Top Menu

Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself To Employers

We have a personal branding method that can be the secret to getting noticed by employers.

We have a personal branding method that can be the secret to getting noticed by employers.

Ritz Carlton hotels say “Let us Stay with You.” The Four Seasons boasts, “Fifty Hotels. Twenty-Two Countries.  One Philosophy.”  These brand names and their respective branding statements conjure luxury and high-end customer service.

What do your personal branding efforts say about you?

Do such marketing terms as reliable and efficient come to mind?  What about, consistency, integrity, professionalism?  Of course our personal branding statements will differ from the corporate space.  It would be very odd to have your brand identity be “just do it.”

Now ask yourself this, how you would go about attaching a branding label when it comes to marketing yourself?

Here is a quick exercise.  You are now a CMO and you are tasked with creating a marketing slogan for the following:  Any given Hall of Famer, Olympic Gold medalist or league MVP.

It is an interesting assignment that is ripe with debate, but the fact remains all of us as individuals are brands. How we create, manage and protect our brand is a huge part of our success or failure regardless of who we are and what line of business we are in.

In business a lot of personal branding advice is centered around putting yourself out there so that others will see you as an expert on a subject.  But what do you do when you’re just starting out in your field and don’t feel that you have a lot of expertise or unique information to share?  What if you’re not an MIT professor on behavioral economics, or a CEO of a wildly flourishing business, or a successful athlete who has someone else overseeing their brand for them?  What if you’re just a perfectly ordinary person who happens to be interested in breaking into a particular industry and want to get a leg-up on others who are competing for the same job?

The Beginning of Personal Branding

finding-your-voice

How do you brand yourself when you’re not sure you have something to say?  Or what if you just don’t know how to get started?  How do you find your voice?

Simple – spend your time learning about what is going on in your field.  Read books and blogs, subscribe to scholarly journals (or go read them at the library), listen to webinars. Go to learning events, especially conferences.  Do everything you can to stay up to date, and find relevant information.  Then, use that to start branding yourself.

Here’s how.

Knowledge is personal branding power!

First, write about what you’ve learned. Every time you read, learn or see something interesting, take an hour or so afterwards to write down your take on it (writing on a blog is best).

Share what you found most thought-provoking, or a lesson that you’ll apply to your own life.  Think of a real-life example that implements your freshly learned knowledge. Pass along this good information that you’ve learned, while adding your own personal touches.

That’s how a business expert I know got her start.  She knew a lot about her field, but was completely flustered about starting her own blog. She had no idea where to even start.  So she started off her blog by combing the Internet for other experts’ work, and then responded to it.  Doing that for the first couple months helped her find her voice and then she was off.  Now she’s a respected business speaker, with a popular book and a booming business.

This works for newbies in any given field as well. Even if you don’t have expertise to share, you’re sharing that you are a passionate learner.

Use Your Knowledge To Your Advantage!

Knowledge

Next, use what information you find as a connection tool.

When you’re spending a lot of time learning about what is going on in your field, you’re probably finding some interesting information.  So use that to advance your personal brand.

Keep a database of interesting resources AND a database of people whom you want to impress with your personal brand.  Make sure you keep track of what they’re interested in – and what their concerns and needs are.  Then, when you see something in your research that you know they’ll find interesting, email them a link to it with a short note.

This works especially well after you just met someone at a networking event, particularly if you can find something relevant to the conversation you had with them.

For example, if you were talking to someone about leadership, you might send them a link to a recent TEDx talk by behavioral economist Dan Ariely about what motivates people to take action.  Or to a recent article about how exposing employees to the actual customers who will buy a company’s products can be a powerful motivator to get employees more engaged in their work. Do this for a couple reasons.

Why Use This Personal Branding Strategy?

First, if it’s an interesting article that is relevant to the person you want to connect with, they’ll probably be glad to receive it.  Judging by how busy most people are in today’s workplace, it’s highly likely that they haven’t had the freedom to spend time browsing through current articles about their field.  So not only are you demonstrating that you are someone who is paying a lot of attention to that field, you’re helping them by sending them articles they probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Finally, it’s a great way to signal to that person that you’re someone who is bringing something to the relationship rather than just being concerned about what’s in it for you.

Let your passion be the cornerstone of your personal brand

If you’re just starting out, people don’t expect you to have the expertise of someone who has spent decades excelling in their field.

But what they want to see is someone who has a lot of passion for that field, and who is doing whatever they can to learn as much as possible.

Employers want to hire people who are passionate about their work and who are eager to learn. So brand yourself as someone who is enthusiastic about the subject you’re interested in and work on gaining the knowledge that will make you an expert in the future.  In the meantime, use the knowledge you’re gaining to cement relationships with the people who can help you get where you want to be.

www.voiceofthebox.com

, , ,

8 Responses to Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself To Employers

  1. diesel generator Manufacturers February 18, 2014 at 7:26 pm #

    Then again the Gypsy is not available in diesel, power steering nor
    does it have a decent ride quality. Better efficiency, lower cost, and
    longer life generate savings and in money and
    time along with power. Such control will lead to production quality improvement, decrease in its prime cost.

  2. sewa genset jabodetabek July 28, 2014 at 9:01 am #

    It’s just a fantastic along with beneficial section of details. I am just content which you provided this helpful data about. Make sure you stop us informed this way. Thank you for spreading.

  3. tworzenie stron www poznań August 18, 2014 at 4:35 am #

    Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it,
    you can be a great author. I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back
    from now on. I want to encourage continue your great writing, have a nice day!

  4. pozycjonowanie stron gliwice September 3, 2014 at 5:27 am #

    Każdy spośród nas zetknął się z przedmiotem, polecam
    zaznajomienie się z faktem.

  5. web based advertising anaheim September 9, 2014 at 2:45 am #

    Search engine ranking cmpanies also offer furtrher
    Website advertising solutions like social media
    marketing. These agencies serve the employment needs of both local
    businewsses and job seekers. Thiss park’s rails,
    hubas, fun-boxes, are accompanied by a 5 foot quarter pipe with 4 foot extension- great
    for blunts and tricks to wall ride.

  6. BMF May 22, 2019 at 11:28 am #

    Present yourself as brand is great. You should be able to find yourself and presenting you to employers. You are doing it then people don’t expect you to have the expertise of someone who has spent decades excelling in their field. Great article I enjoy every step and understand it. Keep your work up as you can.

  7. Abby Page June 30, 2019 at 9:54 am #

    Personal branding is so important in business. Marketing is a difficult way but very interesting way of business. I really enjoyed this because it connected with my mindset. I have been through so much noise on how to market my new business. The post is very unique about personal branding. Keep your work up and continue it. Very helpful information is available on this page.

  8. Nathan Jhonson January 12, 2024 at 1:30 pm #

    Hey everyone! Just wanted to share my experience with finding help fast for my essays, check more https://mypickle.org/. It can be quite overwhelming, but I recently discovered a reliable essay service that provided quick and efficient assistance. Their team was responsive, and I got my essay well before the deadline. If you’re in need of help with your essays, definitely explore options to find help fast. It made a significant difference for me!

Leave a Reply