The Importance of Branding
What’s Your Brand?
With so many people and businesses looking for work, having a strong personal brand has become a priority.
What’s your personal brand identity?
Regardless of who you are, your age, position, or the business you happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding.
Why do people pay $4 for a cup of coffee when they could just as easily buy a similar product for $1.50? The answer my friend is branding…the power of a brand.
A great brand is not about touting features and benefits. It’s about connection on an emotional level. It’s about loyalty that defies logic. The question is, how do you build that type of brand?
Were responsible for our own companies: “ME, MYSELF & I, INCORPORATED.”
To be in business today, our most important job is to market the brand called YOU. It’s a simple concept but hard to do.
Social media tools like Twitter, blogs, Linked-in and websites have leveled the playing ground and have enabled us to reach incredible heights.
Personal branding describes the process by which we as individuals and business owners differentiate ourselves from the competition by identifying and articulating our individual competency and value.
In this way, we should be trying to become thought leaders in our field, to become recognized among peers and mentors for our innovative ideas, and to demonstrate competency.
Enhancing our reputation as experts in our field, establishing a reputation of reliability and credibility with our peers and customers all help advance our business and career.
Perceived VALUE is key
Ask yourself:
- Is there anything about your company that makes people fall in love with it?
- Are your customers emotionally connected to your company?
- Is it easy for a client to leave your company?
You want your customers or associates to think of you different than your competition. You or your business need to be an entity that consistently demonstrates a strong, reliable, able and constantly producing good value for them!
That’s your brand: Value, Differentiation and Marketability!
Personal branding typically begins with establishing an inventory of core competencies, expertise, demonstrated abilities, and existing level of recognition, informed by market research or feedback.
What’s your brand?
