When did you last think about you as a brand? Maybe you never have. As I develop my own path as a public speaker and mentor, I’ve realised that you have to think more about this topic. Website, photography, tone, what’s on my tin if you like.

It’s easy to help others create their brands. Looking at values, vision of what it looks like and how they want to impact other people. Thinking of this for myself has been way harder.

One thing I do know is I want to be authentic. Some people create a personal brand that is how they “think” it should be. That’s quite a difficult thing to keep going over a long period of time. A person I spoke to a few weeks ago who I’d remarked had come out of their shell recently. Their answer for this was that they wanted to be authentic before they got involved in things that would drive their personal brand forever. I hadn’t thought of that.

So, when thinking of your personal brand, here are my top tips:

What are your values? These need to be ones that are core to who you are and not what you think they should be

What tone do you want? Are you looking for upbeat, serious, informative or just fun?

What’s going to set you apart from everyone else? Your USP if you like. How are you going to stand out from the crowd?

Be focused – It’s so easy to keep changing your mind on things but if you do this, people will be confused about you and your offering

Be authentic – People have to trust what you’ve got to say. Being authentic is about being true to brand you not to anyone else’s brand.

In summary, whatever you decide, it must be sustainable.

Want help with your brand? [email protected]