There is a

phenomenon that will always be there with humans. It is called the “me too strategy”. When someone sees that what you are doing is working, (read it’s giving you good income), they want to start the self-same thing guess what? Right next to you, in your face! That is the absolute marker of a lack of personal brand.

Importance of A Personal Brand

That is exactly what happens in the job world, albeit in a different way. The genesis has already been explained in this article. So you end up having a bunch of people trying to ape away in order to make a living. You see, a personal brand is not about making a living, it is about making a difference.

If you do not get that distinction from the get-go, it becomes a difficult thing to manage a personal brand, let alone come up with one. Today, you and I will succeed to the degree that we keep honing our personal brands and making them sharper by the day.

A Personal Brand in a Changing World

The world has gone through tremendous changes and as we speak, the changes are still coming in fast and furious. Those who respond to the changes will be the ones able to survive. A personal brand is the only thing that can stay constant during those changes. However, that brand is potent to the degree that it is unique.

That is why it is a personal brand in the first place. You see, a personal brand cannot be mass-produced. A brand car such as a Rolls Royce takes months to be finished because it is custom made. That is the same thing with a personal brand. It is not mass-produced, but it is custom made.

Creating a Great Personal Brand

That being said, we need to understand the various ways in which we can build a personal brand. There is a core template that can be applied by just about anyone and you end up with a sizzling personal brand that not only offers value to people but also leaves you fulfilled and paid at the end of the day.

1. Know Your Value Add
2. Know Your Audience

3. Know Your Difference

Inherently, I have already talked about the solution that you are offering in the previous articles linked above. The word “personal” in personal brand should be instructive. It denotes that your brand is unique, unrivaled, intimate and owned by you. That goes without saying that it has to be authentic. I have said that now for the umpteenth time.

Passion is the Key

The difference between a personal brand and an academic pedigree is in the difference that you are making to your audience. As such, you have to be absolutely passionate about the people that you are serving. You also have to be absolutely passionate about the solution that you are providing. That is the foundation of knowing your difference.

Luckily, we all can do something unique. We are all gifted and skilled in one way or another. Our passion, gifts, and talents should be the nucleus of creating our personal brands.

Degrees of Differentiation

As you would easily notice, quite a number of people might be doing the same thing that you are doing and are ministering to the same audience that you are serving. There is nothing wrong with that. I have noticed that with a personal brand, you might intersect with quite a number of people who are doing the same thing.

Even so, you have already been separated two degrees away from the masses. First, you have a unique solution that you are providing. Second, you have a unique audience that you are reaching out to. If still your personal brand intersects with other people, you need to further determine how different you will be.

Differentiating Your Personal Brand

This is where your difference is. Actually, a personal brand is unique in a way that it does what nearly everyone else does but win a “plus one” degree of difference. There are very many chicken-eating outlets. KFC has distinguished themselves not because of their chicken, but because of their difference.

Your personal brand has to come out strongly especially on your difference. It is up to you to distinguish the various points of difference that you can make. However, the difference in a personal brand is always going to be related to the point of contact with your targeted audience.

Points of Differentiation

How do you make them feel when you are serving them? How different are you doing it as compared to others in the niche? What will you be known for?

• Difference with customer service?
• Difference with the creation process?
• Difference with innovation?
• Difference with aesthetics?
• Difference with Wow Factor?
• Difference in consistency?

A personal brand will be mostly identified as a result of the difference that you decided to make. Your difference is in two ways.

The difference in THE WORK you are doing:

This is already exemplified with your passion for the work and for the people that you are serving.

The difference in HOW you are doing the work:

This is where your wow factor comes in. There can always be a continuous improvement on your personal brand especially when it comes to how you will deploy your work. This has to be the permanent area of innovation with your personal brand.

If there is no difference with your personal brand, then there is absolutely no reason for it in the first place.