How to brand yourself – and rock it!

Have you ever thought about what your personal brand is? If the answer hasn’t dawned on you yet, stop thinking until you’ve read the following. Entrepreneurs, celebrities, and that friend who somehow can organise to get almost anything free, have all identified and created their personal brand. And they use it to get value from their social networks.

Brand guru Marty Neumeier says: “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or organisation” – in this case it’s a gut feeling about you. Your online profile, be it on LinkedIn or Facebook, is critical to the ‘You’ brand.

Like it or not, your photo album named ‘Like alcohol through a funnel, these are the days of our livers’ or your recent status about how you hate a certain person is the real first impression that lasts. I’m not saying you should remove your status-quirks, but make sure that the brand you’ve inadvertently created for yourself is something you can be proud of in front of 500m people or the institution you’re about to pitch to.

Here are seven “Do’s and Don’ts” on how to manage your personal brand online and offline, from my experience and those who are in the know: a successful businesswoman, a PR industry hot-shot and, of course, a star.

The Do’s

1. Be genuine: Successful tech businesswoman Shana Kay, who was recently featured in the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 young South Africans you have to take to lunch, advises “whether online or in the real world, people can spot a fake a mile away, so your sincerity will be remembered and this helps build your personal brand in a way money can’t.”

2. Allison Foat, MD of Diva PR, has worked with everyone from rapper 50 Cent to local comedian Mark Lottering. She insists that your personal brand be bold and consistent. “I created Diva as my business brand following my nickname from when I was a professional ballerina.”

3. Do share your personality: “Sharing your experiences, life challenges, interesting links, or passions makes you seem real and accessible,” says Kay.

4. Do respond: It shows that you care and respect the time they’ve taken to contact you. Kay suggests scheduling time to assist, which is much more effective than simply avoiding a follow-up.

5. Self-image is key: Dress in an appropriate way to convey your brand, be it always wearing good shoes as Foat does, having a “no-tie” policy or being dressed as the “suit armada” – look memorable.

6. Be consistent but build facets of visible personalities: For instance, I make sure that a technology-focused tweet is always followed with a fashion news update as to keep the two communities that follow me updated and my personal brand balanced.

7. Do align yourself with other brands that support your image: Lu Chase is the former lead of house sensation Iridium Project and current lead act at SA’s top supper club, Vaudeville. She tells how she identified her personal brand as a combination of urban chic and retro soul. She “put two and two together and decided to approach Adidas for a clothing sponsorship deal” as she saw the brand alignment in it.

The Don’ts:

1. Don’t leave your Facebook status empty: This makes your social media brand weak and yourself less relevant.

2. Don’t work for just anybody: Take care in who you work with by aiming for quality over quantity to ensure the longevity of your personal brand or popularity in your space.

3. “Don’t slate your competitors,” as Kay urges: Bouts of anger or complaints in cyberspace stay with you forever and only show lack of professionalism and maturity.

4. Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth: Treat interactions with people on all levels as if they have to power to promote you – or demote you.

5. Don’t be the person who also “fails to deliver”: Think carefully before you commit to anything and make sure you deliver on your promises.

6. Don’t plagiarise status updates and tweets or pass off photos that belong to someone else as your new “modelling portfolio” – true story.

7. Don’t have an ambiguous brand: If you’re guilty of clicking “like” everywhere, or only tweeting according to “trends”, you will become socially irrelevant and leave a smudge rather than a clear impression.

These tips are just broad guidelines to follow when building your personal brand and warning signs to look out for when navigating the world of social media and networking. I have personally learnt a few of the “don’ts” the hard way, but gained some perks from the “do’s”. No matter where you are in developing or finding out what your personal brand is – start thinking today.

Sianna Wu is a Business Science finance student at UCT who is passionate about entrepreneurship, online marketing, consumer technology, pop-culture and Chopin. She is an Allan Gray Orbis entrepreneurship fellow, and interns as a techno-marketer at rising Cape town start-ups.

IMAGE courtesy Clix

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