how to brand yourself

8 Tips On How To Brand Yourself For Creating An Executive Image

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Want to get noticed, be respected and have employers beating down your door to hire you?

If this is not happening for you already, then you might need to take a look at your personal branding, and see if you have created the top-notch executive image that will not only get you hired, but help you get the best jobs with the best pay.

Think it will be difficult? 

It doesn’t have to be. We will walk you step by step from your business attire to your personal branding strategy in just 8 easy steps.

Personal Branding Defined

Heidi Alexandra Pollard, a personal branding expert, tells us that our brand is nothing more than the thoughts, words and reactions of other people. In short, it is built by you and how you present yourself both online and offline, when you are in the office and when you are in the grocery store.

Does this mean you have to wear business professional attire everywhere you go? 

Not necessarily, but it does mean that you should think twice before going out in public in workout clothes and a cap without a shower on Saturdays. You have to consciously be the person you want people to think you are, consistently, day after day.

What Does Your Personal Brand Identity Say About You?

When you create your personal brand identity, you want it to say one main thing: I’m a leader.

Whether you know it or not, you are branding yourself right now. Is your brand saying, I’m a leader?

To get a better idea, you need to try to look from the outside in.

Do you think that others would say they see you as a leader? 

This is important, because the suit does not necessarily make the man (or woman). It is what others think about you and see you as that is the key to branding yourself correctly.

Professional image consultant, Marion Gellaty says, “Image isn’t everything, it’s just what everyone notices.” So though you may not be self-conscious, you do need to pay attention to what you wear, your hair, and your makeup to ensure that your personal branding package is seamless and effective.

Building A Brand Strategy Starting With Your Wardrobe

Does your business attire wardrobe need a quick freshen-up, or are you completely lacking in sufficient business professional attire?

Invest in your wardrobe because you need to have business professional attire. I personally prefer to have business suits from branded companies.

Proper business dress will help you with building your brand strategy from the outside with in style and up-to-date professional business attire. This is true for men & women both.
 
Creating Your Personal Brand Identity From The Inside Out

Branding yourself takes more than just perfect grooming and an impressive suit (though that is a good start). It is even more than a stand-out résumé or business card (those help too).

Real personal branding has to come from the inside. It is all about how you handle situations and problems and the standard of excellence you strive for in your daily work. If you don’t work well with others or do what is expected of you, that glossy veneer becomes thin quickly, and the brand you have tried to build is shattered.

Try to be honest with yourself and conscious of how you are acting in certain situations throughout the day.

Are you argumentative or a peacemaker, do you take the higher ground or are you a gossip, do you get the work done on time or do you make excuses, do you take on your share of the responsibility and more or do you let others do the lion’s share of the work?

If you cannot see yourself clearly, just ask your colleagues, friends or even boss if you want a really clear picture of how you are currently seen. Then start working to cultivate the good characteristics while weeding out the bad. This is a good way to start building a brand strategy.

Knowing what your brand is currently makes it easy to create a clear brand strategy that you can work toward. It will also help you identify the kinds of jobs you are a good fit for and position your online personal branding correctly so you can be found by those types of employers.

8  Tips On How To Brand Yourself For Creating An Executive Image 

1)    Be yourself. When creating an executive image to enhance your personal branding, you need to look inside yourself and come up with something that is comfortable for you and authentic, yet portrays you in the light of being a leader.

To get an idea of what we are talking about, you might search the Internet for executive coaches, executive business coaching, or executive career coach.

Take a look at the online profiles of these people and the profiles of the people they have worked with. These profiles will give you a good idea of what you should look like on the outside, as well as how you should conduct yourself, and the types of business and personal activities and interests you should include in your online personal branding.

2)    Be Awesome. Make sure that other people have plenty of reasons to talk good about you, and give yourself credit for what you have done. If you need more help, I suggest reading Purple Cow by Seth Godin. You may also want to enlist the help of a professional by getting executive presence training or executive leadership training, taking an executive leadership course or enrolling in an executive leadership development program.

3)    Be Memorable. An effective personal brand is one that can be remembered. Make sure that the people you meet, both online and off, remember you. Get yourself out there and connect with others. Build rapport and make meaningful impact on the people around you. Don’t be shy…this is your personal brand at stake!

4)    Be Consistent.  Don’t confuse your audience. When you are creating your executive image, you have to act the part when you are in the public eye, either through your work, your dress, or your behavior. Don’t just show up to work one day in your sweatpants because you aren’t feeling well, and don’t slack on your work because you want to go to a ball game. Every action shapes your executive image, either for better or for worse.

5)    Be Well-Connected. Utilize all of the online branding tools like LinkedIn and Facebook, and ask your friends for connections you don’t yet have—then return the favor. Likewise, do this in your offline life as well. To be most effective, don’t just make it about yourself. Be interested in those you meet and use specific things you learn about them to follow up later.

6)    Be Unique. Create a brand name for yourself that is unique, memorable and says something meaningful about your brand. Secure the name for your website and all of the big social media sites, then use these to share useful content that is relevant to your brand.

7)    Be Your Brand. Your executive image requires that every interaction you have with your audience lives up to your brand identity. Don’t act like you are something you are not, and don’t confuse your audience by switching your image on them.

8)    Be A Leader. Your executive image is very important to your personal branding. Think of some of the executives you know and the image they portray: Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump and Richard Branson are a few that come to mind. They each have the perfect mix of personal style combined with their professional business attire, expert status, and business etiquette skills. When you see them, they are always on and working their executive image for their personal brand.

Video on personal branding tips

In summary, if you want to be a leader in any field, you must work on your executive image to create a personal brand that shows people who you really are. By standing out, not being afraid to shine, and putting your best foot forward for all to see, in an authentic way, you guarantee yourself the best job, with the best pay.

So get out there and start creating your executive image and taking your personal branding to the next level now!


About Dr. Mala - Dr. Mala is an executive coach, author and keynote speaker. Her specialization is one to one coaching of business leaders. She helped leaders to improve their executive image, personal branding, presentation & public speaking. In this 4 weeks email based training Dr. Mala will share with you her top secrets which is only used in her regular one to one coaching on “career success & advancement”.

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