Personal and business branding
In setting our personal and business goals, we invariably must alongside establish what we call a personal brand. Personal branding requires that you focus on what makes you unique. This consists of what we call soft and hard skills.
Under no circumstances should you compare yourself to another business owner because comparison will kill your business quicker than anything else. It doesn't mean we should be unaware of competitors and what they are doing but rather, we should harness in on our soft and hard skills to help develop our own brand and style.
Allow me to provide you with some key factors that you would need to take note of when reviewing your soft and hard skills.
Soft vs Hard skills
Hard skills represent the experience and education you have gained. Hard skills can also be learnt. Hard skills are what people can see and help you remain valuable in the market place. Skills such as customer service skills, sales skills, planning skills, presentation skills, computer skills, financial skills and marketing skills to name a few, they are your hard skills.
Soft skills on the other hand are what people can feel. They represent personality traits and social graces. They include BEING ambitious, articulate, analytical, inquisitive, patient, collaborative, persistent, competitive, passionate, cooperative, caring, dependable, organized, and detail oriented. Soft skills form the bedrock of the ability to work in and within teams which is very necessary to survive the business world in this day and age.
Task 1:
Bring up the latest copy of your CV, look for your accomplishments. Write out all your recognizable hard and soft skills. You need both set of skills to succeed so make sure you pull out everything exceptional about you.
Here are some key factors you should make note of when you are reviewing your resume for hard skills:
1. Identify the accomplishments you can quantify.
2. What skills did you use to excel in that area?
3. When you used those skills, what were the outcomes that were produced?
4. What results were you able to achieve?
5. Who benefited the most from the results you were able to achieve?
NOTE YOUR HARD SKILLS IN YOUR JOURNAL
Secondly, here are some key factors you should look for when reviewing your resume for soft skills:
1. What soft skills did you use the most?
2. When you used the soft skills, what were the outcomes that were produced?
3. What results were you able to achieve? Were you a great team leader? Were you able to build rapport with people quickly?
4. What were the quantifiable results of being a great team leader or being able to build rapport quickly? Did productivity or sales increase?
NOTE YOUR SOFT SKILLS IN YOUR JOURNAL
Task 2:
Download and Use the word bank attached to note some words that resonate with you. Write them in your journal. They are needed as part of your journey in personal and business branding.
1. What 3words immediately jumped at you?
2. Do the words describe your personality?
3. Do the words describe what you stand for?
Task 3:
First note down a list answering the question, "How do i see myself?" Then ask questions from others especially people who know you. The question will then be , "How do you see me?" Note it down.
The similarities in both answers is a pointer to your personal brand.
Where you find you are weak, you can attempt to turn your weakness to strength and if it's not something you are comfortable with, you can delegate.
Always remember that people want to do business with people. In all, who you are as a person, that is your personal brand.
Reasons for personal branding
1. Shows you are serious about succeeding and helping clients succeed.
2. Presents you as a leader people can look up to.
3. Shows you are personable
4. Shows you are a professional and you would therefore attract professionals
5. People will buy you and not just your products or services.
6. You lead by example.
7. Helps with lead generation
8. Gives you an edge in a noisy market place
9. Helps with SEO ability
10. Successful people are branded
