What is your brand, internally and externally?

I am a trainer by nature and luckily I have been able to turn it into a career.  One of the main reasons I blog is because it allows me to flesh out my thoughts before delivering it.

Personal Branding is something I will be speaking to an audience about in one week.  The topic is branding, but I will be speaking on how to do it effectively via linkedin, which will also lead me to discuss other social media channels as well.  But I will also be discussing how to create a brand in your current job or career.

The title of my presentation is What is your brand, internally and externally? How can you do both of these at the same time.

To create a brand, you first have to identify who and what you want your brand to be. I am attempting to create my brand in business, personal development circles, training arena, and sales world by proclaiming to be the selfdevelopmentaddict.

I am developing a process in which a person can follow everyday to ensure they are living their brand inside and outside the organization.

Here are some questions for you to think about?  Once you identify your brand and what you want it to be, approach each day and ask yourself this when living your brand?

• How will I live my brand today?  (Your specific actions)
• How will I show others my brand?
• How will I practice my brand today?
• How can I make my brand stronger today?
• Who can I help today with my brand?
• At the end of the day, ask yourself, did I do all of the above today?

Now lets take it a step further.  In your current workspace, meaning job or career, place of employment.  What is your brand?  Guess what, YOU HAVE ONE!  Anybody that manages you or works with you knows what your brand is.  Believe me, ask them.  Here are some examples:

Employee #1:  Works hard, but complains about everything.

Employee #2:  Does a good job with the customer and is successful, but annoys management.

Employee #3: Works really hard at finding all the ways something can’t be done.

Employee #4:  Knows their business, but people hate working with them on projects.

Employee #5:  Great attitude, always positive, and does a good job.

Employee #6:  Cares about the organization a lot.

These are some small examples but they are correct.  What if you don’t have a brand at all?  That is probably worse.  However, make sure it is a brand that will get you positive responses versus negative ones.

If you are in a company, and want your brand to be changed or created start showing and living your brand and ask yourself those questions I stated above.

I am looking for some feedback from you on this blog.  What are some other areas you see that address personal branding?  I know it is a wide topic and can go in so many directions, however, my goal is to create an easy “how to” guide that can be a playbook on how to ensure you are creating and living your brand.