By now you’ve had a few weeks to test out your New Year’s resolutions. How’s it going? If you’ve already given up, consider looking at your year and goals from a larger perspective. We interviewed Blake Howard, Creative Director at Matchstic, an Atlanta-based brand identity firm, about a personal application to branding.

We’re all familiar with “brands” in the corporate context but what is a personal brand?

We live in a branded world full of swooshes, apples, and alligators and while many of us think of brands associated with large corporations, like Nike, Apple, and Starbucks, whether we recognize it or not, we all have a “personal brand.” A brand is simply the perception or gut feeling someone has about a product, service, company or person. People, at this very moment, have a perception of you. Right or wrong, good or bad, it’s there. The words you use, how you spend money, your eye contact during a conversation, how you handle conflict, the friends you choose, the art on your wall, what you post on Twitter or Facebook, the combinations of all these elements make the unique brand of you.

So is our personal brand simply who we are and what defines us?

Once you’re conscious that you have a brand in the minds of others, you can then take steps to align that perception with who you truly are and with your beliefs. Notice that we’re not talking about creating a false self or a façade in order to please others, rather, it’s about embracing your true self and living your life consistently. Clearly knowing what you stand for and matching that with how you live makes you truly unique – that is branding.

How do we work on that consistency in our lives?

We have a saying around our office: “You are what you Tweet.” The idea here is that all of us are constantly sending messages (even if we don’t literally use Twitter) that create a perception about us. So we should be thoughtful about what we’re broadcasting and what this says about us. Let’s say you use Twitter as your official complaint box, over time you’ll probably be known as a negative person. Many of us don’t realize the power of the messages we send to our family, friends and acquaintances. Each word is a part of forming our personal brand so following this “Tweet” rule, you begin to realize that the basis of building a brand is consistency.

How do we make this about substance and not a superficial façade of ourselves?

A brand must be about authenticity. People will eventually know if we are trying to present ourselves as something we really aren’t. I had to realize that my personal brand is about being who I was created to be, embracing it, and learning how to grow in that direction. It’s about me being authentic to who I am (and who I’m not), aligning my actions with my values and then living consistently each day. This kind of focus is how we simplify our lives and create the personal brand we want.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 10:35 am and is filed under Knowledge.