Susan Chritton

To reach the right target market, you need to identify who its members are. Visualize yourself working with your ideal client, company, service, or scenario. For example, here are possible characteristics of an ideal client: Appreciates the work that I do Pays me well and pays in advance Loves the service that I provide Trusts my expertise and lets me serve him or her using my best judgment Refers other dream clients to me Promotes my work to everyone he or she talks to Dreaming about the perfect situation gets you thinking about who would actually be the right target audience for you to put your time, energy, and effort into pursuing.

Personal branding is about deciding to take an active role in the direction of your life. You benefit from creating a personal brand because it allows you to self-manage your life and stop depending on others to do it for you. Your personal brand helps you make the most of what you’ve got to offer. Permission to be yourself The personal branding process assures you that it’s okay to be yourself.

Personal branding is about making connections, and the logo you choose should connect with your audience. A logo creates awareness. It can be a symbol, text, a graphic, or a combination of these things. (Keep in mind that people recognize images more often than they remember text.)It symbolizes your brand and provides an image that gives you a memorable identity.

The first step in the personal branding process is to spend time figuring out who you really are and what you want from your life. Often, this self-analysis is the hardest part. Here are the building blocks of your brand that you need to identify: Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a helpful tool that shows layers of needs from the most basic (physiological needs, such as food) all the way up to self-actualization — becoming everything that you are capable of becoming.

You don't just communicate your personal brand in person; you should communicate your brand online as well. A profile hub can serve as a central point for all your online activity (your blog or website, Twitter account, photo gallery, and so on). Content for your profile may include A brief bio about who you are Links to your social media sites (such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and business fan pages) The name, products, and/or services of your business If appropriate, your key clients Your education Special features that enhance your personal brand, such as a favorite quote or testimonial Videos highlighting who you are and what you do Your photo Links to — or PDF versions of — articles you've written, slides, or other visuals you've produced Popular profile hubs include: LinkedIn: This site helps you build effective business relationships based on nurturing the "know, like, and trust" factor.

Your unique promise of value and your personal brand statement are closely linked; the statement is an expression of the promise. Both of them focus on what your target audience expects from you; they create an expectation of what you can deliver. These pieces of your personal brand profile are probably the most important (no pressure!

Why not infuse your portfolio with your personal brand? A portfolio is a collection of documents that validate your accomplishments and professional achievements when you go on a job interview (or when you meet with a new client).This tool helps you remember all that you have done in your past to build your personal brand.

Your personal brand can help ease the pain of transitioning to a new career by reminding you that at your core, you’re still you and need to be your authentic self. Your reinvented self may be wearing a new outfit, but in all that you do, no matter what you call yourself, you are still you.Your personal brand helps you identify those core pieces of yourself that you want to express and use in the world.

Women want to be given the same opportunities to succeed as men, but often they want to succeed in a different way. The generalization goes that women (more than men) tend to embrace the desire to want to live more authentically, and that translates into being more of who they are in the workplace. Be your authentic self Personal branding is about living your authentic self and building on natural talents and strengths.