Are You Ready to Build a Personal Brand?

June 2, 2021
Personal Branding

If you’re in sales or hospitality, you’ve seen the importance of building a personal brand, and how it can speed up the path-to-purchase for your clients and customers. You’ve likely seen industry colleagues and professionals take charge of their own brand. You think you may be ready to start building, but you’re still a bit unsure if this is the right move for you. My friend, these feelings and questions are natural and part of the branding process. Taking on the task of developing a personal brand requires commitment and clarity, and often the thought of trying to map your brand can seem overwhelming.

As defined by Wikipedia, Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, increase their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.^[1]

The process of personal branding involves finding your uniqueness, building a reputation on the things you want to be known for, and then allowing yourself to be known for them.

“Finding your uniqueness” and “amplifying your message” may seem easy enough, but when you’re unsure where to get started, it can create decision-paralysis. Being in hospitality is a busy life, and often our personal brands can take a back-seat to other responsibilities and work-related projects. However the benefits of having a personal brand can help you carve out the time required to get started! Once your brand is in motion, you’ll be setting yourself apart from your competition and creating a powerful experience for your clients and customers.

Do you think you may be ready to build your personal brand? Here are 6 Ways to know you’re ready to build a personal brand in the hospitality industry:

You are excited! Building a personal brand is a super-exciting time!! It can be both exciting and nerve-racking, but my friend, YOU are deserving of a brand and deserving of the excitement that goes along with it! Enjoy the process of creating something you can call your own! Take that excitement into investing in some resources that you can use to help you get your brand underway. Need a quick start? Try out this personal branding quiz to gain some insights and resources for your next branding steps.
You are ready to learn – Building a brand brings about a whole new set of skills including content creation, social media platforms, blog/video, and podcast development and so much more. If you’re ready to take on a new learning curve, you’re in the right place! If you’re looking for some free tools to help you get started with your learning curve, check out my curated list of free tools here.
You are overwhelmed with possibilities – When starting a personal brand there are a bazillion questions that you’ll have about the next steps, and the “how to’s”. This is all part of the learning journey, and there are resources available to help you keep it all sorted. Consider this 5-dimension framework as a place to start putting all your questions into pillars – Defining your Goals, Designing Your Brand, Determining Your Platforms, Developing Your Content and Discovering Your Community.
You are ready to take control of your messaging – Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) once said “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” When you take control of your personal brand, you direct what people say about you through your actions and your inbound marketing messaging. When you are intentional about your brand messaging, the platforms you use (including your social media such as LinkedIn) will elevate in the Google results when someone types in your name.
You want to elevate your client’s experience – the most compelling of reasons, thinking about how you can deliver and exceed your customer’s expectations is a great motivator for creating a personal brand. Your brand, while it may be a reflection of your values and traits, is really in service to others. This will truly set you apart from your competition and help with your business goals and objectives.

As a hospitality professional, developing and projecting a personal brand can go hand-in-hand with your organization’s brand. This combination is powerful, for both you and for your organization. There are a number of ways that you can build your brand internally at your organization, without ever having to write a blog or post something on social media.

Want to discover more about your personal branding journey? Take this quick 2-minute quiz and gain some insights into your brand, including resources and tips to help you keep the momentum going!

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