A brand is the set of contents that reveal what values represent us, how we put ourselves at the service of our audience and how we make them feel while interacting with us.
The personal image is what allows us to communicate ourselves and it is not always something purely natural and instinctive. It is a path, a process that can be faced spontaneously, but which would be more effective if managed with awareness of fundamental communication aspects.
With the rapid growth of social media and entrepreneurship, it has become essential for everyone to actively engage in their Personal Branding.
So the fundamental question is: do we want to allow our online reputation to take on a life of its own or do we want to control its narrative?
It is clear that it is advisable to ensure the utmost care for the second purpose.
While there is no single definition of personal branding, surely it refers to the process of establishing our “public image” for our target audience.
The process, therefore, implies the accurate communication of one’s values, beliefs, goals, and purposes, the unique combination of skills and experiences that make us who we are, and therefore the “intentionally elaborated” synthesis of “we” in the mind and perception of others.
Our Personal Brand develops around our behavior, the style of communication, and the content we publish on our social profiles; when we talk to a group of people, for example, we reveal aspects of our personality and communication style to the people who listen to us.
Taking control of our Personal Brand, therefore, allows us to verify our own narrative and show the public what we want them to see.
I don’t would to be misunderstood: it’s not about being fake. Instead, it is about taking care of aspects of your personality and professionalism, presenting yourself in the best and most authentic way possible to achieve your goals, take responsibility for your professional and personal journey.
To be effective we need to be ourselves and not wear any masks. Customers/recipients will evaluate the characteristics of professionalism and credibility. So, I think it’s a duty to be yourself.
It is therefore advisable not to leave anything to chance, create a strategy, take care of both one’s image in the real world and in the virtual world, remembering that both worlds must meet, the way of presenting oneself in real life must move to the virtual, being consistent.
A good technique for effective Personal Banding is storytelling. Tell our story in a simple way, so as to let others understand who we really are. Avoiding excess and vainglory, always remaining professional and refining the techniques of storytelling, because in addition to informing those who read us, we must also excite.
Yes, because today our brand must be alive, human, and in a certain sense underlie the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Our brand evokes feelings and must develop the ability to influence and have an impact as it is received by the target, which is why it is important to create a personal relationship between brand and potential customer/recipient. Because when a feeling is unleashed we are already building loyalty.
Human beings have always been used to listening to stories and are fascinated by them; the stories in fact excite and allow you to create a connection. Thanks to storytelling, therefore, users identify with the values and messages communicated and develop greater trust in the brand that is behind the narration. And trust, as we know, is a crucial issue, because it makes loyalty, interest, and attention possible.
Sharing useful content is the best approach to woo our audience, the emotion we make them feel while they consume it is the reason why they will decide to continue dating.
Just as the law of nature imposes biodiversity, which serves life itself, and every living being is never equal to the other and is never equal to itself, so our personal history builds our unique and unrepeatable identity: The experiences, the relationships established along our path, the emotions we have felt and which have marked our life, guide us towards certain choices and actions.
Personal storytelling, or a sort of “self-narration in the making “, because behind each person there is a world to discover and a story to tell.
Our story is what we are: telling it means looking within ourselves and at the path we have traveled, the goals achieved, the obstacles overcome, the positive and negative experiences that have marked us, and the people we met along the way. It means understanding how our experiences and the relationships established have enriched us professionally and humanly, and what lessons we have drawn from them.
This implies first of all reflecting on what has been the guiding thread in our life: for example an event that has particularly marked us and that has given way to a path of evolution and growth, an ideal or a desire towards which we tend and in which we are, willing to invest our energy, time and passion.
And, moreover, in telling ourselves about the existence that formed us, we show how much we are a person capable of moving and being excited, a unique human being. It gives us the opportunity to also show some “dark” sides of us: our doubts, insecurities, fears, mistakes, failures, and also to be able to improve, accepting new challenges, and putting ourselves back into the game stronger than before. We show that we have the courage to expose ourselves and discover our “human side” without being afraid of being judged, of giving a soul to what we do.
In other words, we do a work of synthesis: the red thread of our life, a representative story of us that makes our uniqueness emerge.
We create a kind of emotional contagion.
In the story, we allow others to empathize with us and to try to understand the meaning we give to our actions in the world.
However, we must also accept the fact that we cannot please everyone: precisely because they are unique, no one can be a mass product and this would not even be desirable. We must always keep in mind the “public” to which we address, or those people who share with us the same ideals, values, lifestyles, or who have affinities on a professional or personal level.
Therefore, being honest with ourselves and with others is the best choice we can make besides remaining humble because life can always hold a new lesson for us to learn.
What I meant is that anyone can “tell” their own authentic story and certainly the more authentic it will be, the more it will be able to excite. But each of us is unique and it cannot be taken for granted that it causes a positive emotion. When the narration is aimed at an audience that you want to involve it is possible, and we must accept it, that not everyone is passionate about our story, without this awareness pushing us to “manipulate” it.
Thank you very much for reading and offering your insights.
Great post, Aldo
I enjoted reading this “I don’t would to be misunderstood: it’s not about being fake. Instead, it is about taking care of aspects of your personality and professionalism, presenting yourself in the best and most authentic way possible to achieve your goals, take responsibility for your professional and personal journey.”
I even enjoyed reading it later with youer other thought “However, we must also accept the fact that we cannot please everyone: precisely because they are unique, no one can be a mass product and this would not even be ”
How do relate the above with being authentic?