Eunice Kautsima
Have you noticed how everyone nowadays goes all out to create their own personal identities to gain relevance in the industry, with what they can offer?
Well, we all, as individuals, have our own brands to groom before that of the organisations we represent or work for.
Everyone wants to create an image for themselves that portrays trustworthiness, capability and relevance in society.
As we build our presence on different public platforms, we project ourselves with our values and knowledge to ensure our followers know who we are, what we stand for and why it is worth it for them to choose us over other people with similar offers.
Building a personal brand is a similar process to building a business.
It starts with the right idea that will help you create a strong foundation to shift attention from your competitors.
An exceptional personal identity can position you well in the current look-at-me culture era and make you visible to prospective employers in the job market and business partners.
However, this is attained only through uniqueness, authenticity, consistency and the ability to learn and unlearn.
We cannot possibly try to become who we want to be in the market if we do everything that everyone else is doing, without following trends and letting go of things that did not work for us in the past.
If, for example, one of your posts or engagement on marketing or any related topic gained momentum more than the others, then you would know which trend fits you best.
A path to a unique personal identity requires so much focus and consistency because, in the end, we want a brand that has a positive reputation and a group of gullible followers who rely on us when the need arises.
Goldie Chan, in one of his articles, once explained that a personal brand is a lifelong project that constantly evolves and changes.
Thus, even experts who build the biggest brands know there are no hard-set rules for creating a personal brand.
The process of creating the right personal brand will not only help you be known in your field or land the ideal job that you have been looking for, but it could also be the difference between ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Thank you for being here’ in your career.
Therefore, when you are building a personal brand, start by identifying what you are good at and then create a storyline based on the idea.
Subsequently, make sure you remain consistent in the process by engaging your followers so that you can easily be identified by new and old audiences, which basically means you need to remain relevant throughout.
An exceptional personal brand can position you well in the current look-at-me culture era and make you visible to prospective employers in the job market.
* Eunice Kautsima is a corporate communications officer at the Diamond Training Institute.