What is YOUR personal brand?

​Warning – this is somewhat of a Soapbox topic for me. In today’s “reputation economy” not enough is being done to educate people on the impact of their personal brand. This has nothing to do with the brands you wear, or the brands you love, its about your own brand. Whether you like it or not, you have a  brand. You don’t need a business card or to own your own domain of myname.com – you have a brand right now.
 
It's defined as how we market ourselves to others, and it also means what Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon says“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”.

You already have a brand. This is done consciously or subconsciously. Whether you are actively promoting a well-defined brand or hardly communicating anything about it at all, people perceive who you are and what you do, based on the information available.

It’s your attitude, personal style, professional and personal background, attitude, mindset, wardrobe, posture, the language you use, your networks.

With that in mind, spend some time work ing through these queations:

What do you think your brand is now?
How are you being perceived?
How would you like be perceived and what would you like to be known for?
What can you do to influence that? 

Tim Ferris, Author of “The Four Hour Work Week" sums it up brilliantly

Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don’t own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your “blind” date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto.