One of the best things about creating your personal brand is it helps you market unique qualities about yourself. The more time you invest in developing your brand and networking with people in your industry, you’ll discover how some professionals possess a similar one to yours.
Once you have established your personal brand and you have been engaging with the people in your networks, you’ll notice how you are drawn to following certain types of people. Let’s say you are very active on Twitter. Chances are, you are interacting with people in your industry with similar interests to yours. As you look beyond those particular traits, you’ll notice different personalities shine through. These personalities serve as a way to categorize different types of personal brands.
Are you obsessed with staying up-to-date with current events and pop culture? Do you find yourself providing industry advice for your colleagues? If you can answer “yes” to questions like these that define you as a personal brand, chances are you’ll run across other personal brands with a similar purpose to yours.
If you’re wondering what your personal brand is saying about you, check out these five different types of personal brand personalities:
1. The news and politics junkie. Do you find yourself tweeting the latest news updates and blogging about your opinions of current events? If you happen to define your brand with current events and the latest trends, your audience may view you as a the “news junkie.” They will most likely turn to you in order to stay up-to-date in current events. This is great for your brand because you’re viewed as an influencer in your industry and adds credibility to who you are as a professional.
2. The opinionated connoisseur. If you find yourself falling into this category, you’re probably someone who is the first to tell your audience about your opinion about the latest Apple product or the Oscars. Additionally, you’re able to combine your opinions about products and events with latest trends in your industry. By doing this, you are creating a personal brand where your colleagues and followers will most likely turn to your personal brand when they need to weigh their personal opinions.
3. The self-promoter. The self-promoter is someone who generates a lot of content and promotes it throughout their networks. This personal brand shares their accomplishments and makes it a goal to inform people about their professional life. Do you find yourself consistently producing content and inviting your colleagues to check it out? Then your personal brand could fall into this category.
4. The helping hand. This type of personal brand belongs to people who are usually the first to offer advice or be willing to lend expertise to the people in their networks. Whether it’s looking over a colleague’s resume or answering a question, you’re always available to help the people within your network. By helping others, your personal brand can gain a great amount of trust and people can depend on you as a reliable source of support.
5. The super networker. The super networker is someone who not only builds their network, but also helps the people in their network meet new people. Whenever you meet a new person as a super networker, you probably find yourself thinking: “I have the perfect person for you to meet because they will provide some great advice for you!” Although this personal brand may appear similar to the “helping hand,” as a super networker you’re more focused on connecting your new connections with your colleagues and opening the door to opportunity for them.
These different categories of personal brands can help you think about the type of brand you want to be. Do you want to influence your network? Do you want to be a source of advice? By figuring out the purpose for your personal brand, you can have a stronger mission of marketing yourself as a professional. Once you understand the type of image you want to portray in your brand, you will be able to increase your connections and build credibility as a professional.
