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For me, the term “personal branding” is a newer concept even though I’ve been doing it for years I just had no clue I was actually branding myself. I started out in direct sales over 6 years ago creating and crafting visual materials for my business and over time I decided that a cohesive, well-organized look suited my personality better than the random assortment of graphics and visuals I was creating. I had no idea there was an entire industry, psychology and methodology behind what I was doing. My eyes were then opened to the world of branding, its impact on my online presence, my ability to connect with and build my target audience and it became a driving force for my business.
(Some of my early graphics! No consistency, clarity or brand recognition)
In a nutshell, branding is a way for you and/or your business to communicate your core values, influence how you are perceived and essentially highlight your uniqueness in an online or professional space. It’s you making an intentional effort to elevate yourself above others, essentially setting yourself, your skillset, your level of expertise and your professionalism above the standard. And here I thought I was just trying to create something that was more visually appealing to my viewers without the knowledge that I was actually creating this entire influence and persona.
Creating your own brand is a very personal, self reflective process that takes time, requires you to dive deep into what areas you want to showcase most and I think honestly it helps you determine who your most authentic self is. It causes you to take a look at how you want to be perceived, answer some really tough questions and in the end you’re able to walk in alignment with who you are meant to be. Branding goes beyond the color palette, the font choices and the overall style you are trying to communicate, it pulls to the surface those deeper qualities and more hidden attributes.
I recently took that deep dive myself (remember I unintentionally crafted my brand years ago) and I sat with myself asking what I wanted to communicate about myself through my brand. I wanted my audience to know that I am a follower of Christ, that I value structure and discipline, that I hold myself to the highest standard and that one can expect nothing less than the highest quality from me and my work. I wanted to communicate that I pride myself in the work I create, that my work is not only classic but consistent and with a few tweaks my new brand was born.
(Examples once I realized the art of branding. Consistent color palette, fonts and style.)
This path of “self discovery” led to a shift in my business and I determined that my passion lies with helping others develop their own brand and to help them elevate without extending themselves. It led me to host a series of free workshops to introduce the concept of personal branding and then I dove a bit deeper and laid out the main elements of a personal brand. I didn’t realize the interest and number of questions I would receive on the topic, but it opened me up to an entirely new audience to serve. You can click here and I’ll send you an email with those two workshops. I think that is the best place to start if you are new to the concept of developing a brand.
Once you view those, you’ll have a deeper understanding of what will eventually make up your personal brand. Your brand will consist of font choices, color palettes, a style and elements that reflect all of those things you want to communicate without you ever saying a word. It will become this intentional effort you are making to build your business, your online community, your influence or to showcase your level of professionalism in corporate America. For example if you look at my brand, there are many things my brand communicates without me saying a word. Visually, I have a monochromatic color palette which communicates that I am disciplined, that I expect the highest quality and that my work is classic and timeless versus trendy. What you may not see visually is a cross or religious symbol included in my logo or on the graphics and emails I craft for my audience. But through my stories and reels you can see that I am very intentional with my word and sound choices I select to support my content. Without saying a word, you are able to glean that I am in fact a Christian. These are all very intentional steps that I have taken to communicate who I am to my target audience before they even have an opportunity to interact with me.
I challenge you to watch my two workshops to see if you are someone who could benefit from establishing a personal brand for yourself. I am currently creating resources, and a third free workshop, to help you discover your core values and your personal brand. If this is a topic of interest to you, make sure we connect! I would love to offer any advice that I have picked up along the way to help you skip the floundering phase that I went through, gain some clarity and start making your mark!
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