Personal brand: How to optimise your own branding to stand out

When moving in a new career direction - especially if it’s not a traditional path - part of the challenge is being able to explain to people who you are and how you can help them - your personal brand.

This needn’t be difficult, but it is worth spending a bit of time to set you up for success. Communicating your value is a case of creating what is thought of as a ‘personal brand’. We've pulled together a collection of ways in which establishing a good personal brand can help you stand out from the crowd...

Personal branding is a public representation of who you are, what you can offer, and what you care about. Consider:

1) Who is your customer / client base? 

Which industries or types of people are you looking to work for? It’s tempting here to say ‘everyone’ - but trying to appeal to everyone is the surest way of resonating with no one! Keep in mind your potential customers' needs, worldviews and objectives, and position yourself in relation to them.

2) What is your promise? 

What can you guarantee to those you work with? This needn’t be bold and brash, but it should be something you can confidently and authentically say that you are able to deliver. This doesn't need to be wholly quantifiable, but remember that the better you're able to clarify your offering, the more you'll be able to prove your success.

3) What is your ‘why’?

Think about how you might talk about your driving values in a way that summarises what you’re about and how you operate in the world.

Use this canvas to map out the different elements of your personal brand.

Hold it lightly - it needn’t be restrictive, and the most important thing is that it feels authentic and intuitive to you.

As you speak to new employers, clients or customers, you may find you want to tweak aspects of your messaging - but stay close to your ‘why’ and you can’t go wrong.

Now you’ve done this, you’ve created the basis for a personal website - which is basically a far more engaging version of your CV.

A domain (that's the website URL) only costs a few quid, and you can set something up for free (with absolutely no coding experience!) using sites like Strikingly or Squarespace.

Now think about ways you can demonstrate your value. This can be thought of as your own personal marketing. Depending on your direction, you might want to consider:

• Creating content (blog posts, videos, ‘how to’ guides) related to your chosen field
• Building up your social media so that you’re sharing, tweeting and posting about relevant topics and ideas
• Starting a mailing list so you can share valuable, relevant ideas and content
• Create an online community/group about a topic relevant to your new industry or field

Get creative with it, and choose ways to offer value that resonate most with you!

If you need helping with navigating a career change or starting a business, take a look at:

• Our upcoming career change and start-up events to help you find work you love.
• Joining our private Facebook group to connect with likeminded people.
• Our Top 10 Amazing Opportunities newsletter, which we will send to you each week.