The reason why personal branding doesn’t lead to success for most people is because they follow one of two very silly paths. We at Resumeble resume writing service know, the first silly path is to follow big businesses and the second is to follow celebrities. Branding works for large businesses because they have the resources to mass-media market a series of brand principles while simultaneously convincing people they are true. Celebrities have access to expose that most other people do not. The way to use personal branding as a way to success is to concentrate on a single brand principle and double down on your efforts to push your message.
Sell A Single Brand Principle
You do not have the resources or exposure required to succeed through market-engineered branding. If you want success, you can build a personal brand based on a single element and then adopt that persona in the most relentless manner possible. Selling more than one brand principle is simply too difficult. People should know you as “Bob the computer expert” or “Jenny the hair stylist to the stars.” Personal branding on a more advanced level requires the sort of exposure that only celebrities enjoy.
Opening and Closing Doors
It should go without saying that your personal brand should open doors for you. It is very easy to close doors using negative branding. If you mess up, then people say your reputation is ruined. If you do well, then people praise your self-promotion and personal branding skills.
Your personal brand, and your single branding message, should be something positive that opens doors. For example, promoting yourself as the toughest person in your town is fine if you want to be a professional fighter or work a security job, but it will severely limit any other options you have when it comes to your career.
Go as Far as Creating Your Own Nickname
It sounds silly, but you can do a lot with a nickname. A person selling carpets at wholesale prices can call himself, “The Carpet Man,” and people will remember his nickname long after they have forgotten his real name. “Jimmy Hacker” and “Jenny Goldsmith” seem like silly nicknames, but people will remember them if they are looking for a hacker or a jeweler.
Personal branding is not just about having your own website and social media profiles, it is about teaching people your brand principle. Maybe you are “Turkey Burger George” and you have a cafe that sells the very best Turkey burgers, so make sure that your selling point is on every advert, on every poster, and is mentioned whenever anybody makes a purchase.
Personal Branding and A Resume
Let’s say you are looking for a job, and you possess a skill that the employer may like. Make sure you push that skill three or four times in your resume. State how much you love doing [insert skill/brand-principle here] and mention how others consider you an expert in [insert skill/brand-principle here], mention your skills and how they revolve around XXX, and mention them in your objectives section and in your cover letter. The company may be searching for people who are punctual, reliable, and so forth, and you can mention all those things in your resume, but make sure you hammer home your major brand principle (e.g. your expertise in [insert skill/brand-principle here]).
Never be afraid to add an image to your resume and/or your job applications. Other articles may advise against it, but you will be surprised how successful resumes are when they have images attached. Your image also needs to reflect your brand image. Do not be afraid to pander to a stereotype. For example, if you are pushing yourself as a champion programmer, then do not be afraid of showing an image of you with a beard and/or with a little extra weight. Pictures of you with powerful ab muscles draped in a hockey jersey will contradict the personal brand you built up as a champion programmer.