Originally published in 2008. Updated in 2025 as part of the Personal Branding Blog relaunch under Brown Brothers Media.
This is my first of five posts about what I now call the “Personal Marketing Plan.” Any successful business has a business plan, which is composed of marketing, operations, finances and so forth. Even products have their own miniature plans crafted by season marketing professionals.
Guess what? Your brand should have it’s own marketing plan. A plan that you can execute for a successful career. When you combine this plan with a development plan, you have mastered the discovery phase of personal branding.
Just like a business strategy, your personal marketing plan starts with understanding where you are, defining what you stand for, and mapping where you want to go next.
This what I call the Situational Analysis. It describes where you are currently in your career or life and helps you identify the key elements that will influence your growth.
For example, you might write that you’re a student attending Stanford University or a Marketing Associate for Nike. Your current situation is also connected with the amount of resources you have, including your network, personal finances, materials and brand influence. No matter what your age, gender or race is, your brand may have or not have specific skills needed to thrive. That is why you need a plan of attack so that you reach your goals.
Within your Situational Analysis, you’ll define the following elements:
1. Mission Statement
What is your call to action? Do you want to be promoted to the next level in an organizational hierarchy, write a book or start a blog and how does that fit in your overarching long-term goal?
This statement contains your value statement and reason for being. You can compete on price, value, quality, trust, years of experience, specialty skills or even your network, which can provide you with more resources to complete jobs with a faster speed of delivery.
You really want to mix your entire brand into one “personal brand statement” that can be easily digested and repeated by others.
2. Vision Statement
Where do you want to be in 10 years? A vision statement defines what your brand is capable of becoming if you commit to the work.
Most personal visions revolve around becoming a leader in a specific niche while earning recognition for both personal and professional achievements.
3. Projected Annual Compensation
Although I hate to dwell on money, as I feel that if you lead with your brand compensation will follow, it is still essential to successful living and enjoyment.
How much is your brand currently worth? Are you paid with a salary, hourly, or by project (contract)? Either way, you should calculate exactly what you take in for revenue each year, along with expenses and bottom-line profit after taxes.
Where do you hope to be in 2, 5, 10, 15 years? Are you going to get an MBA, start your own business, or pursue advanced education with outside funding? These are all questions that will transpire as you delve into your future income projection.
When you view compensation, try and focus both on the number, along with the benefits such as healthcare, flexibility, and equity, which hold value as well. Not everyone makes a million dollars in 5 years, so be realistic with your projections.
To project, set a growth percentage that you will grow your current salary by. If you’re unemployed, then you start at zero and cannot use that formula until you have a base salary.
4. Personal Life Cycle
Instead of a product life cycle, much like most traditional marketing plans have, I think there is a personal life cycle that correlates to where you are at different points in your career, as well as life.
The personal life cycle revolves around where your brand is currently, not how old you are, much like the “human life cycle,” which we learn about in high school. You ask “what can push me through this life cycle from introduction to decline”?
It’s based on how recognizable your personal brand is, as well as influence, power, trust, level of engagement with others and the total combined force and reach of your audience. Here are the four parts:
Introduction
You have developed your brand at a specific location, such as your school, online with a blog or with your employer. A small fraction of people may know who you are and others are getting used to your presence (feeling you out).
People are not sure if they can trust you or the information you provide during this time. Few people are aware of what your brand could produce, so you must prove yourself time and time again (there is no promise for delivery yet).
Growth
Your brand is starting to gain recognition and momentum, as you learn new skills in your niche and can provide more value. You are starting to be perceived as knowledgeable and people are starting to make remarks about you to their peers.
People start inviting you to events to speak. Your blog gains traffic, your subscription count multiplies and you’re highlighted in a few media and digital platforms.
Note that during your growth stage, you will face competition in your niche and will have to counter by making tighter relationships and establishing trust.
Maturity
You are spending most of your time speaking at events and handling clients needs. You start investing more time with your family (if you have kids and are married) and less working on self-promotion.
Just like a Ferrari or cruise ship, your brand markets itself and is a legacy. It costs you less to make more. You have a Wikipedia page and win a few awards, but you’re really focusing on saving up for retirement.
Decline
You’re about to execute your exit strategy and either pass down the business to your child or sell it to a larger company for ten times what it was worth years ago. Your brand will always linger in Google and you may choose to keep blogging or participating in the discussion along the way, serving as a mentor and resource for all of those that want to hopefully fill your shoes someday.
Conclusion
Your Situational Analysis is the foundation of your entire Personal Marketing Plan. It clarifies who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re headed before you start setting strategies or goals.
By understanding your current position, you gain the awareness needed to make every future decision intentional and effective.
This article is part of Personal Branding Blog’s Legacy Series — highlighting timeless insights from our archive. Learn more about our story here.
