Congratulations! You have been appointed manager of the world’s most important brand. You need not go far to find this brand—you can find it in the mirror. Yes, you are a brand, and no one else has more at stake for your brand’s success than you. Personal branding is an ongoing process; it requires a continuous improvement mindset. However, you have great incentive to embrace personal branding. Intense competition and the ease with which we can connect provide both urgency and opportunity for proactively managing your brand. Consider this book a personal branding instruction manual. We break down the personal branding process to managing the 3Ms of personal branding—Meaning, Makeup, and Message. Me consists of five parts: Part One: The Basics We realize that you may be coming to personal branding with little prior exposure to the concept or branding practices in general. Part One makes the case for the importance of personal branding, addressing misunderstandings, or myths about personal branding, and sharing an overview of branding fundamentals. Too many works on personal branding do not take these issues into consideration, but they are a good starting point before embarking on your personal branding journey. Part Two: Meaning- Who You Are Great brands are grounded in significance. They have a clear understanding of why they exist, what is happening around them, and what they must do to grow. Similarly, your personal brand cannot be built without this foundation in place. Purpose, passion, a review of your current situation, and goal setting are essential steps to complete before moving on to personal branding tactics. It is not coincidental that Meaning is the starting point for building a personal brand. You cannot create a meaningful, consistent brand without this piece being well defined. Part Three: Makeup- Building the Product Establishing Meaning orients you to what must be done to carry it out. Makeup is the product part of your brand— skill set, mindset, network of connections, and positioning. Meaning is little more than a dream if you do not invest in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitude, and relationships that enable you to live your Meaning daily. Part Four: Message- Telling Your Story If you do not have a deep understanding of personal branding, it is possible that you equate personal branding with your online presence. Although use of social media is a prime channel for communicating with others, starting personal branding efforts here could result in Meaning and Makeup not being aligned with your messages. Before getting to the various communication channels available to send messages, reflect on the stories that define your brand. Stories are important pieces of your brand’s Message. Beyond stories, you have to be familiar with the many communication channels available to send messages. Which ones are used by the audience you seek to influence serve? How can you use those channels to create value for others while enhancing your brand’s exposure? Part Five: Putting it All Together Understanding the roles played by Meaning, Makeup, and Message can go a long way toward building a distinctive personal brand. However, one final piece remains that closes the loop: measuring effectiveness. Implementing a personal branding strategy must be followed up with evaluating outcomes against goals. If goals give you a target to hit, measuring performance is the check to see how close to the target you got. And, this final M empowers you to adjust your personal branding mix when results fall short of expectations. Relish the privilege of managing the world’s most important brand. It can be a daunting responsibility, but the 3Ms framework shared in Me provides a course of action you can implement to create a brand that brings value to others and is rewarding to you.
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