Your Personal Brand Value Proposition

Image by Adam Crowe via Flickr

Here’s a good reminder from author Rebecca Rapple…

Its a personal brand, so it should be all about you, right?

Your accomplishments.
Your history.
Your personality.
Your unique perspective.

Right? Wrong.

If your personal brand is all about you, no one is going to care.

You will be ignored. People will yawn.

Your personal brand needs to answer WHY: Why do they care?

Its not about you, Its all about them.

Effective personal brands convey the value that you bring to others and exactly what they are going to get out of a relationship with you.

This means that your personal brand shifts, changes and adapts to new circumstances and new audiences. Its malleable, just like your personality or your appearance.

The three foundational questions of your personal brand

If you aren’t sure of the most important question of your personal brand, “Why do they care?”, you can build it by answering the three foundational personal branding questions. You can use these questions to build your “general” brand or apply them to specific situations, to help you personalize your brand for every interaction.

Question #1: Who is your audience?

If you don’t know your audience, you really can’t go any further. After all, your personal brand is all about them, right? The more clarity and specificity that you can describe your audience with, the more effective you will be.

Question #2: How can you help them?

Now that you know your audience, its important to identify exactly what they want and what you do to benefit them. Start by identifying their problem and the difference in their results if they build a relationship with you.

Question #3: What makes you different?

Surely you are not the only person in the world who can solve their problem, so why should they choose you? This is where your personal brand will shine! Perhaps you’d like to showcase your personality, your past success or your innovative ideas. In this question, its okay for it to be about you.

Your Personal Brand Value Proposition | Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

Me? My audience here is thinkers who aspire to thought leadership and are looking for help with tools and a system and process for repeatable ‘thought leadership’ marketing. My post ‘How can I help’ addresses #2 quite nicely, I think – let me know if it doesn’t! What makes me different? My experience in “Personal Digital Coaching” and the tools I use to be able to train anyone in the world with an internet connection who speaks English or German.

How about you? And, btw, how am I doing?