Personal branding as we all know is one of the most talked about subjects as of today. According to Tom Peters, its the act of people marketing themselves as brands.
Thanks to internet and social media, each one of us today is directly/indirectly displaying a set personal brand image at every stage. The big question: How’s our personal brand image created? The answer: Whatever we are most passionate about and associate to; at a level where most of what we promote and engage on both offline and online revolves around that particular topic. For example, if an individual markets himself both online and offline with anything and everything related to tech, which area do you think he’s getting associated to by the people? Next time you need any tech related info or have a query on the same who do you think you’ll first turn up to? In the above example, this individual has strongly created an image wherein he’s immediately linked with technology by his network.
Here’s what’s interesting about ‘personal branding’ : Whether we like it or not, we all have made up a ‘personal brand image’ in the eyes of people i.e. there’s something people immediately associate us with when they think about us.
Having thought of personal branding a lot recently, I thought of an effective way to boost my personal brand image both offline and online.
The answer is simple yet powerful: Testimonials.
We all understand the power that testimonials possess when it comes to enhancing the brand value. This is precisely why brands focus heavily on having testimonials from individuals, as they do understand the impact it will have on their bottom line.
Why can’t we use the same idea to enhance and amplify our personal brand value? Think about it for a minute, can you imagine the after-effects of having someone talk of you as a person and how you have created an impact in their lives with respect to the quality you’re most associated for?
Listed below are some questions to ponder upon:
1) Do you think powerful testimonials of yourself could have a huge impact on your credibility level in your network?
2) Do you think personal recommendations about you (in a specific field of expertise) would put you in a higher ‘industry recognition’ bracket?
3) Do you think receiving personal endorsements would result in you holding a strong internet and social media presence & thus more number of followers?
I assume most of you have answered yes to the above 3 questions.
This is primarily the reason why I strongly believe in the power of recommendations. For this allows you a competitive edge over people who overlook significance of the same. In essence, testimonials or third party endorsements have a positive impact on your credibility, provide sound industry recognition and a powerful online presence (resulting in more following).
Therefore, I would strongly urge each one of you to accumulate as many testimonials as possible from your network, so as to strengthen your personal brand. As we have often heard the saying- “Ask and you shall receive.”
Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Best,
Jai A
