The reality of this world is that it will keep asking you who you are, and if you don’t know the answer to that question, they’ll figure it out and answer it for you. With today’s world leaning towards more on the digital side, personal branding is essential to achieve success in the workplace. The number of users continues to increase as days, months, and years go by.
Let’s be honest, it is quite a challenge to be noticed around the world today because of the “viral” phenomenon where random people become famous online in a blink of an eye. This drives people to want that kind of attention. However, being viral does not assure consistency. With billions of people using social media, trends and online personalities just come and go. The more social media users and influencers, the more trends pile up – making it hard to determine what’s still relevant and what’s not. The United States is statistically the country with the most Tiktok, one of the most used social media platforms of the youth, users today.
With this, we don’t just want to become “viral,” we want to create impact; to be remembered. Building a strong personal branding statement can help you stand out from the competition and lead to new opportunities whether you’re an entrepreneur, job seeker, or a seasoned professional. Let’s dive in deeper to understand what personal brand statement brings about to us.
Defining Personal Brand Statement
Personal brand statements consist of one to three phrases that succinctly describe your identity – personally and professionally such as who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique in that area. It condenses your knowledge, expertise, and goals so that readers can see and grasp your worth quickly. That way, people would immediately understand your personal brand. Furthermore, it acts as a mission statement for one’s career and core values. You’ve probably seen and heard a bunch of personal brand statements.
To show you the impact of a branding for one’s build up in the business, one of the brand statement examples is the popular, brand statement of Nike, “Just Do It.” The reason behind its huge success is its overall simplicity. It is short, catchy, and easy to remember; where it automatically registers in the minds of its target audiences as a motivational call to action, to overcome obstacles, literally and figuratively, and achieve their goals, even when they seem impossible. In a way, they share a story to their audience. Not only did this statement campaign enable them to reach potential customers, but also gain more loyal customers as it establishes trust, but according to statistics, this contributed a lot to the increase of its share from 18 percent to 43 percent as well. Imagine the impact a strong personal brand statement could bring to small businesses.
However, don’t confuse yourself with the difference between a personal brand and a business brand. Your personal brand is the image you craft and share with the world, while your business’s brand represents the perceptions that consumers have about your company.
What Does Personal Brand Statement Help Me With?
Creating a personal brand statement is a choice. There are several reasons why considering making your own is beneficial.
Define your Unique Value Proposition
This is a personal brand for a reason and that’s because it highlights how you differ from other experts in your field. You must promote yourself just right that so you may still attain measurable results in your work.
Make a Lasting Impression and Enhance your Visibility
A personal brand statement is about empowering ridiculously good marketing. It gives people a unique method to remember and identify you which allows you to promote your personal brand to potential clients, employers, and even partners. You never know, a lasting impression might actually be a way for long term success. A good and lasting impression would make the chances of you finding your ideal client.
Direct your Professional Development
Personal brand helps you stay focused on your career objectives and personal growth. A strong personal brand statement can bring a great impact to your career advancement. Here’s how it plays a role to your development:
Job hunting
During a job hunt, a well-crafted personal brand statement can be a crucial differentiator as it helps you stand out from a crowded field of candidates. By including a personal brand statement in your resume or LinkedIn profile, you can introduce yourself more effectively, highlight the unique qualities that make you an ideal fit for specific roles such as being a thought leader in your field, and capture the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Personal brands ensure that your application doesn’t just blend in but resonates with whoever reads it.
Networking
A personal brand statement function as an elevator pitch. It provides you with a clear and effective way to introduce yourself and allows you to communicate your professional identity and how the audience will benefit from your unique skills in a brief interaction. This leads to a better understanding on the other end as it makes it easier for them to remember you, gaining their trust and setting yourself apart from others in the field.
Career Advancement
An effective personal brand statement serves as a reminder of your goals so that you stay on track, and the unique values that you bring to the table. This helps you make strategic decisions, focusing on career moves, skill development, and networking opportunities that are aligned to your goals. Like entrepreneurs who need the connections amongst clients in the business, personal branding opens doors for you to do so.
Establishing a Personal Brand Online
Having your own branding statement is essential for online presence and marketing, and even business success, especially now in the digital age. A content creator is a great example who make use of this a lot. This can be used in various platforms such as your personal website, social media profiles or social media bios, and professional networks that ensure consistency, establish your reputation as a thought leader in your field, and reinforce your brand message.
How Do I Make One?
You don’t have to be a content creator to have a personal branding statement. Knowing the impact that a personal branding statement can bring to your identity, personal brand statement writing involves strategic and deep thinking. Time to hit the drawing board! Here are some personal branding tips that will help you write a personal brand that aligns with your goals and personality.
Be authentic
Creating a good personal brand statement is also creating a brand for yourself. Personal brands help a lot when you want to clearly express and communicate your identity and what you stand for. In the professional world, there is a significant social aspect where people want to know and understand who they are going to work with. That’s when personal branding comes into play.
It is essential that your statement genuinely and accurately reflects you. While it’s okay to shape this message around the person you aspire to become, it is equally important to remain true to your authentic self, plus this even allows you to show a bit of a fun personality. You may start by brainstorming ideas and jotting down words and phrases that resonate with you for these can serve as the foundation of your authentic brand.
Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses, and Skills
Knowing yourself is a crucial thing when it comes to crafting your personal brand statement. One of the things you could do is to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and skills. Through this, you will know which things to highlight that people might need to know about you. Marketing yourself accurately is very important because it stays true to your story and personal branding. Consider including both your hard skills such as technical abilities and specific knowledge, and soft skills such as communication, creativity, and leadership.
If you have it hard remembering or identifying where you excel, reflecting on previous feedback from colleagues, peers, and mentors might help you. This will also enable you to gain a comprehensive understanding and a different perspective of your capabilities.
Determine Your Benefit Statement
When marketing yourself, you have to know how to set yourself apart from others. How? Determine what makes you unique. This represents the point where your individual strengths, passions, and specific needs of your target market. To craft a good proposition, reflect on the following questions:
- What specific problems do I address or solve for my audience?
- What unique value or benefits do I offer that others might not?
- In what ways do I stand out or differ from others within my industry?
By answering these questions, you will be able to define the core of what makes you exceptional and why your target market should choose you over others. As a business strategist, determining your benefit statement serves as the foundation of your professional identity, guides you on how you should communicate you value and connect with others, and it might even lead you to business growth, not just personal.
Identify Your Target Audience
One of the reasons why you are marketing yourself is because you have an audience in mind that you want to hook. In this case, relying on your own thoughts or ideas that could be a bit overwhelming because it involves multiple facets of your life. Truth is, you wouldn’t be using all of them when you finish writing your draft. One way to make things easier for you is to narrow down your personal notes by thinking about who you would like to connect with through this statement that you are creating.
Understanding your audience is very important – a specific company, potential client, employer, or partner. You must craft your statement to address their needs and interests. Considering what they value will enable you to determine your approach to them and how to meet those needs through your skills and experiences. Doing a market research will help you in achieving so.
A good personal branding example is by Irene Koehler, a public speaker, who stated on her website page, “I transform accomplished women from unknown to unforgettable with a strategic, trustworthy personal brand.”
Align Your Statement With Your Goals
Your personal brand statement should be a direct reflection of your personal goals, and professional ones. If your goal is to progress within a particular industry, your statement should highlight the specific skills and accomplishments that demonstrate your expertise and value in the industry.
Conversely, if you are transitioning to a new career, it is important to focus and highlight on the transferable skills and experiences that are relevant to your desired career. This effectively conveys how your past experiences and capabilities position you for success in your new professional direction, bringing more sense to the what’s and why’s of your goals, and lead you to your ideal client. Goals guide an individual or a company to brand themselves and share it with their clients or customers. Most of the successful entrepreneurs today are marketing themselves effectively because they know their business, brand, and customers.
Make It Memorable and Concise
Your personal brand statement should be brief yet impactful, delivering a clear and memorable message in just one sentence or two. In this statement, try to encapsulate your expertise, benefit statement, identify your target audience, and align them with your professional goals – all in a way that is both succinct and engaging. A personal branding is supposed to summarize who you are. Make sure that you choose words that are not only clear and direct, but also compelling enough to ensure that your statement resonates with the target audience. As much as possible, try to hook your audience in the first sentence. Once achieved, this will leave a lasting impression on those who encounter it.
Seek Feedback
They say that there is always room for improvement, and crafting your personal brand statement is no exception. Getting feedback from others allows you to gain insights and different perspectives that you might have overlooked or what you lack. It’s important to share your personal brand statement with trusted colleagues, mentors, or friends. Their input can help you refine and polish your statement, ensuring that it effectively communicates your strengths and goals.
What Should I Avoid When Making a Personal Branding Statement?
When developing your personal brand statement, it’s crucial to be aware of several common pitfalls that can undermine its effectiveness:
Being Too Generic
One of the most frequent mistakes when writing a personal branding statement is that it is too broad or vague, making it applicable to almost anyone. To avoid this, focus on being specific about what truly sets you apart from others in your field. Emphasize your unique qualities, skills, or experiences such as your previous or current job title, that make you stand out.
Being Inconsistent or Inaccurate
This happens when one uses words or statements that do not accurately reflect your skills, experiences, or reputation. Inconsistencies can harm your credibility, trustworthiness, and authenticity which then leads to confusion where your audience might question your claims or qualifications. To prevent this, always be truthful and precise when writing your personal brand statement. Another tip is to regularly update your statement to reflect your current goals, achievements, and values.
Being too Self-Centered
Although a personal branding statement’s objective is to promote your self-branding, there is a limit to how you write it. Avoid using words or statements that focus too much on yourself, your achievements or credentials that make you sound arrogant. This might lead you to ignore your audience which is equally important to pay attention to in your statement.
Remember, a personal branding statement should also be tailored to your target audience. Focus on your value and the impact it may bring, and consider who your audience is and what they value when crafting your statement.
Lack of clarity
Miscommunication is one of the common problems when it comes to situations like this. Your personal branding statement should be straightforward and easy to understand, free from jargon or overly complex language that could confuse your audience. Clear communication is important to ensure that the message of your personal branding is conveyed correctly.
Overpromising
When marketing ourselves, we want to put our best foot forward which leads us to lay down all our best traits, expertise, and what they can benefit from us. This causes us to overpromise. Overpromising or frequently falling short of expectations undermines trust and harms your stature. Do you know how sometimes we see clickbait on a website? Just like these clickbaits, inputting unrealistic promises in your branding statement creates big expectations, and is even false to your audience. It’s essential to set achievable goals and honor your commitments.
Appearance over Substance
This somehow links with being authentic. When we want to impress someone, we tend to put our best foot forward. However, this could be dangerous as it can create unrealistic expectations. It’s always a letdown when you meet someone whose personal branding you admire so much, and they are nothing like what they market themselves to be. This leads to a lack of trust amongst your audience from your brand.
This thought process can work for a short amount of time, but will not sustain your brand for a long period of time. Create a brand around what is important to you, rather than what the rest of the world desires. People will recognize you and your brand when you have a clear message that is true to you.
An effective personal branding statement exhibits individuality, captures the balance between personability and professionalism as it affects both individuals and business, and is succinct and eye-catching. This is a valuable asset that can elevate your professional image and create new opportunities. Remember that your personal branding statement is not fixed; it should grow and adapt as your career and aspirations develop. Continuously refine your statement to ensure it accurately represents your evolving personal brand.
Having a personal branding statement benefits you because it allows you to define your unique value proposition, make a lasting impression, and direct your professional development such as job hunting, networking, career advancement, and overall, establish a personal brand online. If you are interested in crafting your branding statement for your business, being authentic, determining your strengths, weaknesses, and skills, identifying your target audience such as entrepreneurs, aligning your statement with your goals, and seeking feedback will ensure that you make an effective and impactful one. However, you must still be mindful on the way you write your personal branding statement as it may mislead your audience from your purpose and goals.