Number 19: Summer 2002

• About William Arruda

• Other Features

1-2-3 Success! Build Your Personal Brand and Expand Your Success

William Arruda of Reach Communications

Editor's comment: Employees now operate in a highly competitive and complex environment, partly due to the increased frequency of moving jobs. For this reason the individual has to learn to market his or herself much better. This is even more pronounced for those who are working as contract workers or who are self-employed. William Arruda says we should be looking at developing our own brand, much in the way that companies develop brands to help market their products and services. 

Since pre-industrial times, branding has been used to develop strong, enduring relationships with customers. Customers of Mr Jones' pie shop knew that his pies came with more real fruit and were always given to you with a smile. It made it worth the long walk and extra 2 cents. Today, albeit on a larger, more global scale, branding continues to provide those same benefits. Volvo is differentiated from other car companies by it's promise of safety and security. Disney stands for family entertainment. Virgin is irreverent and risk-taking. But branding is not just for companies or products any more. In the new millennium, everything is a brand. London is the world's hippest city. Route 128 in Boston is "America's Technology Highway," and "Operation Enduring Freedom" is a branded military operation. And Madonna, Martha Stewart and Richard Branson. Brand. Brand. Brand. That's right, branding is for people, too.

Personal branding is essential to professional success today. Gone are the days where your value as an employee or vendor was linked to your loyalty and seniority. Today, companies are in a constant state of reorganization in response to the rapidly changing demands of the market. This modifies the way you behave as employees or vendors. You are working with different project teams, managers and employees all the time. In a sense, you are functioning like your own personal corporation. And that means that you have the same need to differentiate yourself and build demand for your services among your target markets.

Just as with corporate brands, your personal brand is your promise of value. It separates you from your peers, your colleagues, and your competitors. And it allows you to expand your success. Personal branding is not about building a special image for the outside world; it is about understanding your unique combination of rational and emotional attributes- your strengths, skills, values and passions - and using these attributes to differentiate yourself and guide your career decisions.

So, whether you are a senior executive, the president of your own business, or an employee of a company of any size, managing your brand is critical to achieving your professional goals. When you have built and nurtured a winning brand, you'll reap the many benefits, including:

• Understanding yourself better

• Increasing your confidence

• Increasing your visibility and presence

• Differentiating yourself from your peers

• Increasing your compensation

• Thriving during downturns in the economy

• Expanding into new business areas

• Having better, more interesting jobs and assignments

Here are three steps to successful personal branding:

Step 1: Unearth Your Brand.

Give Your Brand Context.

Before you can clearly describe your personal Brand, you need to look at the big picture: your vision, and purpose. Your vision is external. It is the essence of what you see possible for the world. Your purpose is internal. It is the role you play in supporting that vision. As Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

Additionally, your personal Brand needs to be tied to your goals. Spend some time thinking about how you would like your life to look in a year. Two years? Five years?  Be sure to document your answers. With your goals set down, and with a real understanding of your vision and purpose, you can begin the assessment process required to understand and develop your brand.

Know Yourself.

A successful personal brand is authentic. Thus, you need to know yourself before you can build a successful brand. If you are creative, dynamic, outgoing, and whimsical, you will not succeed by communicating the attributes of the predictable, the steady, and the focused. In much the same way that Volvo is known for being safe, not for being a speedy sports car.

Know Your Competitors.

How can you stand out unless you know those among whom you're standing? In other words, who are you really competing against?  Your current colleagues?  A larger group at your current workplace? Others within your industry? Take another look at your goals, and take a closer look at your competition. If you see yourself making major career changes, your competitors are not likely to be your current colleagues. If you are planning a straight-ahead trajectory to a more senior position, it may be easier to identify the competition and their brand attributes.

Know Your Target.

To be successful, it's not enough just to have a personal brand. You need to communicate it to the right people. It would exhaust your resources to aim for the world at large. The key to successful personal branding is focus! Barbara Bix, founder of the business development and marketing firm BB Marketing Plus, has defined her target as follows: executives in firms, or business unit directors, who sell advice, data, or technology, have fewer than 50 employees, earn between $1 million and $10 million in revenue, command an average sales price of at least $30,000, and depend on senior managers, or perhaps a single salesperson, to get new business. Now, you may not be able to define your target as narrowly as Barbara, but you should at least be able to identify specific people or characteristics of your target audience to help you define your messages. Just like Mattel knows that their target audience is glued to the television on Saturday morning, you too must understand how and where you can reach your audience.

Step 2: Express Yourself.

Describe the Essence of Your Brand.

From the results of Step 1 above, start to create a personal brand profile. List your brand attributes, create a brand statement and even your personal brand tag line. This will help you as you develop a plan to communicate your Brand.

Find the Right Mix.

Once you know yourself, your competitors, and your target, you can identify the ideal combination of communications tools that reach your audience effectively. This can vary widely depending on your goals, but maybe you will want to write articles or contribute to your internal newsletter. Maybe regular speaking gigs is more appropriate for your brand. You need to evaluate all possible communications tools and select the right combination to reach your target audience.

Mark Everything You Do with Your Brand.

Whether you're giving a presentation, participating in a meeting, or writing a report, you never have to leave your brand behind. Always ask yourself how you can connect your brand to every given situation. Every meeting, every project, every business trip - every business meal!

Live and Breathe Your Brand.

Live in a state of inquiry for two weeks - to start. Question everything you do, every tool you use, every article of clothing you wear. Are they consistent with your brand?  Do you have a WAP phone but use a printed calendar or a handwritten to-do list?  Do you carry a briefcase?  Make sure everything communicates the essence of your brand. Get used to living in the inquiry. It's a tool that will help you keep your brand clear, consistent, and constant.

Step 3: Evaluate and Evolve

Evaluate.

You've identified your brand. You've developed communications tools to reach your target audience. But how do you measure your brand success?  The key is putting metrics in up front. If you are an employee of a company, you can use performance evaluations, and informal feedback from managers and peers. Find a group of people to use as your focus group: trusted people who will provide truly honest feedback, perhaps your mentor or a performance coach. If you are a consultant, provide your clients with feedback forms after every project. Request feedback on your Web site. Get as much INput as you can, to make your OUTput as strong as it can be.

Evolve.

To remain relevant to their target audiences, all strong brands evolve with the times. This could mean line extensions (Starbucks is now serving teas; McDonald's is offering salads). It could be modifying the ways you communicate your brand (moving from a printed resume to a resume on CD), It could mean augmenting brand attributes as you continue to grow in your career (much like Volvo has been adding style to safety in the design of their cars). Whatever course you take, make sure your brand continues to be authentic, differentiated, and consistent.

In a world where cities, wars, CEOs, politicians and highways are branded, you need to think about yourself in the same terms. So build and nurture your brand. There are three simple steps. Leading you along one clear path to success.

Standing Out: 4 Steps To Outstanding Results

We are living in dynamic times. Our employers and clients are continually reorganizing to keep pace with the rapidly changing demands of the market. This has enormous repercussions on the way we behave as employees or vendors. We're no longer lifetime employees or long-term consultants tied to a single organization. We are, in effect, functioning as product managers: judged not by our loyalty and seniority, but by the success of our last project. It's a whole new world. It's an incredible opportunity for success. And it's the perfect time to ask yourself these questions: Do you stand out among your competitors and colleagues? Should you command higher compensation? Can you pick and choose which clients, projects, and assignments YOU want? Are you achieving your professional goals? Whether you are a sole proprietor, the president of a small business, or an employee of a company of any size, the best way to succeed in this new world is to achieve your personal goals and to surpass your competition. By differentiating yourself - understanding, building, and promoting your unique personal Brand. Your personal Brand is your promise of value. It separates you from your peers, your colleagues, and your competitors. And it allows you to achieve your professional goals.

Step 1: Set the Scene.

Before you get into the details of your Brand, you need to give it context: Your vision, and your Purpose. Your Vision is external. It is the essence of what you see as possible for the world. Your Purpose is internal. It is the role you play in supporting that vision. As Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." You may not have thought about this before, and you may need the assistance of a performance coach to recognize and articulate your vision and purpose. Nothing is more important than knowing your Vision for the world, and your purpose in supporting that vision. I worked with the CEO of Rumeur Publique, Christophe Ginisty, on documenting his personal Brand. During our first meeting, he couldn't have been clearer in expressing his vision and purpose: Vision: A world in which everyone, regardless of income or geography, experiences the benefits of technology. Purpose: To be a leader in a major social revolution that will use the benefits of technology to help humanity and thereby significantly change the world. Christophe is living his purpose every day. He is a leading force in bringing the benefits of technology to Eastern Europe, and he has started a foundation that will bring those benefits to those in need.

Given this, it follows that your Brand needs to be tied to your goals. Noted philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else." Truer words were never spoken! You need to know where you are setting your sights before you can uncover and nurture your personal Brand, and direct it toward your goals. Spend some time thinking about how you would like your life to look in a year. Two years? Five years? Ask yourself these questions: where will I be living? Who will I have in my life? How will my work be fulfilling? What evokes my passion? What are the components of my ideal job? What will my priorities be? Be sure to document your answers. With your goals set down, and with a real understanding of your vision and purpose, you can begin the assessment process required to understand and develop your Brand.

Step 2: Unearth your Brand.

Know yourself.

A successful Brand is authentic. It needs to be based in reality. Thus, you need to know yourself before you can build a successful personal brand. If you are creative, dynamic, outgoing, and whimsical, you will not succeed by communicating the attributes of the predictable, the steady, and the focused. It would be as inauthentic and unreal as wearing someone else's clothes.

What are your Brand attributes? Are there words that people frequently use to describe you? Adjectives that show up in your performance evaluations year after year? Phrases that people repeatedly use when they introduce you to others? Well, you can be assured that those are some extremely powerful Brand attributes being expressed. Take the time and think about this - and document the results! There are other ways to learn more about yourself and extract the words and concepts that help describe you: Ask friends, colleagues, managers, employees - and yes, your performance coach - to come up with five words to describe you. Obtain a Kerisey personality profile (www.keirseyy.com). Read "Now Discover Your Strengths" and take the web-based test. You may be surprised at the results, but remember: like it or not, we all have both positive and negative Brand attributes. We need to know them all - so we can focus on the positive, and downplay or even eliminate the negative.

Know your competitors.

How can you stand out unless you know those you're standing among? In other words, who are you really competing against? Your current colleagues? A larger group at your current workplace? Others within your industry? Take another look at your goals, and take a closer look at your competition. If you see yourself making major career changes, your competitors are not likely to be your colleagues. If you are planning a straight-ahead trajectory to a more senior position, it may be easier to identify the competition and their Brand attributes.

Identifying and understanding the competition gives you access to the big picture: find the baseline attributes associated with them, so you can create an effective plan designed to differentiate you.

Know your target.

To be successful, it's not enough to have a personal Brand. You need to communicate it to the right people. It would exhaust your resources to aim for the world at large. The key to successful Branding is focus! Barbara Bix, founder of the business development and marketing firm BB Marketing Plus, has defined her target as follows: executives in firms, or business unit directors, who sell advice, data, or technology, have fewer than 50 employees, earn between $1 million and $10 million in revenue, command an average sales price of $30,000, and depend on senior managers, or perhaps a single salesperson, to get new business. Now, you may not be able to define your target as narrowly as Barbara, but you should at least be able to identify specific people or characteristics of your target audience to help you define your messages. Similarly, if you work in a corporate setting, identify the key players who need to understand the value of your Brand. Depending on your short- and long-term goals, this could be your immediate manager, his or her manager, or people in an entirely different part of your organization. Once you know your target, you can identify the best ways to reach them. You'll be able to choose the most effective and efficient tools and methods for communicating with the people you need to reach. Just like Mattel knows that their target audience is glued to the television on Saturday morning, you too must understand how and where you can reach your audience.

Step 3: Express yourself.

From the information you've developed in steps 1 and 2, work up a Brand statement. Kevin Alger, a senior executive at JP Morgan, calls himself The Fixer. "Actually," he says, "it is everyone else who started calling me that. When there are problems, they call me in. And in my business, someone who can quickly solve problems has great value to the company. I volunteer to support the larger corporation when there are challenges that need quick, effective solutions. It's part of who I am and what I really love to do." That is Kevin's Brand statement. What is yours? Find the right mix.

Once you know yourself, your competitors, and your target, you can identify the ideal combination of communications tools that reach your audience effectively. For Sarah XXXXX of Realise, a Professional Development Consultancy in the U.K., the perfect mix consists of a high quality brochure, business cards, and personalized stationery. What is yours? Mark everything you do with your Brand. Whether you're giving a presentation, participating in a meeting, or writing a report, you never have to leave your Brand behind. Always ask yourself how you can connect your Brand to every given situation. Every meeting, every project, every business trip - every business meal!

Play dress up.

Christopher Lasch said, "Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success." But depending on your line of work and your target audience, that appearance can vary greatly. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown's personal Brand is closely entwined with his dapper style. First and foremost, this differentiates him from others in his "industry": politics. But further, he can broaden this image to cover all parts of his life. It becomes part of who he is. He not only appears calm, cool, and collected, he is calm, cool, and collected. Vartus Variadian, creative director for IBM Software Brands, describes her personal style as contemporary. The perfect image for one who needs to communicate, and inspire, creativity every working hour of every working day. Have you ever bought an article of clothing because it's unlike anything you own? Because you wanted something different? If so, you've probably noticed that you rarely wear it, and when you do, you never feel comfortable. Quite simply, some clothes are simply off-Brand. And off-Brand clothes put you off-stride. Nancy Preston describes her personal performance coach, Maxine Bernstein is a personal performance coach. One of her clients, Nancy Preston, describes Maxine's exceptionally strong and differentiated Brand as a "whisper." She is always wearing cream colors and airy designs, lots of gauze, and fine silk. She seems to float. It probably won't surprise you to know that Maxine is founder of Claritas Coaching, a firm with a serious focus on spirituality. That's what is known as dressing the part!

Be at home.

Say you want to be known as a completely organized, buttoned-up accountant who is on top of every detail. Well, if your desk is cluttered with tens of folders, reams of loose paper, and assorted coffee-stained phone messages, you may want to meet your clients off-site - or hire a personal assistant to sort you out! Always remember the image you're presenting by the desk you use, the home you live in, the hotel you select for business travel, your car, your boat, all the way up to your personal jet!

Live and breathe your Brand

Live in a state of inquiry for two weeks - to start. Question everything you do, every tool you use, every article of clothing you wear. Are they consistent with your brand? Do you have a WAP phone but use a printed calendar or a handwritten to-do list? Do you carry a briefcase? Do you use a Mont Blanc or a Bic? It's not a question status or elitism or snobbishness, it's purely a question of what is right for your personal Brand. Make sure everything communicates your Brand statement, the attributes you identified in Step 3 above. Get used to living in the inquiry. It's a tool that will help you keep your Brand Clear, Consistent, and Constant - the three Cs.

Step 4: Evaluate and Evolve Evaluate.

You've identified your Brand. You've developed communications tools to reach your target audience. But how do you know if they're helping you achieve your goals? In short, how should you measure your Brand success? The key is putting metrics in up front. If you are an employee of a company, you can use performance evaluations, and informal feedback from managers and peers. Find a group of people to use as your focus group: trusted people who will provide truly honest feedback, perhaps your mentor or a performance coach. When giving a presentation, obtain feedback via audience evaluation forms or a trusted advisor or coach you station in the audience. If you are a consultant, provide your clients with feedback forms after every project. Request feedback on your web site. Get as much INput as you can, to make your OUTput as strong as it can be. As we've discovered above, the clear, consistent, and constant expression of your personal Brand is the key to the achievement of your personal goals. They're four simple steps. Leading you along one clear path to success.

Companies have been successfully using Branding to differentiate themselves and stand out among a sea of competitors. Volvo differentiates its cars by communicating their safety and security. Disney stands for family entertainment. Virgin is irreverent and risk-taking. Tiffany is sophisticated and urban. But branding is no longer just for corporations. Everything is a Brand. London is the world's hippest city. Operation Enduring Freedom is a military operation Brand. And  Madonna, Oprah and Richard Branson. Brand. Brand. Brand.

So how do you get in on the act and create your own enduring promise of value that differentiates you from others with similar skills and abilities?

Whether you are a sole proprietor, the president of a small business, or an employee of a company of any size, the best way to succeed in this new world is by differentiating yourself - understanding, building, and communicating  YOUR UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND.

Personal Branding is not about building a special image for the outside world; it is about understanding what is truly unique about you  - your strengths, skills, values and passions - and using that to differentiate yourself and expand your career success.  Just as Volvo would not succeed communicating the attributes of sporty and risk taking, you will not succeed if your Brand is not based on authenticity.  So follow these fours steps to personal Branding and you will be well on your way to standing out and achieving your goals.

The first and most important step to successful personal Branding is to unearth who YOU are. We are normally too busy to spend a lot of time doing this.  But when we do, we can create a road map to guide us in navigating among the options in our careers. And thereby truly differentiate ourselves from others will similar skills. This assists us in attaining true career success.

Companies have been using branding to differentiate themselves and develop strong, enduring relationships with customers since pre-industrial times. Branding helps consumers choose among a range of seemingly similar products and services. Volvo  is differentiated from other car companies by it's promise of safety and security. Disney stands for family entertainment. Virgin is irreverent and risk-taking.  But branding is not just for companies any more. In the new millennium, everything is a Brand. London is the world's hippest city. Route 128 in Boston is America's Technology Highway. Operation Enduring Freedom is a military operation Brand. And  Madonna, Martha Stewart and Richard Branson. Brand. Brand. Brand. That's right, Branding is for people, too.

Gone are the days where our value as employees or vendors was linked to our loyalty and seniority. We are all functioning like consultants. This creates a need to differentiate ourselves from others with similar skills - to clearly and consistently communicate our Brands to our target markets.

Just as with corporate Brands, your personal Brand is your promise of value. It separates you from your peers, your colleagues, and your competitors. And it allows you to expand your success. Personal Branding is not about building a special image for the outside world; it is about understanding your unique combination of rational and emotional attributes  - your strengths, skills, values and passions - and using it to differentiate yourself and  guide your career.  

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