Developing a Personal Brand: Setting Yourself Apart

Before this class, I never thought of having my own brand. I was aware that companies themselves have branding which could be a specific font or color scheme that is easily identifiable or adjectives that describe what the company wants to be. I learned about these concepts in class, yet, I haven't thought much about how I could apply branding to myself. 

With any branding, the underlying goal is to get yourself seen or to set yourself apart. As a company, you aren't going to stick out if you have the same colors and font package as other firms in your industry; the same applies to people. You may have different skills than other applicants applying for a job or a different marketing strategy for digital media but it will be hard for someone to notice if they can't see what elevates you above others. I stated that I never thought of myself as having a brand, but looking back after reading chapter two I realized that I had begun to develop one. 

In class, we learned how to fill our resumes with the best stories and skills, develop attractive LinkedIn profiles, and make ourselves great candidates for interviews. I’ve also started my blog this week that showcases who I am. It never occurred to me that through these experiences I was developing my brand, but looking back I now have a good idea of what my brand looks like. If I had to describe what I thought my brand was in a sentence it would look like this: marketing student and avid Canva user who is enthusiastic about running and the color pink.

Building a brand doesn’t need to be difficult, but it can take time. I didn’t get to these descriptors overnight. I wasn’t always a marketing student or a runner, but they are big aspects of who I am today! I enjoyed reading about what goes into developing your brand like assessing your purpose and target audience, your strengths, weaknesses, and values but my favorite portion of branding was personal attributes. I liked how I could utilize my characteristics in branding so it truly is a personal brand! I think this provides one more level to setting yourself apart from others and allowing people to recognize your brand. The biggest part of branding is figuring out who you want to be and who you want others to see. I think once you do that, you’re on the right track! 

I can’t wait to continue developing my brand and turning it into what I want, especially after all the knowledge I will gain from this class!

That’s all I have for now,

Abby