What’s your selling point?

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The word branding is mostly associated with businesses, it is however not limited to only businesses. Human beings also have a personal brand. Whether or not you choose to embrace it, you have a personal brand as there is something that differentiates you from every other person.

A personal brand can be described as a mark that is associated with your name, your personality and even your career. It is what comes to mind when people see you. It defines who you are and what you are capable of.

Everyone has a personal brand, you have a choice to either build your brand or to leave it for others to define for you.

Personal branding is a good way to build a presence that reflects your skills and abilities. For those in search of career advancement, personal branding provides a wonderful opportunity to advance in your career.

Interested in building a personal brand for yourself? Here are a few ways to do this:

  1. Think of yourself as a brand

The process of building a personal brand begins in your mind and eventually reflects on your decisions and actions. What do you want to be remembered for? How will you like people to describe you? Once you have answered these questions and much more, you can then consciously define and build your brand.

  1. Identify your strengths

Everyone has their own uniqueness and strengths. Think deeply about your strengths and capabilities, identify them and then use them in your favour. If you find it difficult to identify your strengths, you could ask close friends and colleagues to help you with this.

  1. Develop your strengths

Once you have identified what your strengths are, the next step will be to develop them by learning and relearning until you perfect them. Do your best to become an expert in that area.

  1. Share knowledge purposefully

Nobody will ever know that you have knowledge in a particular area until you share it. Sharing your knowledge is also a good way to help others. Knowledge can be shared through videos, writing, blogs, social media, etc. It is however not enough to share knowledge; you need to share knowledge purposefully. Every word, tweet, photo and everything you do especially on social media counts.

  1. Connect with strong brands

The kind of brands you choose to connect with can either strengthen or weaken your personal brand. You can leverage your connection with strong brands to grow your personal brand. It is advisable to begin with where you work, your colleagues, where you attended school, etc. For instance, you can decide to write a blog post and have it published on your company blog. Since the post will have your name, it eventually rubs off on your personal brand.

Building a personal brand doesn’t happen overnight. It requires time and effort but it is absolutely worth it. To stay relevant in your industry, you need to do everything you can to consistently build and improve your personal brand.