Tips for Maintaining Your Personal Brand

When we think of brands, we think of brand names that represent products and companies usually, or that identifying logo or name that identifies something. However, a brand is basically just the identifier of something and therefore each of us has our own brand. Your name is your brand, and your reputation affects that brand in the eyes of others. Just like with any other brand, the things you do affect your brand for the better or for the worse.

If you stop for a moment, and think about the names of other public people, and what type of thoughts or imagery pop into mind when thinking about them, that is how they have branded themselves to the outside world. Think of people like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Ron Paul, Angelina Jolie, Donald Trump; what kind of image and thoughts do those brands represent to you?

So, your job is to make your brand as positive as possible, so that anyone hearing your name will instantly have good things come into mind, and not thoughts that give them reservations about you.

In all you do, be consistent as this is a great trait to have attached to your brand. Perform at your best all of the time, and consistently maintain a good work ethic and project completion.  If you are the type of worker that focuses on getting and achieving only the high profile, high profit tasks, and blow off or pass away what you consider menial tasks, then you are setting yourself up for some negative branding. Be consistent and show that you can consistently produce and deliver on a task, regardless of the size or importance.

Keep your word and do not make promises that you know are stretching it or outright impossible. Making such promises to clients or your company can obviously hurt your brand when you fail to deliver.

Keep an eye on how you are perceived in the social media world. If you grumble, complain or attack others on your social media networks, this can become a bad mark on your brand in the eyes of others. Within the circles of people I associate with online, I personally know about three people that the mere mention of their names ignites anger, hatred, or mockery. They have zero respect and have ruined their brand to the point where nobody cares what they say before they even say it. They have basically burned every bridge they could, and their name is mud. Do not be conceived by others as a hateful, arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered, self-righteous jerk even on social media, because remember, companies and hiring agents use social media for finding job candidates.

Do not be invisible at work. You may feel that your job requires you to fly under the radar more, in order to not garner attention or be called out for some undesirable task, and that may be your survival method. However, it does not assist you in advancing your career or thriving in your job. Applying all of the above mentioned tips allows you to step out and make a better name for yourself.

Make sure your speech matches your actions. If you are constantly telling colleagues how much you value their time, but then continually show up late to appointments with them, that is a negative strike against your brand. As it is commonly said, actions speak louder than words, so be sure your words and actions are consistently a match.

So, in all of your speech and action, apply all efforts you can to improving your brand, and watch for ways you can trim back and eliminate things that may be putting a negative spin on your brand.