Method and attention to detail often make the difference. A proper method to define and manage your personal brand is essential for your career, for your professional development. Having a proper method implies defining your personal brand, knowing what steps to take and how, training yourself in differential skills and communicating your differential value effectively and with moderation. It will help you to really know yourself and be able to develop your full potential, get customers, lead teams, improve your position in the company, your employability, etc. It is surprising, therefore, that competent professionals pay so little attention and care to their personal brand, in short, to themselves from the point of view of their positioning or perception in the market. Let us remember that “perception is what makes or breaks us in our professional life”, however unfair it may be. For this reason it is necessary to manage it with a practical and effective method.
Personal branding, an exercise in awareness and improvement
Many professionals associate “personal branding” with mere presence on social networks. This is an erroneous association: the actions or tactics (presence on social networks, provision of a personal blog, giving talks, writing articles, attending events, meals with potential clients, etc.) must start from an analysis, preparation and training specific to your person, to your personal brand. That is to say, before acting, you should be prepared. This way we will be able to develop our potential and achieve our goals with greater probability. It is about being aware of everything that you need to enhance, because it is part of your talent, capabilities or differential skills and abilities. It also means being aware of the factor or factors (often one or two) that we must manage better to prevent them from slowing down or blocking our professional career. It is also about defining your differentiating message.
The method for defining and managing your personal brand
We propose a practical method to boost your personal brand. A three-month method. Yes, three months in which, with your commitment, will mark a before and after in your career. A qualitative method, which implies an assumable investment in hours of dedication.
The three phases of the method for your personal brand
The method consists of three stages.
During the first month we analyze and, with you, define your personal brand. This is the essential starting point. During the second month we co-elaborate your offline and online personal branding strategy. Yes, we co-elaborate because, even if a consultant accompanies you occasionally along the way, it is necessary that you take the reins of your strategy and that you have a strategy. During the second month you also receive training in differential skills: how to generate more trust, selling through trust, proper management of objections from potential customers or other stakeholders, etc. Finally, in the third month we start the execution of your action plan and culminate the training.
The first month of your personal branding: awareness raising
The first month is fundamental. It is the time to become aware of everything that you should strengthen, because that is where you can make a difference. Paradoxically, this is what most professionals do not take into account: they act without sufficient self-knowledge and without knowing a vital factor, the perception of their circles of trust. Knowing how others perceive us is fundamental, as it helps us to be aware of what we may need to improve.
What are your circles of trust? They are basically your customers or suppliers, professional colleagues and, recommended, family and friends. The idea is to ask a sample of five informants from each group a couple of questions about yourself. In the case of customers or suppliers, the ones you are most interested in are the ones you consider strategic, i.e. the most profitable. It is advisable for an external consultant to receive the answers from the informants, in order to encourage their sincerity.
During the first month it is also essential that you ask yourself the right questions to find the answers that you probably have in yourself, but perhaps have not yet surfaced. That’s why we’re asking you some very important questions.
In addition, it is important to know your behavioral profile, that is, to know whether your behavior is generally more rational or more emotional, and whether your preferred type of behavior is more active or more leisurely. Knowing your behavioral style will help you improve your ability to influence and build trust.
Another basic factor is to know your preferred communication and learning channel, since you can speak the same language as your interlocutor or potential customer, but if you do not speak the same language as them, it will be difficult for you to get on the same wavelength, which is the first step to trust.
Likewise, knowledge of your digital footprint will provide information about your current positioning and image.
Facial psychology is another method we propose for the analysis of your personal brand. If you want to know yourself completely, facial psychology, applied by expert professionals, has an enormous precision to know yourself and your interlocutors. Among its many utilities, in the professional field it stands out to create high-performance teams, to correctly place professionals in the organization according to their talent and competences, to select the right people, to sell and negotiate better, etc. In short, it is about achieving your goals and objectives with much greater probability.
The second month of your personal brand: strategy and training
Once you have “the picture” of your personal brand, that is, your diagnosis or state of the art, it is time for both of us to define your strategy, through an action plan, and for you to receive differential training in skills.
In addition to defining your strategy through an action plan, it is necessary that you train yourself in the differential skills we have mentioned. All this will help you to mark a before and after for your personal brand, for your professional career.
Depending on your reality, the action plan will include actions such as the elaboration of your differential message, the improvement of your profile or profiles in social networks and on your website, learning how to get more clients or a more qualitative profile, improving your persuasive communication, knowledge of potential clients or prescribers, occasional publication of articles or interviews in prestigious media, giving talks from the previous preparation, etc. The type of actions to develop will depend on your objectives and strategy.
The third month of your personal brand: attracting leads
This is the time to gain or improve your visibility in order to reach your objectives with more probability, by executing the actions detailed in the plan. Actions that will bring you closer to your potential customers or, in general, to your key stakeholders. It is also time to complete the training tailored to your person, of skills that will help you to generate more confidence and increase your ability to help potential customers to hire your services or purchase your products.
At the end of this counseling and training you will have gained the necessary autonomy to properly manage your professional brand, in short, your professional career during the following months and years.
Let’s talk about it.
