What Is Your Personal Branding Story?

Whether you are a job seeker, entrepreneur / small business owner, employed professional, student, consultant, author, or retired, you have a brand story. That story goes to the heart of who you really are and what makes you unique. It can clarify your values and passions, or speak to your goals and dreams. If written well, it can also attract the attention of your target audience (employers, hiring managers, clients, or book buyers, for example) and persuade them to do hire/promote/buy YOU!

Discovering your personal brand and communicating it in a compelling and clear manner to those who matter is not easy. Until now that is…

My international friend and Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist colleague Bernadette Martin of Visibility Branding has just released her new book Storytelling about Your Brand Online and Offline. This book is a must-read if you want to:

• Understand the difference between a Bio and a Resume
• Develop branded, storytelling content for your Bio and Resume
• Integrate video storytelling and/or interview storytelling into your repertoire
• Internationalize or digitalize your brand story
• Create a Career Personal Brand Tool Kit
• Avoid verbal graffiti
• Master the use of Ice-Breaker storytelling
• Jazz up your Elevator Pitch with a brand story
• Morph your existing Resume into a Bio, and more.

When Bernadette first contacted me to be one of the 15 thought leaders interviewed for her book, I knew she was on to something big. Stories have always been a universal means of connecting with others. But, did you know that neuro research indicates that “our brains are wired to process information as stories” and stories make us more memorable?

In addition, stories allow us to connect to others on a more powerful level than just the intellect; they can evoke emotion. A well-known tenet in sales is that people “buy” based on emotion and justify their decision with logic!

My section of the book - Story Building around Assessment Results – focuses on the use of career assessments for uncovering the building blocks of your personal brand and brand story. Your personal brand must be authentic to who you are, and not a concocted “marketing slogan”. By using objective career assessments in combination with more informal, feedback assessments, such as the 360Reach Personal Branding assessment, you can feel confident that your brand story is true and real.

In Faris Yakob’s post on GapingVoid, he said, “eventually, you need to start being you, and then – you need to get really good at it.” That is so true, and I would also add: “get really good at communicating your brand message to others.”

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

Comments

[Adam Joesbury]

Worth checking out...Results just in

The Best Brands in Sheffield, 2010

Over the last six months Web Branding has been exploring the various branding methods utilised in Sheffield in order to find Sheffield's best brands.
The competition was open to Businesses, Local Authorities and any organisation with a significant branding presence in the city. Over 100 local brands have been judged.

All Organisations have been scored on a number of areas including Web Presence, Brand Recognition and Branding Design.

Link to the Site:
http://www.webbranding.co.uk/bestBrands/2010/sheffieldsBestBrands2010.asp

Or check out the Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5fztGbtiVo
video resolution goes up to 1080p HD

Enjoy..

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