This is Vukani Gcabashe, a software engineer / software developer living in South Africa. I am committed to Inspiration Starts Here but also practice programming by making websites or web applications on contract. I love what I do & trying to be quite good at it but getting there is a process, but we can do it together.
Today we discuss personal branding, the process of building & managing your identity & your reputation. It's about being intentional about what your name represents "especially to yourself" & how you show up to us as a community.
No human is an island, we all belong somewhere. Personal branding helps us all identify where you belong, what you value as part of that community & also what you expect out of life. As a person who is intentionally about their brand you control the narrative about your image & what their energy stands for as a result this makes you stand out.
What does it mean practically?
Deciding what your name means & the story it tells.
Many of us have a hard time accepting that our name is already a brand, that it's up to you to decide what it stands for. Currently when people speak about you they will always discuss some dominant idea, image & emotion that you invoke in them. P.B is actively controlling the image + idea + emotion that is associated with your name, it’s controlling what story people share about you.
Intentional expressing what your life represents.
What do you want people to think of when they hear your name, this could be "luxury", "lazy", "empowering" or "evil". P.B is the means by which we communicate our values & beliefs. Having a solid brand means consistently people know what they can count on you for.
It means making sure everything you do aligns with your future self.
Now we both know there is this person you wish you could become, the person you are proud to show off to your parents / partner / siblings. The process of growing your brand is the transformative process of becoming this ideal you. This means aligning your social media presence, your website, and even how you treat people in person with this future self.
Invest in your skills, opportunities & image.
This means spending money on things like learning, attending events, marketing, & even just your appearance. A good question to ask yourself is “how much am I willing to invest, to experience the result of being the ideal me”. The trick of standing out is that most people will act the part create the image but avoid becoming the person - you will stand out by not only looking the part but being the part.
Focus on giving people a great experience.
Personal branding is about giving your peers, the people in your network the best of value you can provide. It's intentionally being an asset in peoples lives & nurturing relationships while growing with others, through others. Your brand is not what you want it to be, but what others say it is.
Personal Branding Questionnaire:
Step 1: Self-Assessment
1. What are your core values and beliefs?
- How do these values align with your career goals?
2. What are your unique selling points (USPs)?
What sets you apart from others in your field?
What are your strengths and skills?
3. What are your career goals and aspirations?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What motivates you to pursue your career?
4. What are your weaknesses or areas for improvement?
- How can you address these weaknesses to enhance your personal brand?
Step 2: Target Audience Identification
1. Who is your ideal client or customer?
What are their demographics (age, gender, location, etc.)?
What are their needs, pain points, and desires?
2. How can you reach your target audience?
What channels do they use (social media, email, etc.)?
Where do they spend their time online?
Step 3: Brand Positioning
1. How do you want to be perceived in the market?
- What is your desired brand image?
2. What is your unique brand identity?
- What is your brand name, tagline, and logo?
3. What is your brand messaging and tone of voice?
- How do you want to communicate with your target audience?
Step 4: Content Creation Strategy
1. What are your content goals?
- What do you want to achieve with your content?
2. What topics or themes are relevant to your target audience?
- What are their interests and pain points?
3. What content formats will you use (blog posts, social media posts, videos, etc.)?
- Which formats are most effective for reaching your target audience?
4. How often will you create and share content?
- What is your content calendar?
What Next?
Good work, now lets use those questions.
Personally, after the introspection I just use the robot to kinda get a feel of what the brand strategy looks like and what does all that answered from the questions mean about me:
Check out the link to the prompt and the response.
Take a stab at it, open chatgpt and type: "act as a master brand strategist and give me points on what my brand strategy should be moving forward & include my personality archetype, I am {Your Answers In First Person}"
Work towards being your most authentic self.
We all gravitate to people who are themselves and who show up as who they truly are. You need to practice delivering yourself correctly & in a way that wont drain you nor scare the other person. Learn how to express your self authentically.
Be yourself & let your personality shine through.
Do introspection on the regular and find out more about you based on your behaviour, your words and choices.
I greatly advise on having a journal & also reading it from time to time.
What are you insecure about in your personality?
How can you express this insecurity in a professional & respectful manner to yourself & others?
Give value.
share your experience, share your knowledge. Let people see that you are the go to person for what ever you have to share with your audience.
Let’s working on our relationships & getting involved within our community on a small but growing scale.
Once it’s clear where your audience is & your content strategy let’s start creating content that is valuable & visible to your audience.
Modes of communication could include articles, videos, podcasts, or social media posts or events but basically you want to take the chance to show your work.
After finding your audience & building a team you will have people to give to.
Collaborate with your peers.
Create a list of the people who should be in your network, watch n follow them, reach out & share perspective. Practice networking and comment on their work over time.
Build relationships with other people in your life is quite important because your network is your net-worth.
Let’s make it a norm to meet new people, be interested in people & appreciate our networking skills
The goal for getting into the community & becoming seen is so you can show off your work and provide value or test if what you are providing has any value.
The most important thing is to be patient & consistent while building your brand because it takes time & commitment. You are not committing to the the idea of building the brand but becoming who you choose to be.
Conclusion:
I am happy I finally got a chance to learn personal branding & have a system to correctly work on my reputation. I want to remind you that your brand already exist & if you choose not to invest in it as an asset someone else will.
I say that because I believe if we want to live a certain life, you have to show up as the person living that life. People say "fake it till you make it", i believe a better phrase is "personal-brand it till you live it".
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