Personal brand. A modern term with rich history that provokes a range of reactions.

It’s true that most big brands, especially when they started out, had big personalities attached to them…

You can’t think Microsoft without thinking Bill Gates.

You can’t think Amazon without Bezos.

You can’t think apple without Jobs.

I don’t know that Steve Jobs’ strategy back then was to raise his profile so he could point people toward Apple products, but that’s what happened nonetheless.

So, we know it’s important and we know it’s useful.

Why then does it make us so uncomfortable?

What strategies can we use to mitigate the negative perceptions surrounding personal branding? (Both from ourselves and from others).

And how can we reconcile authenticity with the more strategic aspects of personal branding?

Let’s find out ⬇️

What’s the bigger issue?

I suspect (Americans feel free to shout at me and tell me I’m wrong) that coming to terms with personal branding is harder for us Brits.

The bigger issue here is that talking about yourself in any way, and promoting the things you’re good at, clashes with our innate sense of good ole’ British humility, as well as our fear of people thinking we are inauthentic.

It’s something deep within us that rebels when we need to talk ourselves up, and lots of old and sturdy barriers within us we must tear down if we really want to put ourselves out there.

3 reasons building a personal brand matters.

1.Your career

Even if you don’t want to be an entrepreneur and build a business of your own, companies are looking more and more at the personal brands of their potential employees (and their social media profiles) during the recruitment process.

In this sense, a personal brand is crucial to career advancement and professional visibility.

2.Your Influence

If you’re reading this, chances are you want to build a personal brand so you can point people to your business. To do that, people need to trust you. To build trust you need to raise your personal profile in a way that feels natural and authentic.

When people trust you, they will listen to you. Successfully building your personal brand means becoming more influential in your sector — becomming a voice people can trust.

3.Your story

When a potential client or employer, or even a friend looks at your online profile, they will draw assumptions about you whether you want them to or not. You may as well own that story and show people what you want them to see.

Crafting your personal brand authentically allows you to align your values with your professional image and control your own story.

3 things that will help you overcome the Personal Branding Ick.

1.Define your values

Start with introspection. What do you stand for? I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t gotten to grips with this one yet. This kind of introspection is hard. I believe there is a motivating factor within all of us but not one that’s all that easy to name.

If you struggle with this, good! For my money that means you’re coming at the problem from the right place. An authentic place. Try doing what I’m doing. Start anyway and hope your values emerge as you create and grow.

2.Tell your story

Once you know your ‘why’ you need to convey it in a compelling way. You need to craft a narrative around it. This may seem like pretence but it’s no more pretence than any other kind of biographical endeavour. All you’re really doing is ordering things in a way your audience can relate to.

Imagine your personal brand is a novel with your name as its title. Your values are the themes. Your ‘why’ or your ‘story’ is the plot. And your content the chapters and the words. They can be myriad and varied and take whatever form you like, but always in service to the plot, and the plot always in service to the themes.

3.Embrace vulnerability and failure

You’re going to fail. You’re going to spend an hour writing a post for LinkedIn only for nobody to see it. You’re going to write things that sounded right at the time but in hindsight sound pretentious. But you’re also going to get better. You’re going to iterate on your successes and learn from your failures. And when you stand a ways up the mountain you’re going to turn around and wonder how it is you’ve come so far.

Two bonus tips

1.Seek Feedback

Whatever it is your doing, someone has done it before. Wherever you are on your journey, someone else is further along. Seek those people out at all costs. Their feedback and advice will be worth its weight in gold.

2.Stay Consistent

It’s hard to keep going, especially when it feels like you’re shouting into the void – But you just never know how close you are to that next big opportunity, that next big break. It’s going to take time, but if you stay consistent, you’ll get there.

 Some final words

Look, you don’t have to do any of this if you don’t want to. All I’m trying to say is that if you feel this kind of icky discomfort is holding you back, there are ways around it.

It’s not about self-promotion for the sake of it. It’s about sharing your unique value. It’s about owning your story and reflecting to the world the best of who you are.

Hope that helps.

See you next week!