Wax Marketing Blog

Since I seem to be on a branding rant these days I thought I would answer some questions I get on a regular basis about the “personal brand.” It was really interesting to me last year when Emmett Smith mentioned on Dancing with the Stars that he did the show because it fit into his “personal brand.” Although the phrase is really just another one of those trendy little terms we marketers like to make up from time to time so we don’t sound so tired and old, the concept is really important. I did a presentation a while back about personal branding and one of the things that really struck me when I did my research was how much our day to day behavior reinforces our personal brand. A personal brand takes the idea of that old “perception that your customers have of you” to a whole new level. And as small business people, it’s our own image and persona that is often the differentiator for our company’s brand.

I began to wonder what image I was putting out there? What was the perception of others in terms of my personal brand? Did I have a mission statement for my life? Or a tagline? Peter Montoya has some great things to say about personal branding if you want to get more information. But I think it’s important to remember that just as every time a customer sees or hears about your product or service you’re leaving an impression that needs to be carefully positioned….so too does your own behavior and day to day activity leave an impression for your personal brand. It’s an interesting thing to think about.