What’s the big deal about Personal Brands? Glad you asked!

You and Your Brand

If you have something to communicate or sell… you have a Personal Brand, whether you intend to have one or not. Some of us try to cultivate our Brands, some of us seek to ignore them, and some of us attempt to create a “wannabe” Personal Brand that has nothing to do with who and what we really are. (But Personal Brands have a way of outing themselves when you least expect it, so fake at your own risk!)

Importantly, however, you don’t go through life with just one Personal Brand. Depending on what you’re communicating or selling (an idea, a product, yourself on a job interview) and to whom (your editor, your customer, your potential employer), you can identify and express a Personal Brand perfect for your particular situation.

I define an individual’s “Personal Brand” as a brief, memorable statement of yourself that identifies you to your audience. This can be a two-to-three word description, or a saying or slogan that presents you uniquely to the world. And Personal Brands fall into three categories:

• Your Core Brand, or the brand you express to yourself
• Your Functional Brands, or the brands you express to external audiences (such as your customers, your readers (if you’re an author), the industry, etc.)
• Your Shadow Brand, or the hidden, unintended brand you have that can stand in the way of your success

Below is a brief introduction to each of these Personal Brands. For more information, or to develop your own Personal Brand, you can check out a class, review my blog, or link to additional resources!

Your Core Personal Brand

For all of us, the most important audience we have is… ourselves. Therefore, the number one Personal Brand that you have is your Core Personal Brand. Your Core Personal Brand is how you identify yourself to yourself: a brief, memorable statement that really catches the essence of you.

Unlike your Functional Brands, you will likely never advertise or promote your Core Personal Brand to others, because the audience is YOU. However, you will express yourself every day based on your Core Brand, and understanding your Core Brand can help guide your decisions in all the other aspects in your life.

For example, using the definition of “a brief, memorable statement of yourself that identifies you” you could choose the Core Personal Brand of “Caring, Happy Dreamer.” How might you express that Personal Brand in your everyday life? It could affect your conversation with your loved ones, the type of music you listen to, the type of work you do for or the types of books you enjoy to read and write. Alternatively, the Core Personal Brand of “Dedicated, Daring Achiever” is also extremely positive, but implies an entirely different personality. Do either of those resonate with you? If not, what phrase or statement captures the essence of you, a description that can be your rallying cry in all of your daily adventures?

A thoughtfully created Core Personal Brand can have far reaching impact in your life. As a result, a Core Brand is something you should take the time to understand, refine, and really own. Importantly, unlike a Functional Brand (discussed next week), you should NOT ask others to help you define what your Core Personal Brand should be… the only person whose opinion matters about your Core Personal Brand is: your own.

Examples of Core Personal Brands:
Caring, Happy Dreamer;
Dedicated, Daring Achiever
“The Go-To Guy for Life’s Adventures”

Your Functional Personal Brand

Your Functional Personal Brand is the brand you create for all of your external audiences, and is perhaps the easiest type of Personal Brand to understand, because it most closely mimics the brands we see for products or companies.

For example, the brand for Nike® includes a focus of aspirational fitness, the packaging of the distinctive swish, and the slogan of “Just Do It.” If you’re an author, your functional Personal Brand for your books will contain similar elements—perhaps a focus of Elegant Vampire Hunter Mysteries, the packaging of vivid, moody covers and darkly humorous writing, and a slogan of “Wine, candlelight… and a well-done stake.”

Get the idea? As you work more with your Writing Brand, you can explore how to make your brand stronger by focusing on each of your brand’s elements (your focus or the promise of your Brand, your packaging, etc.)

For now, however, it’s important to note that you have a Functional Brand for every audience to whom you have something to sell or communicate (whether that “something” is a book, a product, a suggestion or even an excuse). These audiences could include your customers, agents, editors, your readers, your manager, your employees, your coworkers, your family, or your friends.

EXAMPLE: If you’re an author, you have two key Functional Brands: Your Writing Brand and your Industry Brand.

Your Writing Brand is the brand you communicate solely through your books or promotional efforts. Your audience here is made up of the readers of your books. These individuals may not know you personally, so your Writing Brand is really all about the brand you communicate solely through your books—literally how you market your unique stories. As a result, you’ll probably find that a description that can double as a slogan will work best for your Writing Brand.

Examples of Writing Brands include:
“Women’s fiction with kick!” (Toni Leland)
“Frisky, fun and a bit on the wild side” (LuAnn McLane)
“Humorous, sexy stories set in small town America” (Dianne Castell)

Your Industry Brand is the brand you present as an author—to your industry contacts, to your dedicated readership, and to anyone you meet as you pursue your writing career.

Examples of Industry Brands include:
Savvy, Caring Achiever
Funny, Friendly Free Spirit
Prolific, Stylish Go-Getter

Your Shadow Brand

In addition to our Core and Functional Brands, which help us in our communications or selling conversations, each of us also possesses what I call a Shadow Brand, or a Personal Brand that can thwart our best efforts if we don’t manage it appropriately. This Shadow Brand, based on the Jungian concept of “shadow” to describe the hidden side of the human psyche, is essentially a brand we construct, sometimes without even realizing it, to keep us from achieving our dreams.

Why do we do this? Because it’s safer for us that way.

The role of a Shadow Brand is to protect us and keep us in our comfort zone. If our brand reads “fear”, for example, and as a result we never go after our dream achievement… we protect ourselves from possible rejection. If our brand reads “entitled”, and as a result we contact an agent or potential business sponsor in self-righteous indignation when he or she hasn’t responded to us in what we consider to be a timely manner… we protect ourselves from feeling at the mercy of others. (Sadly, we also protect ourselves from success in these cases, too.)

As human beings, we have unlimited potential… and that’s frankly a bit scary. Think about romance author Debbie Macomber, and how she struggled for five years to find a publisher who would buy one of the manuscripts she wrote in her kitchen on a rented typewriter. Debbie didn’t give up, and is now a New York Times bestselling author, with more than 60 million books in print. Or Dick Hoyt, the self-described “porker” dad who entered his first 5-mile race at the urging of his disabled son, who wanted to race with him. Dick has now completed more than 85 marathons and 8 triathlons — pushing, pulling and even towing his son behind him so they can experience the race together.

These are only two examples of thousands of life-changing stories that demonstrate the potential each of us has for personal success. But they prove that while it’s never easy put our Shadow Brands out of commission — to do the work, risk the rejection, and overcome the obstacles even when we’re tired, grumpy or unmotivated — it’s necessary if we want to succeed.

Want to discover and refine yourCore and Functional Brands, and learn how to work to overcome your Shadow Brand? Ask us how.