Developing a plan and setting goals is an excellent strategy for growing yourself personally and professionally. It allows you to focus on specific areas, set timelines, measure progress and celebrate your wins. The definition of a goal is a plan with a timeline. The steps in setting goals are to determine what area in your life you want to improve, name the specific goal you wish to accomplish, uncover what holds you back, and decide how you can overcome what’s in your way. There is a final part to goal-setting many hear about for corporations, but it can be incorporated in your personal life and in your business. The concept is having a personal brand.
What is a brand? There are many definitions of brand. In a general sense, it is your name or business name, your logo, marketing materials and more. A brand is the essence of you or your business and helps others understand your values. It can also be thought of as what others think about you or your business. For example, one of most recognizable brands is Nike. Just the mention of the word brings a visualization of the Nike “Swoosh” logo and tennis shoes. Of course, they have many other products such as clothing and sports equipment, but the first thing you associate with Nike is the logo and shoes. You might also think of what Nike’s values are to its customers. For example, Nike’s slogan is “Just Do It.” This is synonymous with health, exercising, and taking risks. Nike has a website, a customer service team, and gives back to the community. All of these aspects are part of their brand. In this article, you will learn quick tips on developing your personal brand.
Tip One: write down all of the words coming to mind to describe you or how you would like others to speak of you. These words should describe you values, what value you bring to others, or personality characteristics you wish to live. You should have between 5-7 attributes. There is a tendency to have more, and that is ok, but you want to focus on your top 5-7 because these will help you with other parts of developing your brand.
Tip Two: once you decide on the top 5-7 brand attributes, you can determine what verbal and nonverbal signs you can give others to showcase your brand attributes. The verbal signs are words, sentences, and phrases you use when talking to others. Nonverbal signs are color schemes, your wardrobe, and your actions, to name a few. For example, if one of your top attributes is honesty, your primary color is blue because blue represents trust. If you have professional as an attribute, the wardrobe you wear is professional attire.
Tip Three: Write your brand attributes on a large piece of paper and display them prominently to yourself in your office, your cubicle, or you bathroom mirror. The location is a place where you will see them every day. This is a reminder of who you are or who you aspire to be. Think of it as your own credo. As you perfect an attribute and you are the living, breathing example of it, then you can add to the list. You may have a short separate list of who you aspire to become in the next 12 months as areas of focus.
If you would like more help in determining your brand attributes and how to use them to create your essence to others, please email jennifer@darlingcoaching.com to learn about upcoming workshops.