A personal branding statement is a powerful tool for building a strong digital presence.
In our daily lives, who we are and what we represent can have strong influences on the behavior of others. This is especially true in the digital environment, where people use search engines like Google to learn about others.
Job seekers and those applying for business loans, home loans, or school acceptances are often at the mercy of the information available about them on the web. For each of these people, personal brands can unlock new opportunities.
What is your personal brand? Do you have a personal brand statement? Do you know what these attributes can do to help you achieve your goals?
If you’ve ever wondered how a personal branding statement can be used to spur personal and business growth, you’ve come to the right place.
In this guide, we will explore what a personal brand statement is, provide personal branding statement examples, and offer tips for writing the best personal brand statement possible.
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What is a Brand?
In the business world, a brand is a marketing concept that allows others to quickly identify a company, product, or individual.
A brand is intangible; in other words, you can’t actually touch or even see them. Brands shape public perceptions about businesses and their products.
When you think of the term “brand”, certain attributes may come to mind, such as logos, company slogans, recognizable colors and themes, or other visual trademarks. While these are part of your brand identity, your actual brand is comprised of the visual components and behind-the-scenes marketing strategies that help you stand out in your industry.
Brands are not only important for business success. Individuals also gain benefits from having a personal brand. Your brand is perhaps one of the most valuable assets you have in the digital environment.
Your Personal Brand: Gateway to Visibility on the Web
As an individual, a brand can help you stand out in competitive fields. This personal brand allows you to tell others who you are, what you stand for, and what values you contribute.
Think of your brand as how you want others to view you. You want to be able to create emotional and intellectual connections between yourself and others.
With a personal brand statement, the right words can provide the social proof people need to make a positive first impression of you.
Establishing Your Own Brand
How do you create and foster a personal brand?
Whether you are a small business owner, a person conducting job searches, or someone wanting to take charge of your personal finance with a business or home loan, your brand quickly tells others what you’re about.
Personal branding begins with careful research. While you do this research, ask yourself:
- What is my intended audience?
- What are my goals?
- What words or phrases sum up my experiences and skills?
- What are personal brand statement examples I can use as templates to get started on my own?
Next, begin with your story — who you are, what you’ve done, and how you are unique. Only you can tell your story the way you want it to be told — in a positive, confident, and engaging light. Think about your long-term strategy: what you want to do with your brand and how it aligns with the goals you identified in the first step.
With your research and story in hand, the next step is to begin building a digital presence. This can include personal websites, social media profiles, blogs, and any other web property people can use to learn more about you. While you create your online presence, be sure to include search engine optimization (SEO) factors to help you stand out in search results. After all, even the most visually appealing website is useless if it can’t be found on Google.
What is a Personal Branding Statement?
In the digital environment, the information available about you in search results can have powerful influences on others.
This information — your social media activity, news articles about you, images, and more — constitutes your online presence.
No matter your goals in life, a personal brand is a valuable asset. With that personal brand, you are able to showcase your strengths, experience, and values.
A personal branding statement is a short group of sentences that explain what you do, what you contribute, and how you are unique in your field of expertise in a concise way. In other words, your personal branding statement is a summary of your experiences, skills, and attributes that inform others about your value.
A personal branding statement can be seen as a form of slogan or tagline used to convey a unique selling proposition — selling yourself and your skill set — that is used to share with others who you are and what you represent. Even if your own personal branding statement is comprised of one simple sentence, that sentence can make a huge difference in how others perceive you.
Why is a Strong Personal Brand Statement Important?
Now that we’ve learned what a brand is and how to create one for yourself, why should you go through the trouble to craft a personal brand statement?
The simple answer is: that a personal branding statement is your key to unlocking new opportunities.
Consider the job search process. A hiring manager is likely to turn to the web to learn about potential candidates for job openings. What he or she finds in terms of your personal brand and brand statement can influence hiring decisions. With a powerful personal brand statement, you are far more likely to receive job interviews and job offers from potential employers than someone without a visible brand.
New job seekers are not the only candidates that can benefit from a personal brand statement. Think about career development, even for executives of a large corporation. With a strong and visible personal brand statement, you can engage with your target audience — those people who make promotion decisions at your company — allowing you to make an impact with less effort.
Individuals applying for schools gain benefits from a personal brand statement as well. College recruiters scrutinize the web looking for information on prospective students. The details they seek indicate whether a potential student is a good fit for the college or university. Personal brand statements can improve your chances of being accepted into the school of your choice.
Personal Branding Statement vs. Mission Statement
In discussions about brands and brand statements, there is often confusion between this attribute and a mission statement.
There is a difference, and it is critical to understand why the two statements have different purposes.
As discussed earlier, personal branding statements are summaries of your experiences, skills, and values.
A statement of mission, on the other hand, defines and guides what you want to do with your brand over the long term. The mission is built for an organization, while a branding statement can be used for an organization or an individual.
The simplest way to differentiate between brand statements and mission statements is that the statement of mission is to convey business meaning to customers and investors, while the personal brand statement showcases your individual strengths and values.
Personal Brand Statement Examples
As another channel for digital marketing, branding efforts can produce incredible results in terms of online visibility. There is no one “right” way to prepare a personal branding statement — the goal is to write a short summary of your experiences, skills, and values.
Good personal branding statements evoke emotion, get people interested, and create a positive first impression. To help facilitate the statement-writing process, here are some of the best examples from industry leaders:
Elon Musk
As one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, innovator and entrepreneur Elon Musk has become a household name. Mr. Musk is the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla as well as SpaceX.
Despite his personal brand recognition and prowess as a business leader, a personal branding statement for Mr. Musk can be challenging to locate. However, his many quotes on leadership, innovation, and environmental stewardship can be distilled into a personal brand statement example:
“The common goal [of my business ventures] is putting futuristic technology into the hands of the average person. [We’re] creating a sustainable world and making the impossible possible.”
Tim Cook
Born in Mobile, Alabama to humble origins, Apple CEO Tim Cook first began at the Fortune 500 company in 1998. After moving up the ranks at the company, he was made the chief executive in 2011, just before the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Since then, Mr. Cook has doubled the company’s revenue and profits. Today, Apple has an estimated market value of $1.9 trillion.
Tim’s personal branding statement is a one-sentence example of ridiculously good marketing. He chose his words carefully to convey his passion and ideas for achieving personal success:
“Do what you love, and put your whole heart into it, and then just have fun.”
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is the creator and CEO of Meta, the multinational corporation behind Facebook. It can be argued that Zuckerberg’s work transformed the social media landscape, ushering in new functionality and features that have become a part of people’s everyday lives.
Unlike many business leaders, Mr. Zuckerberg has taken a more casual approach to his personal brand statement. Here’s his personal brand statement example:
“When I started Facebook from my dorm room in 2004, the idea that my roommates and I talked about all the time was a world that was more open. At Facebook, we build tools to help people connect with the people they want and share what they want, and by doing this we are extending people’s capacity to build and maintain relationships.”
Jack Ma
Born in 1964, Chinese entrepreneur and innovator Jack Ma was ranked as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine. Although a personal branding statement is difficult to pin down for the former CEO of e-commerce firm Alibaba, Jack Ma’s own quotes about his real-life experiences and advice serve as a powerful brand statement:
“It’s very difficult to know the outside world, but you know yourself. You know your need and what you want. If I know myself better, I can change myself to meet the outside world. If you want to grow, find a good opportunity. Today, if you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you could solve.”
Adam Petrilli
NetReputation founder and CEO Adam Petrilli has built his company from the ground up. Launching in 2014, the company expanded rapidly, eventually becoming one of the Inc. 500 fastest-growing online reputation management (ORM) firms in the world. As a thought leader and entrepreneur, Adam has been instrumental in shaping the direction of NetReputation and its family of brands.
Adam’s personal branding statement is as follows:
“My goal is to create and facilitate planning and decision-making concepts at the enterprise level. I help companies to create partnerships that benefit all the players involved, while at the same time making sure services and products are aligned with the needs of the consumer and the market as a whole.”
More Personal Brand Statement Examples
A quick internet search will turn up literally hundreds of personal brand statement examples. Use these for inspiration and guidance as you create your own personal brand statement. The best personal brand statement is one that identifies who you are, what you represent, and how your contributions can make the world a better place.
Take a look at the social media profiles of business leaders, peers in your industry, and your own friends and family. You may be surprised to learn that many of these people have concise and well-written statements you can use to create your own. Just a few clicks can reveal examples that help you position yourself in the digital environment.
When you are embarking on a job search, wanting to secure that next job title on your resume, or are starting your own business, the statement you create can have a dramatic impact on what happens next.
Remember that a brand statement is a tool for empowering ridiculously good marketing — personal marketing that can help you achieve your goals on both personal and professional levels.
Tips for Creating Personal Brand Statements
Still confused about writing your own brand statement? Here are some tips to help guide you:
- Start by writing down all your skills, particularly those you have a lot of experience with.
- Research peers in your field to learn what they use as branding statements. This can help you create a unique statement that stands out. Check social media and personal websites for clues.
- Identify how you are different from others in your field of expertise and what unique values or attributes you bring to the table.
- Remember to carefully research your target audience. If you are looking for potential clients, applying for colleges or loans, or simply building your own personal brand, the specific audience is key to unlocking these opportunities.
- Start writing your statement using adjectives and action words.
- Unless you are already a leader in your field, it is unlikely that your statement will be only one sentence. After you’ve created your first draft, try to simplify the statement by using general terms.
- The goal in writing your statement is to keep things concise, but still convey your attributes to your target audience. Two to three sentences should get you where you need to be.
With personal brand statement examples and a bit of hard work, you should be able to come up with a personal brand statement that has an impact.
Contact NetReputation Today
Since 2014, NetReputation has helped thousands of clients with digital presence management, including reputation management, branding, and content removal.
Creating a strong personal branding statement can be challenging, especially if you are just starting a new business or career. A great personal brand statement is your gateway to achieving your personal and professional goals. With our help, you can have an effective personal brand statement that allows you to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Our personal branding services help you stand out as a professional in your field. If you’re ready to supercharge your digital presence and position yourself for success in your industry, contact the branding team at NetReputation today by dialing 844-461-3632 or by completing the online form below.
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by Net Reputation