Branding is all about conveying a message about the product or service to the prospective customers and consumers. Branding gets publicized visibility and spoken about, both positively and negatively. It is essentially the perception that is created in the minds of people about the product or service. Similarly, personal branding is something that people know or feel about an individual and what the individual would deliver. It also gets communicated positively and strongly through a variety of media and word of mouth. Values, promises, and experiences, either strengthen or weaken the brand. Pretending what one is not would always is at a risk of the façade getting pulled down at one time or the other, or an uncanny customer being able to see through it. Therefore, it is important to build the personal brand on the foundations of truth and reality just like any other product or service brand.
Personal branding goes a long way in communicating the abilities, services, and proficiency of an individual, much before a customer actually interacts with the individual. A few common industry best practices in personal branding are building relationships, being aware of the needs of the customers and consumers, and building a strategic advantage for oneself.
As a real estate agent, my purpose was, to service predominantly, empty nesters and first time home buyers. These are the two segments in the market that really need honest guidance on the true value of property and its true worth and a proper analysis of the prospective property. Over a period of time, I have successfully sold a number of properties, catering to these two segments of buyers and always, at the end of the engagement, customers have told me how much they value my services and how they have benefitted from the truthful projection of all aspects of the transaction. My customers have always valued this kind of appropriate advice and knowledgeable insights that I have had and shared with them. They also appreciated the extensive network of professionals that I have maintained and groomed over a period of time.
As a marketing consultant, my clients would expect me to advise them on a large number of steps in reaching out their products and services to the market and creating perceptions about the products and services in the minds of their consumers. This is where my earlier image of being an honest professional would come handy to me. I would build on that foundation to project an image of a sincere, committed, honest, and truthful professional, rendering high value services to my clients.
Having extensively worked with first-time home buyers and empty nesters, I also appreciate and understand the emotional angle related to the purchase decisions that are made by people; i.e. I have an understanding of emotions that are associated with a purchase and investment of money – only that the products would be different when dealing with customers as a marketing consultant. However, the services that are expected from me would be in the complete end-to-end of the spectrum of marketing. This is where my extensive network of professionals drawn from media, legal profession, artists, and other areas would help me build strong brands. This would also create an image of a thorough hard-bred marketing professional for me in the marketplace, therefore laying a foundation for a long and successful marketing career stint in the marketplace.
References
Grant, T. (2008). Building a personal brand: A serious proposition or passing fad? An Interview with Cathy Sims. Business Communication Quarterly, 71(3), 380-383.
Hyder, S. (2014, August 18). 7 Things You Can Do To Build An Awesome Personal Brand. Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2014/08/18/7-things-you-can-do-to-build-an-awesome-personal-brand/2/#45cbead661cc
