BRAND YOU: THE POWER OF PERSONAL BRANDING…AND HOW TO DO ITShauna Zamarripa

Director of Operations, Blogger, Copywriter, Tech Guru and Sushi Lover

RE/MAX Realty Advantage281advantage.net

@WitchOfCIbolo

Shauna.zamarripa

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAY

What a personal brand is… Why you need one… What a personal brand needs to be… A step-by-step guide on building your

personal brand… How to integrate that brand with your social

media identities…

WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND, ANYWAY?

Personal branding describes the process by which individuals and entrepreneurs differentiate themselves and stand out from a crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility, advance their careers, and build self-confidence.

The term personal brand is believed to have first appeared in the August 1997 issue of Fast Company Magazine, in an article by management guru and author Tom Peters, who wrote, "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."

WHY DO I NEED A PERSONAL BRAND?

In an age where we put more content online in 72 hours than we have in the last 30 years, the competition is fierce…it’s kill or be killed. Without a stand-out personal branding strategy, you are putting your business on life support, and giving the public the power to unplug you at any moment….

In short, you will become more successful with a personal brand.

WHAT DOES A PERSONAL BRAND NEED?

Personal Branding consists of three elements:

Value Proposition: What do you stand for?

Differentiation: What makes you stand out?

Marketability: What makes you compelling?

4 TIPS TO BUILDING BRAND YOU

Choose who you want to be

Decide to be “the best” at something…anything

Craft a plan…no….seriously

Look for role models

STEP ONE: CHOOSE WHO YOU WANT TO BE…THEN BE THAT PERSON

Be single minded.

Sit down and work out one key personal attribute that if you were known for it industry wide would be fabulous for your career.

It could be anything. Think about efficiency. Or reliability. Or going the extra mile. Or friendliness. Or being on the cutting edge. Or being tech savvy. Or enjoying to cook. You decide what it is but just focus on one personal trait you can be known for, for now. This alone will put you ahead of most people.

Me? I’m the #WitchofCibolo or #WOC

TIP: BE PREPARED TO JUSTIFY YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Marketing is all about taking risks and thinking outside of the box. I choose to be the #WitchofCibolo when I decided to own a joke about myself where someone told me I put the “hex” on them. I have since weaved a little “magic” into all of my marketing, and have created custom hashtags using a play-on-words strategy. The name makes people curious enough to click on the hashtags, become followers and then (eventually) turns into like minded customers. Yes, it is a risk, but if there is no risk, there is no reward.

STEP 2: BE THE BEST AT SOMETHING

Write down on paper what it would take to be the best in the world at your one chosen attribute. What would you have to behave like? What would you need to learn? What should you wear? How would you need to change what you do to become the living embodiment of that character trait? How can you leverage that in your advertising and marketing?

Once finished, you might be surprised at just how many steps it takes to really ‘own’ this single attribute in the minds of those you do business with.

STEP 3: MAKE A PLAN

Make your personal branding list of “to dos” a reality by setting yourself daily and weekly tasks (I use Outlook for this) to help you manifest that character attribute. Add hashtags that encompass your personal brand into most of your online marketing and posts.

Remember: personal brands are much more quickly developed if you approach them systematically and methodically, rather than just hoping that you will create a brand reputation over time.

STEP 4: FIND ROLE MODELS

Think of people in your industry (or others) who have build successful brand similar to yours. If theirs are funny, follow their model, if more serious…the same. (There may even be two or three people that, if combined, are much like the type of brand you wish to present to the world). DO NOT BE AFRAID TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!!

Study these people, meet them, and strive to emulate them.

INCORPORATE SOCIAL MEDIA

Run a blog or website that is all you. This gives people a place to develop a

stronger connection with you.

Content guidelines:Include a mini-bio at the end of each post, put time and effort into your About page and use it to paint a picture of your ideal personal brand.

Rember that people will only remember a few things about you, so focus on telling the story that contributes most to your brand. Use your personal story as the basis for your expertise.

Checkout: allmymissadventures.blogspot.com

Try to be personally ubiquitous without over-stretching or over-exposing yourself. 

If people hear your name enough they will check you out, especially if your name makes them curious. Participate in social media. Write content, guest-writing, take photos, make infographics and shoot video…like a fiend. USER created content is king!

STILL STUCK? SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WITH ME! WWW.281ADVANTAGE.NET/CAREERS

You wouldn’t be if you were here. Some examples of successful personal brandingused in our office: #WitchofCibolo#MiketheLazyRealtor#NottaLazyRealtor#TheGourmetRealtor#KimPossible#LesisMore#NottaPushyGrandma