Why You Should Take Control of Your Brand in 2024

To be clear, a strong brand makes a promise. When fulfilled time and time again, customers, clients and colleagues come to trust you and your brand.

By Jennifer R. Farmer

The first step on building a personal brand is getting clear on who you are, who you want to be, and what you want people to say or think about you. Think about the colors and visuals that you want to convey who you are. Your personal brand is reflected in everything from colors, to what you wear, to your website, to your business cards, to your social media content and platforms.

One common myth about personal branding is that a strong brand is a perfect brand. But a strong personal brand is not about perfection. It is about fidelity to who you say you are. It is about ensuring that who you say you are is reflected in what you do, what you post, and what you share about yourself. It is about being authentic and true to who you say you are. And when you feel you’ve made a mistake, a strong brand accepts responsibility and acknowledges where they went wrong.

Now you may ask, why should I care? If I’m not in a public or high-profile position, why does this matter. Each of us needs to be concerned with our brand, but many times people focus exclusively on professional brands. But we are all negotiating who we want to be and how we want to show up, so we should all focus on our personal brand.

To be clear, a strong brand makes a promise. When fulfilled time and time again, customers, clients and colleagues come to trust you and your brand. They build confidence in your brand and that confidence can be levered for business relationships, or partnerships. And in case I haven’t been clear, building a strong brand is the key to standing out.

A personal brand or corporate brand for that matter – tells people who you are without you having said a word. A strong personal brand will give others a sense of knowing and trusting you. As soon as someone sees your name – or your logo, in the case of businesses – they form a conclusion. You want to manage what that conclusion is and ensure it is something that you approve of.

If you don’t do anything else in 2024, be intentional about your personal brand. Don’t be satisfied with merely working for an entity with a strong brand; you need to invest in you not just the entity that employs you.