Sometimes last week, I got an invitation to be one of the facilitators on the Samsung Real Dream Project handled by AGDC(After Graduate Development Centre) scheduled to hold later this month, I was asked to facilitate the session(s) on PERSONAL BRANDING. And of course I agreed to it. While asking a question I always ask myself every time I have to prepare for a training or presentation; From what angle should I approach this task? It became clear to me that it might not be a bad idea to mention some benefits that I have experienced in the ongoing process of building my personal brand. In this post, I will highlight some of those benefits for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
• INCREASE IN EARNIG POTENTIAL: In my experience with my personal brand, one undeniable benefit I have enjoyed is the way it positioned me as one of the leaders in my field of expertise. The natural consequence of this is that you as the source of the brand will be able to demand for a leader’s portion, i.e. a higher pay.
• ATTRACTS BENEFITIAL PEOPLE: A strong personal brand has the ability to draw the attention of people who can be of serious benefit to you in your personal, career, and business life. And the way it works most of the time is that when there is a need to be met in your area of expertise, your brand would have positioned you as one of the ‘‘Go to guys’’, to the extent that you might not even need to pursue some opportunities, your brand would simply attract the kind of people who have the power to give them to you.
• CONSISTENT FLOW OF BUSINESS: If you are well branded, you will seize from being anonymous in your chosen area of expertise. Your name will be known, your abilities will be known, as well as your Strengths. And once your ability to deliver is unquestionable, and you are consistently getting your personal brand message out and working hard to ensure that your audience gets it, then your clients will keep coming back, and they will also talk about you and encourage prospects to try you out. This will ensure that there is a consistent flow of business to you.
• INCREASE IN CREDIBILITY: You know, it funny how the market thinks, the general impression is that If someone is considered to be well known, then it must be because he or she is good at something. This market mentality will definitely work for you if you have a strong personal brand, because your brand will position you as being good at what you do, and as people experience the authenticity of your brand, your credibility increases. Any attempt to increase credibility without building a powerful personal brand might be tantamount to “sitting on a long thing” i.e. embarking on an unnecessarily long journey to a known destination.
• “TOP -OF- MIND” STATUS: Another key benefit of having a strong personal brand is the fact that the source enjoys “Top- of – mind” status; this implies that when an opportunity comes up, where you are one of the numerous candidates, your name is one of the first that readily comes to mind. It also means that you have become such a strong positive reference point in an area, such that your name will by default come up when a discussion in being held and that area of expertise is the topic.
• LEADERSHIP ROLES: When an individual has a strong personal brand, usually, people feel confident in putting the person in charge. A strong personal brand would inspire people to have confidence in you, and when people have confidence in you, they tend to feel comfortable in giving you leadership roles.