For
Ms. Laura Alderson, Instructor of Management
University of Memphis

By
Trent Turner
April 3, 2016

Personal Branding

According to Laura Lake, a marketing expert, the definition of personal branding is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your personal name or your career (Lake, 2014). Building up a personal brand is not something that takes a few days or weeks to build, it is something that can take up to a lifetime to achieve. There are a lot of people in this world today that are without a personal brand or something that sets them apart from the rest of their peers. This is not because they’re too lazy or unnoticed to make one for them self; it is due to the fact that it takes time to build something out of yourself for other people to recognize. If you take a look at Stephen Curry, he is an example to all of someone who made a personal brand out of himself. Coming from a small college, Davidson, no one thought that he would make out to be the player that he is today. In saying that, if you beyond the type of basketball player that he is, he is also a person that has made a statement of the type of person off the court he is. If you didn’t know, Stephen Curry writes his favorite Bible verse on all of his shoes, which happens to be Philippians 4:13, and when he asked Nike to stitch this on his shoes, they told him no. At this time, Nike accounted for 95.5 percent of the basketball sneaker market in 2014, according to The Washington Post. Shortly after they denied him this, he switched over to Under Armour, where they were more than happy to put this Bible verse on his shoes. For me, this is what made Stephen Curry’s personal brand, not the fact that he ditched the most popular shoe brand, but because he showed that his faith was more important to him than having a huge contract with the best company in the world. In saying that, what is your personal brand?

Building Your Own Personal Brand The first step in building your own personal brand is being yourself, and letting everyone see the true person that you really are. Building up trust of the people around you is something that is very difficult in this day and age, and someone that can be trusted is someone that can really be looked up to. Thomas Smale stated that building is first and foremost developing an understanding of your true self, and if you dig deeper into it no one is going to trust someone that is not true to themselves and puts on a front like they are someone that they are not (Smale). Another thing that is very important in creating a personal brand is the way you communicate with others. Being someone with a powerful voice that stands out from everyone else does not go unnoticed and will help mold the trust of others as you try to figure out your own personal brand. In a different sense, Smale goes on to say that continuing to be a student of your industry will go a long way in helping you build your brand. As much as the world is changing every day, so does the things we learn on an everyday basis (Smale). If you look at Information Technologies, that is something that is changing every single day. Whether it is learning something on excel or creating a code to get into a computer, there is something new that these specialists have to learn to stay on top of things and not fall out of the loop.
Separating Yourself The definition of ordinary is something with no special or distinctive features. In saying that, no one wants to be ordinary. People are constantly looking for ways to stand out and separate themselves from the “pack.” There’s so many ways you can do this, and it all starts with having that mindset that you do not want to be like the person next to you, you want to be better. Building a personal brand cannot include anyone but yourself, and it is up to you to figure out what your brand is and what you want to be known or remembered for. Separating yourself can be different for everyone, for one person it may be going the extra mile and putting in extra work after practice, but for the next it could mean something as simple as helping someone that is in need. Building your personal brand is something that should be sacred to you and something that you really need to separate yourself from the next ordinary person. Another key component in separating yourself is doing something that might be out of your comfort zone and making it into something that is comfortable to you. While building your brand you might be confronted with things that you are not used to, but being able to get comfortable with these situations is huge in becoming someone that is out of the ordinary. Also, in today’s society the competition in landing a job or making a team is very hard, and being someone that stands out helps you that much more in landing the job or making the team. For example, your resume may be exactly the same as someone that is competing for the same job as you, so doing something that separates yourself from your competition may play a huge role in landing you your dream job.
Maintaining Your Personal Brand When it comes to your personal brand, maintaining it is one of the toughest things to do. After you have built up your personal brand and something for people to look up to, failing to stand up to this brand can be harder than some people may realize. Someone that finds them self having a whole bunch of money after creating this image about himself or herself can easily find themselves with the wrong people or doing the wrong thing. Maintaining your brand is all about consistency and being the same person every day, and when something goes wrong not having the bad attitude one may possess when something does not go their way. Another key component is making the right choices to make sure your personal image holds true. A perfect example of not maintaining their personal brand is Johnny Manziel. He was one of the most talented and gifted quarterbacks in college football history, and almost every kid in America wanted to be just like Johnny. When the draft came around and he was selected 23rd overall by the Cleveland Browns, his world started to unravel. In the Bible, it states that money is the root of all evil, and Johnny Manziel learned that quickly. He continuously found himself hanging out with the wrong crowds and doing the wrong things, which led for his personal brand, or image, to be totally tarnished. He is currently out of the NFL without a job, and no one is interested because of the ongoing trouble that he stays in, what a shame. Also, maintaining your brand is becoming and developing yourself into an expert in your chosen field. Evelyn Salvador says that this is one of the most important aspects in maintaining your personal brand because it shows that you have credibility and demonstrates your achievements in many different ways (Salvador, 2016) As I have stated throughout this paper, building your personal brand is so critical in becoming the person you want others to view you as. It’s easy to say you don’t want to have your own personal brand, but again the importance of this is huge and affects everyone around you. The way you are viewed to others is a direct reflection of your parents, and no one wants to spit on the hands that fed them. Separating yourself and maintaining your personal brand are two of the hardest things to do when trying to build up your image. Paul Mccartney said, “I don’t work at being ordinary.” This quote goes perfect with this paper, because no one wants to be ordinary.

Works Cited
Lake, Laura. (2014). “Personal Branding.” Retrieved from http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/g/definition-of-personal-branding.htm
Salvador, Evelyn. (2016). “How to Build and Maintain Your Personal Brand.” Retrieved from http://www.evelynsalvador.com/EvelynSalvador.com/Build_Your_Brand.html
Smale, Thomas. (2015). “5 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand.” Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250924