Personal Branding Workshops

What Does Branding Yourself Mean?

Branding is a way to distinguish something from something similar (or even identical) and convey its value. 

In marketing terms, it’s the promise that the product or service will deliver on its messaging to “taste the feeling” or be “the happiest place on earth” (for example). It’s not just the words, but the entire experience that contributes to the brand.

The same branding approach can be applied to people. Your personal brand is the unique combination of skills and experiences that make you who you are. It’s the first impression you leave with others. It’s a mix of how you present yourself and how others see you. 

You have your online brand and your offline brand. Your online brand might include your social media profiles and any articles you’ve published. Your offline brand is what makes you distinctive. It makes you, you. This might include your wardrobe, your vocabulary, and your “bubbly” personality. Together, they make up the reputation you put out to the world. 

By thoughtfully personal branding yourself, you manage all your personas’ first impressions by creating an overarching identity for yourself. You then control the narrative that you want to convey to the world.

Why is Personal Branding Important?

A strong personal brand supports a strong professional reputation and career opportunities. Your personal brand is one of the first things that people will associate with you. It can be a defining factor in whether prospective employers or clients will want to learn more about you, trust you… or not.

Your personal brand is who you are and who you want to be-- and it’s more important than ever for two main reasons: 

👉1. Your Digital Footprint is Forever

Your online reputation (what you do and say across social media, the articles you write, your personal website, etc.) can be a sleeping giant. Your first impression is just one Google search away. Are you ok with what they might find?

👉2. Noone Has Time 

Today's job market is more competitive than ever. Consider that recruiters spend 5-7 seconds reviewing resumes. How are you going to capture their attention and convey your value?

For a job seeker or a professional, your personal brand becomes a way you market yourself and your career expertise. It also signals to others what you’re capable of achieving. 

A personal brand statement highlights your strengths, establishes your reputation, and communicates what makes you special to your current (or desired) job— in one quick read. 

A personal branding workshop with an expert training provider is particularly good for helping people craft powerful and effective brand statements.

Your Personal Brand at Work

Like personal branding to get the job, personal branding at work is like continuously putting yourself out there as a candidate for a new position. You are cultivating a reputation at work that will precede you.... allowing you to keep jobs and continue progressing in your career. 

Branding yourself allows professionals like you to differentiate yourself within your workplace— ideal for keeping top of mind for new positions, project responsibilities, or promotions.

What do you want to be known for within the company? Who do you want to be known as…?

• The “closer” 
• The “goal smasher” 
• An “amazing presenter and storyteller” 
• The “idea person” 
• The “quiet leader” 
• The “Excel master” 

Personal Branding Examples

Your personal brand (also called your “personal brand statement”) should be punchy— simultaneously strong, descriptive, short, and catchy.

Simply put, it’s your tagline or catchphrase.

These are the kinds of statements that proliferate Linked In:

• “I build and grow SaaS companies.”
• “50% Marketing, 50% Geek – 100% Social Business Results”
• “Passionately helping people experience a life of Financial Freedom and Financial Confidence.”
• “Native-English communications | strategist | copywriting word nerd”
• “A creative, solution-oriented and happy communication professional”
• “Passionate about accelerating the success of others!”

But crafting a personal brand isn’t always so easy, You want it to sound (and be!) authentic to who you really are in order to be effective. You want to tickle interest and curiosity. You want to provide a sneak peek into your personality. You want to be distinctive.

The trap some people fall into when crafting a personal brand is that they copy someone else’s. This is counter-productive as it only serves to make your brand feel stale and carbon copy. And that will not help much in differentiating YOU! 

This is where a personal branding workshop can help. Discovering who you are and what you stand for while being authentic to yourself, your abilities, and your capabilities. This is the type of guidance a class or workshop offers.

Personal Branding Workshop

A personal branding workshop can help you bring your professional reputation to life. Training in these workshops helps you to explore and identify your personal brand and how to maximize it to best support your goals. 

The training focuses on who you are and where you want to go— all while putting a spotlight on what skills, characteristics, or experiences set you apart. A personal branding workshop teaches you how to cultivate your professional brand and maintain it. 

Additionally, workshop participants learn the best methods for communicating their personal brand to clients, employers, and other professionals.

Below is a list of the topics a personal branding workshop typically covers:

• Importance of building a personal brand
• How to develop a personal branding statement
• Developing your unique selling proposition
• Assessing your online assets (websites, blogs, social media, videos, etc.)
• Assessing your offline assets (style of dress, business cards, personal outreach, industry affiliations, etc.)
• How to strengthen weak areas in your brand
• Strategies for becoming known as an expert in your field
• Tips for maintaining and protecting your brand

Through thought-provoking questions and exercises, a personal branding workshop supports you in your journey of finding-- and communicating-- what makes you special from the competition.