Have you ever actively thought about your personal brand? I suspect most professionals haven’t… after all, personal branding is a pink and fluffy thing dreamt up by marketing specialists… Or is it?

Have you ever wondered why you are (or are not) the person chosen for a juicy assignment? Or why you are (or are not) generating the level of recommendations and referrals you need? When someone decides to recommend you for a piece of new business, they are not buying into your company or departmental brand, they are choosing you. Yes, you. 80% of our work as professionals comes to us via the referral route.

The decision to choose you, is based on the strength and marketability of your personal brand. [sc name=NicheWorksheet] Personal branding is a relatively new concept, but heavily linked to ‘reputation management’. The internet has enabled open up a global marketplace, and anyone can quickly build up a strong online personal brand.  But it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about an online or offline personal brand, if you are not actively managing and building up a strong and marketable personal brand, then you are missing an opportunity to increase the number of referrals and recommendations coming your way. Are you expected to regularly go out networking on behalf of your firm? Have you ever thought that any work which comes your way via networking is due to your personal brand? Yes, credibility, social capital and visibility have a lot of do with referral generation – but ultimately it is your personal brand which will be the differentiating factor in whether you have a further conversation or not. Look at any of the rain makers, potential partners or stars in your firm. I’m guessing that you would say they that they have cultivated an aura about themselves. Have you ever though about how they cultivate that aura? That aura is a direct result of the personal brand that they have built up for themselves. Have you thought about your personal brand? Is your brand taking you to where you need to get to? [sc name=NicheWorksheet]

Related Post

  • The lead has gone quiet. What now?

    The lead has gone quiet. What now?

    You had a great conversation. Got excited about the new business. It all seemed like it was going to happen. Then they ghosted you. So how do you get these leads going again without seeming like a second hand car sales person? When the lead goes quiet, we often take the silence to mean they’re…

    CONTINUE READING > >

  • How to ace the partnership admissions process

    How to ace the partnership admissions process

    Only 31% of professionals on the partnership track can articulate the narrative of their Business Case and explain why they should be admitted to the partnership this time around. Given that most firms cap how many partners they admit in a year, that is the question which separates two credible candidates competing for one slot….

    CONTINUE READING > >