Plan Before You Start Your Professional Personal Brand

Plan Before You Start Your Professional Personal Brand

As you read this headline you're probably thinking, no way am I planning for that! I am who I am... Point taken, however, most the time things are projected differently that what you make out to be. At first, planning is definitely not the most exiting thing to do. First of all it takes time and effort, lots of it. Also you have to think and think very deeply. People in general don't really like to think. We want it and we want it now!

1. You Brand Yourself 24/7
Literally! Your on-line presence is visible 24/7. Whatever you do on-line and off-line, defines you. We are constantly creating our own personal brand and never has it become more important to watch everything we do and everything we say. You will be held accountable. (Yes, there is probably unwanted pictures uploaded without you being aware of them!)

2. Understand Yourself
If you don't know who you are and what you stand for, how are others supposed to figure it out? This is where you start your plan. You need to clearly figure out who you are and where you're going. Even if it takes months of research and self reflection into your own life, go and do it. Take a pen and paper, write, write, write. Until your ink runs out! Here are a few questions to answer on a blank paper.
-Who are the people that most affect your career, job and life?
-What is your niche, what do you love to do, what is your passion. List them. Ideally you only want ONE niche that you're really passionate about.
-What makes you unique, what makes you special, what differentiates you from other people or what differentiates your business from others?
-What evidence of credibility do you have? (education and experience. experience is more important here).
-What about your personality, do you really want to connect to your personal brand?

3. Decide what on-line tools you want to use
The internet with all it's applications can be overwhelming. Start by doing your research until you understand how everything on-line and off-line fits together. Now choose what plan of action is most appropriate for your life and how you want to structure it. Remember, this is not a once off. It's forever. The big daddy Google never forgets your comments.

4. Building your Own brand
Get onto the net and look for websites that would give you the look and feel you want. Also find pictures that can project who you are and what you like. Use all these things to create a framework from which you can work from when creating your portfolio, whether it be on Linkedin, Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. The main thing here is that you want to find something that you can use consistently without having to spend time to update the look and feel all the time.

5. Professional Photographs
If you've not already got some professional photographs taken, get some! It just looks better on any internet platform. It also conveys a message that you're serious about your career.

6. Register Your Name on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc. (only register for now...)
What is your name? (you're no longer a number, you're now an individual) This is no joke, what name do you want to use for the rest of your life?
If you don't register it, others will. Make sure you choose the right name to use for the rest of your life, if you want to change it - welcome to the nightmare of your life (Changing your name on the internet is sometimes not possible).

Watch out for my next article "The Personal Branding Action Plan, Putting it all together"

Go to http://www.DianJoubert.com for more content.