aesthetic notch

Personal Branding – Defining the Professional You

Posted December 1, 2016 by

Every major company and organization we know has branding. Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have distinctive brands. So do Apple, Google, Louis Vuitton, and even car makers like GM and Toyota. These brands are an expression of value and strive to make them known in less abstract but more conceptual ways.

These entities spend time and resources developing and managing their brands. In time, brands often come to have value as intangible assets and organizations begin to handle their use and application with stewardship and guidelines. Brands when managed correctly express and convey value, promise and even invoke emotion. They also carry over in ways to those things that might be associated with them.

Just as branding applies to organizations, products and services it also applies to you as an individual in today’s professional environment.

Personal branding has reached a new level of imperative because of the rise of the Internet. The growth of the virtual world has created the necessity of managing online identities.

Whether you know it or not, you’re viewed as a professional brand in the job marketplace, both online and offline. In the online world, perception is reality. How others see you based on Internet information is often who they believe you are; so your “image” or “brand” is their reality. It’s also the reality you must manage and control.

At Sequence, we understand this new reality.  We have been working with individuals to help them express their value and brand professionally for over 20 years. We understand that if you wish to express your personal value, it must be done first with branding and then with the delivery of that valuable service to reinforce that brand. We refer to this as brand value. Your brand stands for something and what it stands for must have a value associated with it. Your professional brand value is the sum of things which give your band its worth and differentiates you from all others.

It’s why at Sequence Resumes (www.sequenceresumes.com) we have redefined the way job candidates are perceived and marketed. We are widely known for helping job candidates define, establish, build, market, and polish their brand to clearly stand apart from the competition.

This new reality requires you to have a powerful online brand presence. It’s expected in our information driven society. Even if you aren’t of the mind to adopt online branding, others are already looking online to learn about you and to develop their perception of who you are.

Your brand is what employers, recruiters, colleagues, acquaintances, and your network see. Just as corporations carefully craft and manage their brands, so must you if you wish to grow your career in this digital and information age.

Your online brand image is just as important as your offline one. Taking the initiative to establish your brand online allows you to differentiate yourself from others — your competition.