Define Your Personal Brand

Update: I discussed personal branding and it’s importance for businesses with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surviellance.

Whether you’re on Main Street or Wall Street, companies must have clearly defined and developed brands. Why? Because a brand is everything to a company. A brand is a promise delivered – and it’s essential companies keep their promises to their consumers.

Leaders often exemplify their company’s brand promise. Great leaders exemplify their company’s brand promise but eat, sleep, and breathe their own personal brand.

C-suite executives know the importance of defining their own personal brand. It’s more than self-promoting or any “me me me” statement. C-suite leaders develop their own brand promises with the understanding that if they sell themselves, they ultimately sell their business. Keep in mind that personal brands need to align with and compliment the company brand. If not, you stand to lose credibility, respect, and money. Case in point: Abercrombie & Fitch.

Think Oprah. She turned her personal brand into an empire! TV show, network, magazine, book club… Everything she does, she does with her brand in mind. You won’t ever see Oprah telling people they can’t do something because that’s everything her personal brand is not.

Have you developed your own personal branding? If not, it’s time to! Grab a pen and paper and get your thinking cap on. Answer these questions and you’re on your way to defining your own personal brand.

1. Who are you? It’s not always as simple as writing down your name. Really, who are you? My name is Jeffrey Hayzlett, but I’m way more than that. I am on global TV shows, am a best-selling author, frequent keynote speaker and many people call me a celebrity CMO. These are the things that define me and my brand.
2. Define your conditions of satisfaction. Determine what it is you value and make those promises to yourself. Before I jump into anything, I consider my conditions of satisfaction: Will I make money, have fun, and grow professionally? If the answer to all three is yes, I’m in.
3. Become an expert in your field. Position yourself as the go-to thought leader. How? For starters, create intriguing and educational content or speak on your subject matter.
4. Develop and maintain an online presence. Develop a website and maintain a blog with great content. Be everywhere – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.  Do Pinterest and Instagram make sense for your personal brand? Then create an online presence there, too. And always, ALWAYS engage your fans!
5. Maintain radical transparency. Be who you are. If I say ‘bite me’ it’s because I mean it. I’m not going to back down from what I believe or who I am. Your fans WILL see through you if you’re not true to your brand and yourself.

C-suite executives far and wide know the importance of developing and maintaining their personal brand. Answer these questions and you’re on your way to creating your own personal brand.

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Jeffrey Hayzlett is a global business celebrity and speaker, bestselling author, Contributing Editor for Bloomberg Television, and former Fortune 100 c-suite executive. He is the CEO of The Hayzlett Group, an international strategic business consulting company focused on leading change and developing high growth companies. Contact us for more information.