding is twofold. First, individuals sharing content that adds substance to their online presence helps market themselves to prospective employers. Second, it’s beneficial for individuals to have a strong brand because it will establish them as an expert and natural leader in their respective industry. Leaders and individuals with leadership qualities naturally prosper in their respective fields, making them more likely to climb the corporate ladder and taking their career to the next level.

In sum, personal branding is critical for the individuals who aim to portray themselves as experts in their field.

How to Personal Brand

Personal branding should promote basic information such as one’s education, skills, interests and abilities. Personal branding should also promote one’s character, work ethic, and professional image. Photos, posts, and comments found on the Internet should complement one’s personal brand. A good rule-of-thumb to follow is to remember that one cannot truly separate their social media profiles from one’s public work profile’s. Utilizing social media platforms is a great way to showcase your experience and elevate your personal brand. For example, if a person is experienced in structural engineering, it may be wise to share frequent original content surrounding this topic on LinkedIn – a popular networking tool.

So, you’re not comfortable sharing original content yet? There are still many ways to build your personal brand through social media. Share a trending post; this allows your “followers” to get a sneak peak of your interests. Get involved in an existing conversation on a trending post, or start your own conversation! Like, follow, communicate. Get involved!

Sticking to it!

In order to make a resolution stick, it’s essential to change your behavior, and in order to do that, you have to change your thinking. Behavioral psychology researchers have proven that every habit you have – good or bad – follows the same 3-step pattern: Reminder, Routine, and Reward.

A typical habit, when broken down, follows this same pattern. James Clear, writer on Habits and Performance, demonstrates the pattern with the following example: your phone rings (reminder); this reminder initiates behavior. You answer your phone (routine); this is the actual behavior. You find out who is calling (reward); the reward is the benefit gained from doing the behavior.

With this 3-step pattern in mind, psychologists find that the easiest approach is to start by encoding your new behavior in something that you already do. When you arrive at your desk each morning, most may look at their daily planner to see what’s on the schedule – a reminder if you will. By adding “personal branding” to your checklist, it encourages action today that can advance your career tomorrow.

So, while everyone is pressing their “reset” buttons, will you be pressing the “post” button?