1.5 Selling Yourself with a Personal Brand
The first order of business in our career is that we need to sell ourselves. Consider how you sell yourself preparing your résumé, in an interview, when you meet someone at a networking event, or on social networking sites.
According to Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith in their book, You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself, each of us needs to approach selling ourselves by considering that we are the CEO of our personal brand.1 You are not only the CEO of (your name here) Inc., you are the only employee, and hence the one accountable for the success or failure of your personal brand.
What do people think of when they think of you? What would you like them to think of when they think of you? The answers to these questions will help you define your distinct personal brand.
According to dictionary definitions, a brand is an unwritten warranty, a mark of integrity, a promise of intrinsic value. A An asset that pertains to a particular person or individual, including but not limited to physical appearance and knowledge, and that leads to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable. is an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual, that includes but is not limited to physical appearance and knowledge, and that leads to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable.
Examples of personal brands can be found by looking at how individuals introduce themselves on LinkedIn. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, has as his personal brand, “Tie-loathing adventurer, philanthropist and troublemaker, who believes in turning ideas into reality.” An inside sales professional brands himself on his LinkedIn profile as the “Phone Sales Guru.”
Another personal branding approach is to use an analogy or story as a springboard to build your personal brand. Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their best-selling book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die suggest using high-concept pitches to create memorable and lasting impressions. Based on the idea of how movies are pitched as a concept, using an existing known reference point can be a springboard to creating a memorable and understood brand.2
Some examples of a high-concept pitch used successfully are the “Tri-Athlete of the Company” or the “Swiss Army Knife of the Organization.” These high-concept personal brand pitches take something already understood in the commitment, work ethic, and dedication of a tri-athlete and the versatility and flexibility of a Swiss army knife to communicate the attributes of the person. When they introduce themselves this way, these individuals have created an interest in their audience to know more about who they are and what they have accomplished.