One of the hot topics that I am encountering these days in business is “personal branding” as digital selling is more critical than ever. So what is Personal Branding, and why is it important to your career in sales or business?
When I started my career in consulting years ago, one of my mentors suggested that I develop “my executive voice”. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, so I began looking for books and classes on the topic. After searching and asking colleagues if they had any suggestions or examples of executive voice, I discovered that I needed to communicate with confidence and speak with a point of view as a consultant. Their advice included not only my verbal communications but also how I presented my physical self. That was an “ah-ha” moment in my career that was instrumental in discovering my personal brand.
Today, personal branding is who we are in the digital space. We interact and engage personally and professionally via text messaging, social media, video conferencing, blogging, vlogging, podcasting, and more. Our audience is now broader and more transparent than ever before. So it is more important than ever before to be authentic with your brand.
Shelly Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus of Ogilvy & Mather, said it best in this article in Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-former-ceo-of-ogilvy-mather-on-personal-branding
Shelly’s recommendation to “be yourself” is solid advice to anyone in business, sales, or even in our personal lives.
As an emerging blogger, I look forward to engaging with the online community with authenticity and enthusiasm to share. More to come in 2021!
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