Its a personal brand, so it should be all about you, right?
Your accomplishments.
Your history.
Your personality.
Your unique perspective.
Right? Wrong.
If your personal brand is all about you, no one is going to care.
You will be ignored. People will yawn.
Your personal brand needs to answer WHY: Why do they care?
Its not about you, Its all about them.
Effective personal brands convey the value that you bring to others and exactly what they are going to get out of a relationship with you.
This means that your personal brand shifts, changes and adapts to new circumstances and new audiences. Its malleable, just like your personality or your appearance.
The three foundational questions of your personal brand
If you aren’t sure of the most important question of your personal brand, “Why do they care?”, you can build it by answering the three foundational personal branding questions. You can use these questions to build your “general” brand or apply them to specific situations, to help you personalize your brand for every interaction.
Question #1: Who is your audience?
If you don’t know your audience, you really can’t go any further. After all, your personal brand is all about them, right? The more clarity and specificity that you can describe your audience with, the more effective you will be.
Question #2: How can you help them?
Now that you know your audience, its important to identify exactly what they want and what you do to benefit them. Start by identifying their problem and the difference in their results if they build a relationship with you.
Question #3: What makes you different?
Surely you are not the only person in the world who can solve their problem, so why should they choose you? This is where your personal brand will shine! Perhaps you’d like to showcase your personality, your past success or your innovative ideas. In this question, its okay for it to be about you.
How to answer the essential question: “Why do they care?”
Now that you have answers to the three foundational questions, its time to go back to answer the essential question, the foundation of your brand, Why Do They Care?
A simple, effective way to answer this question is to frame it like this:
I help [your audience] solve [their problem] by [your differentiator].
A (my) real-world example: The Resume Revolution
Question #1: Who is your audience?
My audience is intelligent and highly motivated job seekers who want freedom in their lives and choice in their job search. They want to learn how to work smart and are open to innovative ways to stand out (and excel) at their job search. They see the value in branding, marketing and sales.
Question #2: How can you help them?
I get people job offers. My clients have 92% interview rate on submitted applications. They get detailed instruction on innovative tactics (that work) and thorough coaching that identifies and distilles their best stories and qualities, not to mention, boosts their confidence!
Question #3: What makes you different?
My job search tactics are hyper-innovative. I don’t teach people how to do normal better, I teach people how to stand out effectively, at every stage of the application process. My job is to make them remarkable — their emails get opened, their resumes look different and their references do a whole different job.
The essential question: Why do they care?
I help highly motivated job seekers get job offers with highly innovative marketing tactics that enable them to stand out effectively in the job search. By working smart, they earn the freedom and confidence of multiple job offers.
And now, a question for you: Tell Me, Why Do They Care?
