I'm working on a presentation about personal branding for delivery at My Creative Team University. As I was doing the research, it became clear that in today's working world you must take control of your own brand. If you don't position yourself, someone else will position you. That's not always a good thing.
Whether you are a freelancer, a small business owner, or an employee, you have a brand. Do you know what people think about your brand?
Sometime back I asked 10 colleagues what their impression of my brand is because you need to know where you are before you can make any adjustments. Same as in any kind of brand work. I'd encourage you to do the same.
I learned that people think I'm assertive, intimidating and very "alpha." Perhaps I need to tone that down a bit. They say I have a strategic understanding but am very tactically oriented. Might need to work on the strategy piece. I'm conservative, principled and honest, they say. Not changing that.
Below are anonymous and unedited comments about the brand called Harry Hoover, in case you are interested:
- "Three T's"- Trustworthy, truthful, timely. Does what he says he'll do, when he says he'll do it, and does it well.
- Down to earth, logical thinker. Strategic understanding, but more tactically oriented.
- Sense of humor, easy to work with. Always have new ideas.
- Authoritative, in charge, commanding, capable, competent, confident, professional, not just doing things right, but doing the right things, a leader and a strong communicator. On the lesser side, perhaps intimidating or very alpha male!
- "Out of the box", balanced, solid, integrity
- I think of Harry Hoover as extremely savvy and good-hearted. He understands the power of the Internet and knows how to effectively represent his clients in dealings with the media. I also admire him greatly for making a successful transition from journalist/broadcaster to small business entrepreneur, which is no small feat.
- Confident, consistent, information resource, reliable, strategic, assertive, easy to work with, focused and professional.
- You and your brand are:
- chock full of fabulous and never-ending ideas
- early adopter technologically " almost too far ahead of the curve so must teach/explain/pull others along
- extremely well-versed in all the advertising/pr/media-related disciplines. You know how to put all the pieces together and provide a comprehensive, strategic plan and all the necessary tactical pieces as well. You can strategize, plan and execute, from start to finish.
- you are inventive, creative, persistent, patient
- you communicate clearly and express yourself well both in writing and verbally
- you have a passion for technology, deep technical knowledge and are an aggressive self-teacher. You know how to use technology to drive business processes.
- you are a leader
- you are also a teacher
- you have morality and ethics (personally and professionally) - a rare commodity lately, it would seem
- you are flexible - if it doesn't work this way, then we can do it that way
- you deliver what you promise, when you promised it. And if you can't, you communicate why and when.
- To me, the HH brand is 1) Conservative, 2) Sage, 3) Clever and 4) Honest.
- The Harry Hoover brand revolves around integrity, honesty, open communication, thoughtful strategy and flexibility.
- I think that the Hoover brand consists of:
<!--[if !supportLists]--> - <!--[endif]-->optimistic focus on the task at hand
<!--[if !supportLists]--> - <!--[endif]-->openness to others' ideas to improve the ultimate product
<!--[if !supportLists]--> - <!--[endif]-->loyal and fair, yet bound to a set of principles (albeit sometimes Republican-influenced)