Every single public presentation or private consultation I start with explaining 2 things: what personal branding is about and what are the similarities and differences between personal and product branding.
First one, my approach to personal branding is about applying marketing strategies to personal branding. Personal Branding is about marketing and branding strategy for You and NOT about personal development. I am not your coach, I do not want to improve you or influence a change. For me, you are a “product”. You are completed. My job is to find the best way to promote you, to market you, to sell you, but most importantly to find the unique value that you represent and communicate it to the world as a Brand.
Now here comes the second thing. There is a key difference between Product Branding and Personal Branding. Product brand can be created because a product can be created. And behind the process of product creation, there is an idea about who it should serve and what it should do. Therefore a product is created to have specific features and offer specific benefits. A product is developed, improved, customized. This is NOT a case when it comes to a personal branding. You are not designed in such a way. You just come with a set of skills, strengths and weaknesses, education, experience, personality traits, even cultural and religious background etc. I always encourage people to develop and grow as persons and professionals, but my job as personal branding consultant is not to change you to create a new person. Therefore I do not believe in creating a personal brand. If your goal is to ‘create a personal brand’, you are doomed to fail. Because if your creation doesn’t reflect the reality, sooner or later you will not be able to maintain it.
STOP CREATING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND AND START BEING ONE
It is like using a fake photo on a dating portal. You may attract some interest, but once you show up at the real-life date, the other side will be disappointed. This takes me back to the line I always use that ‘marketing is about making a promise, but branding delivers on experience’.
You may keep a poker face, but when someone call to check, you better have a strong hand.
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