The story of how Glenn Website Design began is a prime example of personal branding, the success, and the failures. For 15 years now I have been developing the brand GLENN but not directly. I have used the name Glenn as part of the company, product, or service. I bought the domain name GlennMadden.com in 2009.
This led to the idea of using my name as my business instead of trying to develop a unique brand which can be very difficult and expensive. It started out originally as a way to promote furniture Glenn Furniture. I changed my brand from American TradUR which I started in 2001` and began selling wholesale furniture under my name, it was a success for many years, until COVID. A big part of the success was my hobby of doing web designs ever since there was an internet to do web design on. I offered free websites to my clients that bought wholesale furniture. Through my marketing skills and SEO, the websites I gave to my furniture customers brought in even more business for my furniture company.
Eventually, due to my success at doing web design as a professional business, I started Glenn Website Design. The biggest advantage to using my personal name in the brand was customer trust. Once the customer realizes they are working with Glenn directly they are more relaxed and more likely to make a purchase.
Using Social Media For Personal Brand
As an example of personal branding, part of the process of creating my personal brand included registering every social media account and other internet-related items I could think of under the name Glenn Madden.
I used social accounts like Facebook and Twitter to develop a huge following. Again I was the victim of COVID in another way. I had all of my business pages under FaceBook. I had Twitter accounts for all of my businesses and clients associated with Glenn Madden. Then disaster struck. All of my social media accounts with thousands of followers and more than 12 years of the building got shut down, permanently. This is actually another story of how to be careful with using social media as part of your branding strategy.
Why Social Media Accounts Got Removed
One of my clients decided to go into business selling face masks in 2020. He wanted me to develop the website and do the marketing. I thought no problem. But the problem is all major outlets for advertising facemasks got shut down. And so did all of my social accounts I used as my main promotion routes. Facebook closed my main account facebook.com/glennmadden and in so doing they ended up closing all of my business accounts and my clients as pages under it. Twitter did the same, closed everything I had associated with my name. I can only assume they thought I was running a SCAM with the face masks. These companies can just shut you down and they never explain why. Only that you went against their policy.
I have since been able to re-open FaceBook under a new name and Twitter but with a lot more caution.
- https://www.facebook.com/theglennmadden/
- https://twitter.com/GlennKMadden
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennmadden/
I have several others including Instagram and Pinterest all of which promote my personal brand GLENN. I am not alone in Personal Branding.
Examples of personal brand statement:
- Noah Kagan
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- LeBron James
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Mo Farah
- Sean Ogle
- Danny Iny
- Jeff Goins
- Neil Patel
- Gordon Tredgold
- Carol Tice
- Seth Godin
- Lolly Daskal
- Kim Garst
- Oprah Winfrey
What do people say about you when you leave the room? Consider. Your personal brand is the answer to this question. If you hide behind a wardrobe and listened to your opinion, would you be pleased, proud? If not, you should focus on personal branding today, this is another example of personal branding
Read on and you’ll understand better examples of personal brand statement:
- what are the benefits of building a personal brand,
- how to discover your personal brand,
- why is it worth asking yourself: who I am and what do I have,
- what golden rules will help you create your personal brand.
What is an example of personal branding?
A personal brand is a very fashionable concept in recent times and there is nothing strange in it. Your sole proprietorship and your name are a brand. These are all examples of personal brand statement.
Tom Peters – a guru of personal branding – translated this concept in a different way:
“We are the general directors of our own companies, Ja sp. Z oo (…). You are the brand, you run your brand. You have to start thinking differently of yourself. (…) The position of the CEO of Ja sp. Z o. O. Obliges you to develop yourself, promote yourself and take actions that will ensure your interest in the market ”.
In summary, personal branding is the way we promote ourselves to others.
Why do you need a personal brand?
Building a personal brand is not about how you look, but what you exist for and what you want to offer to others.
The benefits of building a personal brand
- build trust as an example of personal branding – we trust people more than companies. Customers expect more personal and close contact with another person who will adjust the service exactly to their needs. You can rely on people more than companies. People have more to lose than companies. Finally, people care more than companies.
- learn about your strengths as an example of personal branding – thanks to them you feel strength, self-confidence, and rush forward. It is worth taking the time to do this and carefully examine your strengths and resources.
- answer your client why they should choose you as an example of personal branding – a client who has a consistent image of you, i.e. what you really are and how you present yourself, it is easier to make a decision.
- expand your self-awareness as an example of personal branding – the brand-building process allows you to look at yourself from several perspectives, thanks to which the picture is fuller.
- reach people who are important to you as an example of personal branding – your potential customers. However, in order for your personal brand to get there, the first thing to consider is who your customer is.
Discover your brand
The process of building a personal brand should begin by immersing yourself in yourself and getting to know the core of your identity. I know that it sounds a bit lofty and mysterious, which is why I am already explaining what particulars it is about.
The core of your own identity
The foundation of a strong personal brand is self-knowledge and a coherent and thoughtful concept of your life.
The core of a brand’s identity consists of answers to the following questions: WHO I AM and WHAT I HAVE.
- WHO I AM – includes the mission, vision, values, and key life roles considered at various levels: internal, external, knowledge and learning, and financial.
- WHAT I HAVE – is a map of your intellectual, personality, material, and social resources.
Try to define your own identity, get to know the essence of your dreams, your self, your meaning, and all those features that make you unique. The graphic below may help you with examples of personal brand statement.
Vision – this is the highest level of your life. The vision is about your place in the universe.
Mission – the meaning of your life. Give purpose and direction to your actions, your life. The mission can be, for example, helping others, leaving a trace, e.g. through creativity.
Identity – a vision of oneself, which is shaped throughout our lives in social situations and roles, as well as awareness of one’s own separateness, individuality, and uniqueness.
Values - Your own signpost. Your every decision is determined by your values. If you learn these values carefully, it will be much easier to make decisions.
Beliefs – generalizations about the reality that surrounds us. They have a huge impact on how you behave in your day-to-day life. They can support you, but also limit you very much. You will recognize beliefs by words such as: never, always, must, everyone.
Skills – a set of behaviors combined into a larger whole. At this level, you can find the strategies underlying the behavior.
Behavior – everything we do, which includes, for example, the work you do. Anything you can observe. Behavior is a choice, so you can influence it.
Environment – the environment in which we live and work. It concerns your physical and social environment.
What constitutes a personal brand?
A personal brand is made up of your talents, passion, and experience.
Talents
Talent is a calling, true abilities, and a gift. They are intangible resources at your disposal. Each of us, coming into the world, is unique, unrepeatable, and brings something own, individual, unique.
According to Gallup, talents are the natural and repetitive patterns of a person’s thinking, feeling, and behaving. They are used to develop strengths. Everyone has some natural predispositions that can be called their talents, but not everyone is aware of them. Only by discovering its talents will the brand be able to make its mark on the world.
Talents are responsible for the fact that certain things make you fun and come lightly, thanks to which they affect your efficiency and success. It is also visible on the outside, so you can invite your acquaintances, friends, clients, and co-workers to discover them. Ask them to identify talents they recognize and appreciate in you. You can also discover them by taking the StrengthsFinder – Gallup Talent Test.
Passion
“You know what is the greatest tragedy of this world? People who have never figured out what they really want to do or what they are capable of. Sons who became blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. People who could play the flute fantastically, but grow old and die without seeing any musical instrument, become plowmen. People with a talent they will never know.
Passion is a vocation accompanied by talent, that is, a true ability, gift, and resource that every person has at their disposal.
By discovering your talent, you will be able to pursue your passion with all of yourself, authentically and certainly noticeable to others.
If you imitate the competition and are unable to discover your passion, you are committing the sin of laziness. By taking shortcuts, you are making the world poorer.
How to discover your passion?
When you do the same things every day, you will never find your calling. Therefore, look for it yourself.
You can find your passion everywhere:
- read various magazines and blogs, but choose those that you would never pick up before,
- buy yourself a book that you think maybe interesting,
- meet new people,
- try all kinds of things.
Once you discover what really interests you, go deeper into it. Buy another book, look for places where you can learn more, and find people who share the same interests.
Experience
Experience is all that you are richer for. And it is not about material goods, but about the life experience that makes you who you are. Your experience is your story and the breakthrough moments that make it up. Breakthrough moments define your identity and help you track the most important moments in your life.
Think about your experience about those turning points of yours. Write them down.
Talents + passion + experience = your personal brand
Who needs a personal brand in particular?
Each of us should have a personal brand. Today it is not enough that we do our job well. “Let’s be honest, there are thousands of educated people with experience on the market” Tom Peters
However, according to specialists, their personal brand should be primarily taken care of by:
- professionals, e.g. advisers, designers, stylists, make-up artists, doctors, pharmacists, real estate agents, writers, actors, and other artists;
- owners of own service companies, e.g. owners of gyms, bakeries, printing houses, kindergartens, etc .;
- retailers who add value to their products, e.g. booksellers, publishers, owners of specialist retail stores, car dealers, etc.
The golden rules for building a personal brand
1. Create a vision and mission for your brand.
Vision is the goal you are aiming for with your brand. Act as an internal signpost. You should take your values into account. It is to encourage you to take long-term action. Of course, the vision can be modified.
Ask yourself: “Where do I want to be with my brand in a year, 5 or 10 years?
The vision should be considered on several levels important to you:
- personal,
- professional (what will I do?),
- financial (how much do I want to earn?),
- health (what will be my health, physical condition?),
- social (who will be around me?).
It is important that your vision is ambitious, bold, and attractive to you. Let it motivate you to act and put a smile on your face.
The mission focuses on giving meaning to your own life. It makes you want to get out of bed every morning and do what you are doing. It answers the questions: What is the point of your brand? How do you use it to change the world? What are you doing all this for?
2. Be authentic
Your brand must reflect your true personality: your character, your behavior, your values, your vision. Don’t create a false brand image. It can only be beneficial in the short term.
3. Be consistent in your behavior
Answer the question: Can others count on and depend on me?
4. Have a specialization
We live in a time when experts are valued, so it is worth specializing in an area that fascinates you. As a result, you will strive for excellence in what you do, and that will surely be appreciated. Therefore, focus on your area of specialization. Specialization is to contain the value that the client will receive from you.
5. Be an expert in your field
Take care of the opinion of an expert, talented and experienced person. Run a blog, participate in online forums, and in groups.
6. Stand out
Let the most important event in your life help you distinguish your brand. Your exemplary distinguishing feature maybe works in a charity organization or an award.
7. Be visible
Don’t hide. If you have something of value to offer, show it. Keep promoting yourself. Show up in places where your customers might be. This is done through social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+), speeches, and networking.
8. Communicate the value
Your message in which you include value must be honest, authentic, and as far away as possible from the advertisement.
Remember the order: value first, then contacts, then money.
9. Invest in self-discovery
Learn more about yourself, discover both your talents, strengths, and what limits you. Discovering yourself – who you really are – can be difficult, but by knowing yourself, you will be able to easily build your brand. How you see yourself affects how others perceive you.
10. Make people happy
Satisfied consumers are the best advertising.
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