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The Self Brand Mindset
By Catherine Kaputa, Personal
branding strategist, coach and speaker
With self branding, you empower
yourself. Self branding means looking at yourself as a marketer would
look at a product that he or she wants to make a winning brand. You
don't think of yourself as an employee, even if you are working for a boss.
You think of yourself as working for yourself - marketing the brand called
You.
I've put together a chart
outlining the old "employee" or "professional" attitudes versus the new
branding mindset.
| Brand think |
Product think |
| Professional freedom |
Job security |
| Working for yourself |
Working for a boss |
| Internal security (self
confidence) |
External security (Company) |
| Creating demand |
Pursuing a job |
| Marketing plan |
Resume |
| Long term (years) |
Short term (months) |
| Marketing yourself |
Looking for a job |
| Solving client problems |
Working |
| Assets and resources |
Skills, capabilities |
| Markets |
Co-workers, customers |
| Differentiating |
Fitting in |
| Strategy |
Working hard |
| Building relationships |
Transactions |
| Filling an unmet need |
Doing a job |
Act like the marketer
of the product: You.
The first thing a marketer
does is analyze the market and the product to understand what the opportunities
are, what the threats are. What problems need to be solved? What
needs aren't being met? Then you analyze your strengths and weaknesses.
You focus on key resources and attributes that differentiate you. Skills
and abilities you have that are a solution for the market problem.
Then, you adopt what Theodore Levitt calls "the marketing imagination."
You build a personal brand identity that's different, relevant, that adds
value.
You set a goal and develop
a marketing plan for your career or business to meet that goal. And
just like a marketer would, you write down your marketing plan, because
there is both learning and commitment in the writing. Finally, a
point that I hesitate to add, but feel I must because many people try to
avoid this stage. You execute it. You can't get where you want to go unless
you plan it, and then do it.
Lastly, along the way, you
assess your effectiveness. If something isn't working or the market
shifts, you change trains. Branding is a dynamic process but one
that offers great rewards to the focused individual. |
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