Personal branding: the solution for building your online reputation

Just as companies cultivate their brand, a person – whether a student, employee, entrepreneur, executive or consultant… – has every reason to build a “personal branding” strategy tailored to their ambitions in order to create their own brand, establish their reputation, manage their online reputation and protect their digital identity. Discover this technique that’s all the rage in the United States!

“Personal branding” (“Marketing personnel” in French) is an English term that first appeared in 1981 in the book “The battle for your Mind” (1). Among the founders of personal branding are Tom Peters (2), Peter Montoya (3) and William Arruda (4). In France, the first personal branding consultants appeared in 2006, backed by their “strategist” certification issued by William Arruda’s company, ReachCC (5).

A technique for personal promotion

Personal branding is a set of communication techniques, borrowed from corporate brands, that are applied to a personal brand. These techniques use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn and others), blogs and microblogging sites (such as Twitter…) to promote a personal brand. The whole challenge is to make a person’s presentation, professional background and areas of expertise consistent — whether that person is well known or not — in order to leave relevant and flattering digital traces on the web.

When you consider that 91% of French internet users’ searches are now carried out on Google, it is absolutely essential to be visible on Google, ideally in a very good position, and with only positive results in the top 10.

Why develop your personal brand?

“Today, in the age of the individual, you must be your own brand,” Tom Peters states outright (2). “Your personal brand is simply the clear, strong, positive idea that immediately comes to mind for the people who know you when they think of you,” adds Peter Montoya (3). Personal branding therefore makes it possible to promote your professional project and your expertise, and to increase your visibility.

It helps you develop clear communication about your identity in order to stand out. Indeed, just like a company, when you are a brand it is important to differentiate yourself and stand out from your competitors, to be unique in terms of added value so that others take an interest. With the rise of the internet and social media, beyond being unique, it is better to master your communication and to know how to control your image, unless you want the web to do it for you.

Finally, personal branding is an essential asset for selling yourself in any situation (job hunting, selling a product or service, etc.).

How do you develop your personal brand?

“Building your personal brand means implementing an approach that takes into account your skills, your personality and your distinctive qualities in order to bring out a unique identity,” explains Béatrice Cuvelier (6). This requires reflecting on yourself, defining your values, your talents, your personal goals, your skills… In short, a broad self-examination that can help you reconsider the positioning of your offering when you are a consultant! You don’t need a marketing degree to create your personal brand. All it takes is a little common sense, perseverance and a taste for introspection!

Once your personal brand is created, you need to make it visible on the web. Unlike companies, an individual cannot advertise to become visible, notably for lack of budget. The solution is to use every communication lever: search engines, websites, blogs and networks… it is about creating spaces for communication on the internet and social media, publishing content on a blog for example, and sharing and interacting on forums. The goal is to be present and authentic.

“Creating a personal brand isn’t that difficult. The main thing, of course, is what you create and how you treat the people you interact with. The way you define yourself, the way you pick yourself up after failures and the way you find ways to move forward in your career: letting change happen can only help you,” concludes Nicolas Bordas (7). It is up to you to create your personal brand! Personal branding is an innovative way to succeed in life using the power of Web 2.0.

Sources:

1 The authors: Al Ries and Jack Troud.

2 In an article published in “Fast Company”: http://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you

3 Author of two books in 2002: “The brand called You” and “The Personal Branding Phenomenon”

4 Creator of the company ReachCC and author of the 2007 book “Career Distinction”.

5 http://www.reachcc.com/

6 Béatrice Cuvelier, coach specializing in “personal branding”: http://www.placedesreseaux.com/Dossiers/reseau-relationnel/personal-branding.htm

7 Nicolas Bordas is vice president of TBWA/Europe and president of the Being Worldwide network. http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/nicolas-bordas/personal-branding-pros\_b\_3270789.html