Why You Don’t Need to Create Your Personal Brand

The words analog and landline only came into use when our technology developed into digital and cellphones took over landlines.

The things themselves didn’t change. Their nomenclature did. That’s called a retronym.

Why does it matter?

Because if you’re trying to build a personal brand right now, it may feel like a new marketing concept that you need to learn.

But your personal brand isn’t the latest Fitbit or iPhone. It’s more like a retronym for the watch with a face and hands or the rotary phone hanging on the kitchen wall. The things that existed long before we gave them a new name.

The reason you don’t need to go out and build your Personal Brand is because you already have one.

It’s what people say when they talk about you to a friend: “Omigosh, you have to meet Karen, she’s __________.*

Or to a client:*I’ve got someone who may be a good fit. She’s __________.*

Or the way someone feels when the thought of you crosses their mind: ____________.

That’s your Personal Brand. It’s you. It’s how you come across. It’s how you show up. It’s how you leave people feeling.

Which means that the more effort you put into creating your personal brand, the more likely it is that your personal brand can start to feel performative.

The less connected, the more isolated.

The less energizing, the more draining.

The less easy, the more no-please-I-don’t-want-to it can feel to show up and market yourself.

‘Market yourself‘ is another term that can come off as new. As if once upon a time there was no self-promotion.

And yet, that’s what we meant by “putting yourself out there,” “going to networking events,” and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (and that one is from 1936).

Marketing yourself is how you connect to other people.

It’s how you share the aspect of your work that excites you with the people you want to share it with, in a way that feels - maybe not comfortable, because there’s probably a reason Carnegie’s book was such a hit - but accessible.

Not awful. Maybe something to try out. And then take another step from there.

Because you don’t need to become better at performing yourself.

You need to become better at recognizing what’s already there, choosing what and how you want to share, and giving other people a chance to see it too.

Your personal brand isn’t something you have to become.

You’re already here.

Great to see you,

Karen