Brand Yourself in 10 Steps

[link] via Personal Development with The Positivity Blog on 10/31/08

I’ve written about personal branding before. It is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging.

The term is thought to have been first used and discussed in an 1997 article by Tom Peters.

The above article has some great tips that can specifically help you to actually be the brand you want in life. It’s definitely worth working through the following points and thinking deeply about their implication along with the additional tips, tricks and strategies given in the embedded videos.

Work Branding

… you only work about 17% of your waking hours in a lifetime

So, BRAND YOUR LIFE

Image by See-ming Lee ??? SML via Flickr

1. Know Your Own Brand

What are the things that are important to you?

What would you want to leave as a lasting impression on others when you meet them, know them well and part ways from them?

Exploring this and really understanding yourself is important here to start this process off.

What is your purpose in life and do you want others to know that purpose about you?

What are the things you are living for now?  Are they different than the things you want them to be?

Examine yourself to know your own brand that you want to live.  The items you want in your brand should be long term and stand the test of time.

2. Eliminate Any Ego Based Perception

Ignore those temporary things in life and focus on the areas that have real lasting impact:

• Relationships
• Faith
• Spirituality
• Service
• Values and Morals
• Health
• Legacy
• Happiness

Show the importance for areas in the list above and work to overcome any bad habits you have where you currently present a selfish or egocentric attitude.

3. Hold True Your Background

Image by See-ming Lee ??? SML via Flickr

Your background is often a large part of who you are.  This could be where you grew up, what kind of schooling or childhood you had, your family, your heritage, your religious beliefs, whatever the things are that have been a big part of your life, don’t abandon them.

Take the things from your background that makes you who you are and who you want to be and hold true to those learned things. Continue to value them and don’t hide from your past.  Embrace it and take life lessons from it. You can’t change your past so you might as well gain by it and be honest about it with yourself and others.  Your background can often be an important part of branding who you are today and who you want to be.

4. Live and Reinforce Your Morals

Do you have and know your morals?

Do you live by them and make decisions by them?

Everyone does, it’s just that the decisions and choices in life are not always in line with the morals we think we have!  If you want to be the brand you want in life, you need to live your life according to your morals and have the integrity to stick to them.  Don’t shift towards and away from them depending on who you are with, or what situation you are in. Knowing your morals and living by them are an important part of knowing yourself and your brand.

5. Make Your Core Values Known

Core values are also an important area of life to use, to learn about yourself and to understand your brand in life. There are many advantages of truly understanding your core values and sharing them and when it comes to branding, they are a strong part of a person’s makeup and living by them should help you align yourself with the brand you want.

Of course, your core values need to align with the brand you want as well so taking the time to examine your core values is a great way to create and understand your brand. Validating that to ensure it’s in line with what you want it to be is then the next step. Sharing those values with others is a way to describe yourself and a powerful set of attributes to stick to.  This can really help to build your brand let alone live by it.

6. Practice What You Preach

If you want to have a brand that others can believe, you have to make it believable.  You do this by demonstrating and showing that you are true to the brand you portray and that you actually do practice what you preach.  If you say one thing about yourself, yet go and do the opposite, that brand is nothing but words and will likely never hold true.

A brand must be connected to the actions, descriptions and message it delivers and the proof of that is in your actions. You have to keep the things you do within the confines of your brand and the more you do this, the more accurate your brand will be to others. Practicing what you preach delivers a powerful message to others about who you are and it makes you and your brand seem genuine and authentic!

7. Strengthen Your Unique Attributes

Identify all the things about yourself that make you unique.  Is it your attitude, style, humor, work ethic, learning, motivation, energy, empathy, helpfulness, ability to focus, kindness, honesty, responsibility, cooperation, acceptance/tolerance or your perseverance! Of course there are more attributes then that but those tend to fit into the category of liked attributes in the workplace and relationships.

Identify those attributes you match and look to work to strengthen them. Make them obvious, demonstrate them, practice them and master them in your life so that you would always be describes as having them if others asked to describe you.  You want these attributes to match the brand you are building and showing them often so that they stand out above other attributes will reinforce them in your brand.

Not only are your character attributes a great way to build your brand but also your life activities, beliefs, hobbies and experiences.  All those things can be part of your brand attributes and the unique ones are easier to talk about and certainly easier for other people to remember you by and to remember your brand associated with it.

8. Demonstrate Your Most Wanted Traits

For similar reasons you should show the attributes you have that are your most wanted traits.  Perhaps the most wanted by you or perhaps that of others.  If you want your brand to demonstrate that, you need to work on them, and practice them so they are visible in many areas of your life.  Spending time on mastering your skills for something you want to show will definitely improve it and often just focusing on the one or two attributes you want will allow you to develop it quickly and make it stronger than other attributes.

Look for resources here that can help you as well. Ask others who have it how they developed it and how they demonstrate it. Read about it and do research to ensure you understand all the related bits of knowledge for that attribute. Study builds interest in things which can also give motivation and momentum to master particular areas. Using examples, stories, articles and others’ experiences is an easy way to learn to demonstrate it yourself.

Image by See-ming Lee ??? SML via Flickr

9. Write About and Share With Others

Writing is unfortunately seen by most people as a waste of time, however, there is HUGE value in it. If you want to show and learn more yourself about any content or subject, then writing about it is an excellent way to do that.

Sharing your brand, the image you want and how you are doing it is very valuable as well.  Not only for building it and reinforcing it, but to also work with others to get help. Whether it’s through learning from them or building connections that help you get involved where you are most effective, sharing things with others will help you stay encouraged, continually get new ideas and be challenged. This helps you see progress with your branding and that is vital to keeping yourself motivated to keep on working towards being the brand you want to be.

10. Be Consistent With Your Brand

… be congruent with a consistent brand for yourself. Be consistant with our online profiles or brand wherever it is displayed.

You can’t be a separate brand in your home life and another one in your work life. It doesn’t work and even if you manage to fake them, you will never make it last or reach your full potential having two separate brands.

… Your brand is something you should be happy to share with anyone, friends, colleagues, family or even strangers online.

Conclusion

So, I encourage you to take some time and follow this plan to build and be your own brand.  Put your ideas down on paper and decide how and what you want in each of these steps.  Look at applying them in your home life, relationships and work environment.

It will drastically improve your confidence in yourself and can really give you the boost you need to become happier, more effective and much more consistent in your life.  Don’t settle and be complacent with your current brand unless you can honestly be described in your life as the way you want to be and the best person you can possibly be.

What’s your tip? Leave a comment below.

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Related articles

• The web is buzzing about personal branding
• Personal Branding
• Personal Branding: A Necessary Evil?
• I’ve Worked VERY Hard On My Personal Brand…
• Personal Branding And Employer Branding: In Conversation With Zane Safrit
• Display Your Personal Brand: Personal Branding Magazine Sample
• Sun Tzu and Know Your Enemy*
• My Best Advice About Personal Branding
• Gary Vaynerchuk, Dan Schawbel and Buzzle!
• Believing Your Brand is “Alive”
• Ways to Reach Your Goals Quicker
• Don’t Sell “You” as a Product, Sell “You” as a Brand
• Respect Yourself To Build Your Personal Brand
• An Ego is an Opportunity
• Your Personal Brand – Does it Matter?

Originally posted 2009-04-11 08:25:42.

The Top 10 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

There are certain qualities common to many Entrepreneurs. It’s safe to say that most successful Entrepreneurs possess at least some, and probably the majority, of these characteristics. This is not exclusive to entrepreneurship. If you want to be successful in anything you will need a combination of these attributes. You will have to focus on developing the traits that you currently don’t possess if you want to make it.

The thing about being someone extraordinary like you, someone who is pushing the envelope, is that all the usual challenges to a successful outcome become more extreme. Being an entrepreneur is the severest test of anyone’s “character” and that’s the point. It’s not your skills or your charm or your age/race/color or creed it’s about you and your internal resources.

“Anyone who can face up to decision making can learn to be an entrepreneur and behave entrepreneurially…. Entrepreneurship is a behavior rather than a personality trait. In 30 years I have seen people of most diverse personalities and temperaments perform well in entrepreneurial challenges. Some entrepreneurs are ego-centric and others are painfully correct conformists. Some are fat and some are lean. Some entrepreneurs are worriers and some are relaxed…some have great charm and some have no more personality than a frozen mackerel!”

Peter Drucker

1. Persistence

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

In my opinion, there’s no single quality or trait that’s more important to being a successful Entrepreneur. Persistence is what keeps you motivated when things aren’t going the way you thought they would and they rarely do. The dictionary defines Persistence as two words: “persistent determination” but I shall increase the list to ‘persistent determination, motivation and belief’.

• Determination: Winners implement their ventures with total commitment. They seldom give up, even when confronted by obstacles that seem insurmountable.
• Motivation: You must be willing to keep trying when things go wrong, and accept that, ultimately, it’s up to you to make your dream come true. Motivation enables you to stick with your dream when the going gets rough; it has to come from within you.
• Belief: You control your success or failure, and that it is not decided by luck, circumstance, or external events. Successful Entrepreneurs have an enduring belief in themselves that gives them the capacity to recover from serious defeat or disappointment.

‘If you want to be successful in a particular field or endeavour, I think perseverance is one of the key qualities. It’s very important that you find something that you care about, that you have a deep passion for, because you’re going to have to devote a lot of your life to it.’

George Lucas

2. Confidence

‘All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.’

Mark Twain

Together with persistence, you will need to start thinking about your confidence level. You’ve got to have a good measure of confidence in yourself, but also in other people and in your surroundings. Self-confidence is an essential trait in an Entrepreneur because you’re regularly called upon to perform tasks and make decisions that require great amounts of faith in yourself. You need to have a strong but realistic belief in yourself and your ability to achieve your goals.

Mark Twain’s seemingly contradictory quote highlights the fact that ‘ignorance‘ actually goes hand-in-hand with confidence for many new Entrepreneurs. They have no fear of the unknown, they just do it. In fact, if they knew what many people did they probably wouldn’t attempt the fantastic feats they do, as so many successful Entrepreneurs have done before them.

Without confidence it would be very hard to get that first investor to give you a start or to encourage your first staff member to come on board or to sell to the first customer. You will discover that confidence has a bearing on almost all the critical milestones in any ventures’ success.

3. Vision

“Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.”

Jonathan Swift

Entrepreneurs have a vision of what the future could be like for them and their businesses. And, more importantly, they have the ability to implement this vision or dream. Most great entrepreneurs have a strong desire to originate an idea or product, to develop something new, to be innovative and to make something happen. They want to imprint their dreams and ideas on a concept in a unique and different way. Often the idea can be pushing a boundary that society or industry has set and it can’t re-invent itself due its long history of operating in a particular way – that’s where a paradigm shift can make you very successful. Richard Branson is a perfect example of someone who is constantly trying to change businesses from music, to airlines to mobile phone and now banking. In each case there was an opportunity to re-invent the business for the benefit of the consumer and as a result he could build a new and flourishing company in an old stagnant market!

4. Action

‘Hatching an idea is only the beginning of the battle. The foundation for nearly every conspicuous American achievement, organization or institution was laid by the sweat and sacrifice and unconquerable perseverance of some man possessed by an idea he was willing to give his life for, if necessary. Don’t make the mistake of imagining that an idea, no matter how good, can win its way in the world unless you have grit enough, backbone enough, enthusiasm enough to get behind it and push with all your might.’

Forbes, 1921

This is the part that sets apart those with the dream from those that succeed. It’s great to dream but you then need the ability to execute and turn the idea into reality and on to commercial viability. It’s critical once you believe in an idea that you make the step to some form of action right away in order to start building momentum towards your goals.99% of budding Entrepreneurs fail at this; they talk a good game but do not follow through. Winners decide on a course of action and they implement it as quickly as possible.

Once you do get started, being an Entrepreneur is all about getting things done, usually against the odds. It is about setting goals and exceeding them. Rather than being content with reaching goals, successful Entrepreneurs continue setting new goals to challenge themselves. They don’t procrastinate. They make decisions swiftly and this swiftness is a key factor in their success.

5. Dedication

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”

Vince Lombardi

No ‘ordinary’ amount of action is required to succeed; it requires your total dedication.

This dedication will be a combination of stamina, passion and commitment. A high level of stamina is essential in allowing you to meet the intense demands of running a business along with single-mindedness that will drive you until you reach your goal.

Winners give everything to their business right from its conception, sometimes at considerable cost to their relationships with their friends and families. They work tirelessly and with a tremendous amount of passion. Passion is particularly important for Entrepreneurs because, although rewarding, the process of starting and building a new firm is demanding. Twelve-hour days and seven-day weeks are not uncommon when an Entrepreneur is striving to get a business off the ground.

Of course this dedication must stem from a place of love or it is simply unsustainable. Entrepreneurs must love what they do. It is that love that drives them and gives them the energy to be totally dedicated when the going gets tough.

6. Faith

“All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.”

James Freeman Clarke

Most successful people in general as well as Entrepreneurs have had to take a leap of faith in their venture at some point to avoid defeat. They have to go the extra mile when all else seems lost. A well known and powerful little poem best illustrates this point:

“If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think you dare not, you don’t; If you’d like to win, but think you can’t it’s almost a cinch you won’t; Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man; But soon or late the man who wins is the one who thinks he can.”

Walter D. Wintle

As an Entrepreneur, there will be many times when you will have to have to demonstrate faith in your idea, your colleagues, your family and yourself. But you will need to go beyond the logical acceptance of the need for faith to actually finding it – it is not a tangible thing. Faith requires that you reflect and consider your position and then continue against all the logical evidence because you believe in your dream.

Do not confuse belief with faith:

“Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active”

Edith Haminton

7. Integrity

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

Dwight David Eisenhower

This may seem a less obvious trait in the list but I believe it’s one of the most powerful ways to succeed in the long term.

As the life of an Entrepreneur is a long term game it pays to live your life by strong principles and not to compromise these in order to achieve your goals. “You get what you give” is one of my touchstone phrases and a great mantra to live your life by.

You will have many opportunities take shortcuts along the road to entrepreneurial success but it rarely pays to do so, those that are honest and treat others with respect and fairness will be the ultimate winners. Experience has taught me that people will follow a person with true integrity into the wilderness and beyond, whereas a leader without morals will soon be alone when the money runs out.

8. Adaptability

“All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”

Bruce Lee

A truly successful Entrepreneur is totally flexible in the achievement of their outcome. They are receptive to change, can adjust perceptions, goals or action based on an assessment of new information.

One of the great benefits of a small or early stage business is the ability to change rapidly, often much faster than the competition. You may have to change your basic idea based on customer feedback. You may have to rethink the way you deliver a product; your go to market strategy; your sales method or one of the many of the other factors that affect success. The people involved in the journey with you will also need to change and adapt with you, the Entrepreneur.

Coupled with adaptability is versatility. You will need to be capable of dealing effectively with many subjects or tasks at the same time along with being able to assume different roles and switch back and forth as required.

9. Courage

“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.”

Orison Swett Marden

As an entrepreneur, you will need to be able to face your fears and take action. You will have to overcome countless odds and believe me; it will pay to have nerves of steel. So many people fail when they are required to show their metal. In order to succeed you need to be able to find the internal resources to make the tough decisions along the road.

Successful Entrepreneurs will often have had to give up their jobs to embark on a new venture. Deciding to risk the unknown, at the expense of a regular salary and benefits such as health insurance, pension plans and paid vacations takes immense courage.

In addition, the prospective entrepreneur frequently has to face friends, family, and maybe a spouse who do not always understand or support his or her desire for self-employment, with all its risk and uncertainty, and its drain on their time, energy, and resources. With sustained courage and conviction, you’ll be surprised at how often things work out even better than you had ever expected them to.

10. Communication

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

Ernest Hemingway

All of the traits we have discussed in this session would be pretty redundant without the ability to get your message across to all the relevant parties. If you cannot inspire, enthuse, motivate and excite people about your dreams then they will be much harder to achieve. Excellent communication skills are critical in enabling you to interact well with people of varying personalities and values, many of whom will not necessarily share your passion or motivation. You will need to communicate yourself out of the many roadblocks you will meet along the way, from financing and legal to recruitment to simply helping people ‘get’ your idea. It all requires your ability to communicate effectively.

As such you must also be a consummate sales person. You must be able to use words and explain concepts effectively and persuasively, both verbally and in writing. You also need the ability to present proposals clearly to influence bankers or investors to supply money. Your communication skills will also be called upon in your dealings with employees, to help them understand the exact nature of their job and the results you expect, and also to encourage customers to buy from you.

The candidates most likely to be successful entrepreneurs will have some or all ten of the traits discussed – how do you measure up? You are not expected to possess a complete and polished set from the outset but, can you see yourself in these characteristics or do you think you could learn them?

Related articles

• Richard Branson got arrested for his Vision. (imperfectaction.com)
• Great Entrepreneurs’ Secret: Smarts, Guts, and Luck (blogs.harvardbusiness.org)
• The Four-Hour Work Week Myth (prevential.com)
• Unfiltered Branson (nevillehobson.com)

Originally posted 2009-03-08 09:07:25.