How Your Personal Brand Changes Over Time

Your personal brand isn’t meant to be stagnant. After all, throughout your career, you’ll certainly grow and change as an individual. So will your business.

What influences these changes in your personal brand over time?

  • Your experience
  • New business ventures
  • Switching career paths
  • Interests
  • New skills
  • Your mentors or close colleagues

Just because you’ve built a certain brand right now does not mean that it will be your brand forever. After all, companies do this all the time with their products and services. Take a look at the major players in the soft drink industry, for example. Can you even remember how many different slogans Coca-Cola or Pepsi have had?

When it comes to your personal brand, there are some changes to expect as time ticks on. Here are a few examples of things that may change for you:

Niche

Since a niche is a very specific direction, don’t be surprised if it changes slightly throughout your career in your industry. Especially if your niche is related to technology—there’s no telling what will be different about it 10 or 20 years from now!

Brand statement

You might find that your branding statement doesn’t work once you’ve switched your focus or transitioned into a new field at some point in your life. Make sure to re-work it so that it makes sense to your intended audience. And don’t forget to update your network on your new venture or direction.

Industry outlook

For many, their passion and direction is synonymous with their career or business, and when the industry shifts and changes it makes them reevaluate their personal brand and unique selling points.

Picture of Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president ​of Come Recommended, a career and workplace education and consulting firm specializing in young professionals. She is also the author of#ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist forExaminer.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.

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