تتضمن العلامات التجارية للشركات أكثر بكثير من الشعارات ولوحات الألوان. تحدد العلامة التجارية طريقة تفكيرك وشعورك تجاه الشركة. يتضمن كلا من الإيجابيات والسلبيات. على سبيل المثال ، يمكنك ربط علامة تجارية بالرفاهية والسعر المرتفع. بالنسبة للمستهلك ، قد يعني ذلك المكانة العالية والموثوقية. قد تجعلك علامة تجارية أخرى للشركة تفكر في الأسعار المنخفضة والراحة. لكنك تفكر أيضًا في ممارسات بيئية أو عمالية مشكوك فيها. بشكل عام ، من المحتمل أن تستهدف العلامة التجارية القيمة.
لكن العلامات التجارية للشركة تتضمن أيضًا تصورات عامة عن المسؤولية الاجتماعية. هل تساهم الشركة في أسباب مثل تبني الحيوانات الأليفة أو التوعية بالسرطان أو إغاثة المحاربين القدامى؟ يضيف كل منها ميزة إضافية لتصور العلامة التجارية ، ولكن اختيار السبب الذي يجب أن يتولى الأمور أيضًا. إذا كانت شركة أغذية الحيوانات الأليفة تساهم في ملاجئ المشردين ، فهذا رائع. لكن المساهمة في تبني الحيوانات الأليفة لا تُنسى. وهذا يعني أن السبب هو أكثر "على العلامة التجارية". الموسيقى المستخدمة في الإعلان ، اللغة المستخدمة في الإعلانات - كل هذه الأشياء تساهم في تصورك عن الشركة. هذه هي صورة علامتهم التجارية.
لبناء علامة تجارية شخصية ، فأنت تفكر في الأساس في نفس المبادئ. ضع في اعتبارك كيف ينظر الآخرون إلى عملك ، وتفاعلاتك مع الآخرين ومدى ذكائك شخصيًا. قد يبدو هذا أبسط من ناحية. على عكس العلامة التجارية للشركة ، لديك سيطرة أكبر على المتغيرات. لا داعي للقلق بشأن أي خطأ من قبل المتحدث الرسمي باسم الشركة أو زيادة مشكلات سلامة القوى العاملة. لكن العلامات التجارية الشخصية صعبة من نواحٍ أخرى. لقد رأينا المشاهير ، على سبيل المثال ، يدمرون علامتهم التجارية بين عشية وضحاها بتغريدات حمقاء أو سلوك عام سيء. علامتك التجارية الشخصية ، باختصار ، شخصية.
هل تحتاج إلى علامة تجارية شخصية؟
قبل بناء علامتك التجارية الشخصية ، دعنا نفكر في سبب احتياج الجميع تقريبًا لعلامة تجارية. قد تعتقد أن رواد الأعمال المنفردين أو المؤثرين على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي هم فقط الذين يحتاجون إلى علامة تجارية شخصية. في الواقع ، يحتاج جميع المهنيين إلى تطوير ورعاية علامتهم التجارية. For instance, associates may know you as friendly and courteous while your manager depends on your reliability. That is your brand. But you can easily tarnish that brand with a Facebook rant or arguing unnecessarily with a coworker.
So although the following brand-building steps focus on utility for entrepreneurs, they apply to all professionals.
Define yourself.
This step requires careful introspection and honesty. No matter how appealing, do not attempt to create a “character” to live up to. If you try to brand yourself as a figurative Superman or Superwoman, capable of anything, you will wear yourself out trying to live up to it. Worse, people will see through or even resent this false persona. Instead, explore your values. Who are you at your core? Make a list of your strengths, interests and individual styles that set you apart. What positive traits and ambitions make you unique? Take your time, and pull them together into a clear, cohesive image you want to portray. It should be simple enough for people to have a sense of you quickly, but also one-of-a-kind and attention-grabbing.
Know your competition and differentiate.
As you define your personal brand, survey your competition. What makes you and your product offering unique? What distinct strengths do you offer that set you apart? Move back and forth between this and the previous step as two as a process. Slowly, an image of your singular personal brand will emerge that stands apart from the others.
Think visually, too. Determine the unique colors, fonts, images, graphics, and overall style that will distinguish you in digital media at a glance. And be sure that those styles align with your brand image.
Determine your audience and why they should care about you.
In most ventures, defining your target audience comes first. With a personal brand, however, it is paramount that you are genuine and true to yourself. That is not to say there won’t be some back-and-forth and tweaking as you develop your brand. You can mold details as you gain a clearer image of your audience.
For instance, if your audience is mostly older professionals in traditional industries, you will use a different approach, language, and tone than if your audience consists mostly of career-seeking students. The important thing is that you grab their attention immediately. And upon having their attention, make clear immediately why your brand is of interest to them personally. Online, there is no time even for an elevator pitch. You need to be able to tell a piece of your story visually in an instant. If you have someone’s interest that far, then each additional post or other bit of media should add to that branded story.
Survey your digital presence.
With your established personal brand in mind, audit your social media. Even if you have everything set to private, there are inevitable leaks. People will screenshot. Remove everything that does not align with your brand. This includes anything negative, but it can include “noise” too. Although vacation photos may not cast aspersions on your brand, do they really enhance it?
Search yourself on Google and other search engines such as Duck Duck Go. You probably have accumulated a lot of junk over the years. Include image searches. Again, remove anything that does not suit your personal brand. If you appear on someone else’s website, kindly request for the owner to remove the content if it does not augment your image.
Be Consistent.
This step requires discipline. Anything you share in digital media or elsewhere should at least fit – and preferably enhance – your personal brand.
Obviously avoid political or other controversial posts unless your brand calls for them. Avoid noise and clutter too. If you want people to know you as a skilled graphic designer, a fun post or blog about pet care may seem utterly harmless. But consider it from the point of view of a potential client or hiring manager finding you for the first time. The message is confusing. Are you a pet specialist? At the rate that people browse, you need to be on brand immediately, on the first view, and every time.
Network and Maintain Your Personal Brand Always.
People know you in part by the company you keep. At the office, that means working with and enjoying the company of achievers. Say yes to everything within reason, including social events with your team. Networking not only provides new opportunities, but it builds your personal brand as an outgoing team player.
Similarly, network online. Find companies or solopreneurs with related, mutually beneficial offerings. Brands can augment each other and increase each other’s exposure exponentially. Shared posts and tagged tweets of the allies you acquire will not only increase visibility, but may even lead to cooperative opportunities.
And always, stay on brand. If you need to follow political news or other off-topic content, follow it from another page or profile. And never say anything that you would have removed from that digital audit you performed earlier!
Know Your Strengths and Trust the Rest to Your Experts.
Part of knowing your strengths means understanding your limitations. To build your personal brand, you likely need help at some stage. These areas of assistance may be small, but they are critical. For instance, unless you are a graphic designer, you probably want to leave things like your business logo or even your personal banner in the hands of an expert. If you have a blog, consider hiring a copyeditor or even a ghostwriter, depending on your capabilities and needs.
Similarly, at the office, you may want to build a brand as a “can-do” person. But being that person sometimes means knowing the number to IT rather than trying to repair a broken network connection or failed software installation yourself. No matter what industry you are in, you want to build a personal brand of having the ability to resolve issues promptly and professionally. That doesn’t mean knowing how to do everything yourself. Rather, get things done by delegating responsibility where necessary.
Whether it’s your business logo, personal page banner, or helping a team member fix a technical glitch, the quality outcome will ultimately reflect on you no matter who performs it. Build your brand by recognizing your limitations and knowing when to bring in expert assistance.
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