The Irreversible Links Between Business and Personal Branding

Much has been written about business brand building, but less about creating powerful personal brands that may, in fact, lead to sustainable business brands. Why? Because personal branding usually starts as a fairly simple set of external actions that reflect an individual's vision and commitments -- and often we don't think about how all this might add up to a personal brand, let alone a business brand.

The reason being that when folks launch an effort that strongly features them individually, they don't typically say "hey, time to build my personal brand." Instead, these people are just living the business or personal life they envisioned and are working hard to make their dreams a reality.

People can find it difficult to wrap their minds around the fact that they could be a brand - and that they might need to spend the rest of their lives making sure their personal brands reflect who they are and want to be. Meaningful personal branding is tough, much because it is an ongoing life activity that requires regular self-examination.

But, your personal brand happens whether you shape it or not. If you are out in the world at all, you are known for the qualities you project and the qualities external audiences believe are true of you. Your choice is simple: Own your brand, or let external audiences own it for you.

And if you are in business at all, then your personal brand is intrinsically linked to some business brand. If you work under a company's business brand, then your personal brand is like a sub-brand - always influenced by your connector brands. If you work under the label of your personal brand, then your business-personal branding is almost irreversibly linked. You are your business, and your business is you.

So, treat your personal brand like you would any other brand. See yourself as the asset you must nourish, the true legacy you must protect. Your personal brand is your current and future value.

To help define the core characteristics of your personal or business brand, here's a framework for working through - and living - the branding process:

1. Brand Attributes: Your brand attributes are the qualities that embody your personal brand, and should always be associated with it. To get there, distill down your core professional and personal values and the values of the key audiences you interact with, and in this intersection you'll find your most important brand attributes.

2. Brand Promise: In its most fundamental form, your personal brand promise is what you guarantee your key audiences (think employers, clients, customers, community) will experience because of their relationship with you. So, as with any other commitment, promise only what you will deliver.

3. Brand Positioning: Your personal brand positioning statement will (1) define your key audiences - the most important audiences you interact with, are influencing, or trying to influence); (2) pinpoint what they care most about; and (3) synthesize the value your brand delivers to them.

4. Brand Driver: Your brand driver is the outcome your personal brand is dedicated to seeing achieved with the audiences you interact with. It is the essential idea the captures and integrates all brand actions.

5. Brand Personality: Your brand personality is comprised of the human elements connected to your personal brand, and are the characteristics that inspire (or not) specific feelings in your key audiences.