Did you know you already had a personal brand?

Many will think the fact that they have never consciously made an effort toward building a brand means that they don’t have one, but that is far from reality.

You have a personal brand, if it’s no more than someone thinking “oh, that’s the guy from across the street”. They may not know you but they have a perception of you that they have formed.

This becomes a brand that you have no control over, often developed from a shallow set of visual encounters because there is nothing else from which they can form an opinion.

It’s funny how a series of distant images of a person develop into a perception and a brand of that person, who has no idea what people think about them. The way you are perceived by others evolves as people get to really know you but initially we all seem to come up with some limited opinion about people we encounter.

I remember a story from my corporate life days after having worked on this new project for a couple of months; I did a presentation in the auditorium. It turned out to be my coming out party for that job and yes, I was nervous as hell leading up to that event. Somehow I lived through it.

Afterward there were refreshments and general chatter about the topic I had presented and a small group approached, all of which were from the Public Affairs office. They all thanked me and were happy to finally meet. Then one of them said they could now start calling me by my real name.  Huh? As it turned out, in that particular office area, I was known as the “fly tie guy”, a reference to the neckties that I wore daily.

We all had a big laugh about it and went on to become good friends.

My point is this, people will always build a brand for you, without your permission and without knowing very much about you. They will go with what little they know or have seen and develop a means of identifying you.

So is there anything you can do about this?

Yes, there is one thing that you can do about it.

Make people see you for who you really are

In the business world perception is huge, but you can control what those perceptions are. Let people know that you have specialized skills and that you are good at what you do, not in a boastful manner, but you get my point.

You may then become known as the go-to person for your particular skill. You see and hear examples of this all the time.

You need some graphs done in PowerPoint? “Check with Davina on that, she’s the whiz when it comes to doing them”.

You’re talking to a friend and find out that they are shopping for someone to install a patio for their home. “My brother used Bob’s Stone Works and their patio turned out fantastic, you have to see it”.

Two things occurred in the examples above 1, the individuals demonstrated their skills and delivered what the are known for and 2, word of mouth advertising (cheapest and most effective) kicked in.

This is why it is so important for you to control the perceptions of you. These perceptions, good or bad, can spread like a wildfire.

The Business Environment

There is no place more important than the business environment to control the perception of you and your brand. You want to define yourself before others define you. Build your own brand and remain in control.

A great personal brand can be your ticket to financial freedom and independence. It can be the difference between working for a corporation and working for yourself.

Your brand will always be built by others; you just need to guide the conversation by delivering what you claim you can and stay consistent. Remaining true to your values and beliefs while building your brand and your business will always bring a level of consistency.

Recognize the fact that people are always going to talk, so give them something to talk about that works in your favor.

Targeting Clients

When your personal brand establishes you as a specialist and clearly communicates what you represent, you will find yourself surrounded by the type of potential clients that can catapult your business onto the next level of success.

When you control the perceptions and the brand it is clear to see what you represent. If this is unclear in any way, people will draw their own conclusions, which is not what you want to occur.

Think of the brick and mortar shop on Main Street with the sign in the window that says “Shoe Repair”. They have targeted their customers and sorted them out before they walk through the door. The owner of this shop knows he has a sale when you arrive and the expectations are already set for both parties.

Conclusion

Get ahead of the perception game and drive the conversations that will take place by putting your brand out there from the beginning. Specialize in something and avoid being a generalist trying to cover too many things at once.

When you let others know what to expect, they will help you build your brand, leaving you to simply deliver the goods.

Keep Blogging!