Personal Branding:
Differentiating Yourself From The Competition
December 3, 2015
Jan Anne Dubin
Principal, Jan Anne Dubin Consulting
312.399.3116 | [email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/janannedubin
Program Objectives
1. Begin to develop your personal brand.
2. Learn how to stand out from the crowd.
3. Acquire specific tools to leverage your personal
brand.
Think about one of your favorite brands…
• What is it about the brand that resonates with you?
• How loyal are you to that brand?
• Are there external forces that reinforce your relationship
with the brand?
Branding can impact choice related to
consumer goods and professional services.
Step 1:
Create Your Personal Brand
Creating Your Personal Brand
• What is a Personal Brand?
– A perception or emotion maintained by somebody other than you
describing the total experience of having a relationship with you.
• Brand is a relationship
– Promise + Experience = Relationship (Jerry Wilson, former Chief
Customer and Commercial Officer, Coca Cola)
How To Get Started
Personal Assessment
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What are your professional goals and objectives?
What are your career and non-career attributes?
What are your core values?
Conduct a personal SWOT analysis and other personality
assessments.
• Google yourself. Do you like what you see?
Third-Party Assessment
• Test the results of your self assessment with trusted
advisors and peers.
Your Unique Value Proposition
What are 2-3 key
values that you bring
to the table?
How best do you
express your value
proposition?
What about your
personal brand is
unique? What can you
do better than others?
What non-legal
experiences do you
want to highlight?
Circles of Influence (COI)
• Who is your target audience?
• What are their needs?
• What is their pain point? Identify three examples of
opportunities to fill their needs.
Step 2:
Write Your
Personal Brand Statement
An Example
Jan Anne Dubin: A pioneer in professional services
firm marketing, business development and client
service and strategic communications with 30 years
of experience leading, innovating, developing and
serving as a change-agent and connector while
maintaining relationships with hundreds of C-level
executives and lawyers.
Be Authentic
• Define how your personal brand mirrors your core values.
• Align your personal brand with your target audiences.
• How does it resonate with who you are as an individual?
Name three attributes.
Differentiate Yourself
• Determine who you’re seeking to outperform.
• How do they brand themselves?
• Where are the gaps and opportunities for you to fill?
Writing Your Personal Brand Statement
• Ask yourself:
– What do I stand for?
– Why should clients/stakeholders work with me?
– What is so special about me?
• Review your SWOT analysis.
Get a Second Opinion
• Test whether your personal brand is aligned with your true
self.
– Incorporate the feedback from trusted friends and colleagues.
Step 3:
Leverage Your Personal Brand
Participate in the Conversation
• Establish a point of view and contribute to
conversations with a strong voice.
• Demonstrate energy, enthusiasm and passion for
things you care about.
• Add color to the landscape by demonstrating your
views and key attributes.
Social Media Expands Your Reach
• Understand the importance of social media.
– LinkedIn has more than 122 million U.S. members.
– Twitter has over 320 million monthly active users.
– Youtube has over 1 billion active users.
• 57,000 social networks to choose from.
– Understand how and where your target audience plays in
those networks.
• Learn the rules of engagement.
– Apply the same business principles to your activities on
the web as you do with in-person interaction.
– Remember: A moment on the web lasts a lifetime.
How To Do It
• Tweet about an upcoming speaking engagement or
conference with insight into the topics.
• Repurpose articles written for trade publications on
LinkedIn.
• Comment on news related to your area(s) of focus
across all of your social media channels.
Demonstrate Leadership
• Ask for opportunities to develop leadership skills.
– Sign-up for trainings when offered.
– Propose speaking engagements or conferences to attend.
– Volunteer for new client projects when available.
• Leverage existing or establish new pro bono,
community service and board opportunities.
• In what ways do you demonstrate your leadership
skills and executive presence? Give three examples.
• Update your brand as you establish these skills and
with each new role.
It Takes a Village…
• Create a personal board of directors comprised of individuals
whose skill set you admire.
– People who can push you through your comfort zone and whose
talents can augment your strengths and challenge and improve your
weaknesses.
– Individuals with whom you can share and vet your personal brand and
other critical business strategies and from whom you can expect to
receive direct candid feedback.
• Build a cadre of brand ambassadors, followers and
dedicated fans.
– How can they help you accomplish your goals?
• Nurture your network.
– Are you networking to your fullest potential?
– Identify three new places to network.
Step 4:
Continually Assess Your Personal
Brand
Personal Brand Management
• Continually update your personal brand goals and
objectives.
• Use it everyday in all of your interactions.
• Keep current on social media.
– Identify issues that are important to you.
– Share information with your networks in a way that
demonstrates your personal brand.
The Ongoing Process
• Set a six-month check-in to assess your effectiveness.
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Are you accomplishing your goals and objectives?
Has your personal brand evolved over time?
Is it still fresh and relevant?
Is there anything missing or in need of an update?
Identify three opportunities to refine or update your personal
brand.
Questions & Answers
IMMEDTIATE ACTION
What actions will you take today, as a result
of this program, to create your personal
brand?