1. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
My Notes on Personal Branding:
Keeping it Real
By: Brenda Somich
Community Manager – Social Media Today, LLC
Marketing Manager – PathWise, Inc
Social Media Marketing Consultant – PayScale.com
Community Outreach Manager – MIKE 2.0
Lead Blogger – Marketing for a Cause
Guest Blogger – Untemplater.com
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2. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
1. What the heck is a personal brand?
2. Why do I need one?
3. How do I get started?
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3. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
What is a personal brand?
An identity
A personal definition
Your values, goals, motivations
In a nutshell, it’s what makes you, you.
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4. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Why do I need a personal brand?
The job market is T O U G H
People like to connect with people who have a
passion and like relate on a deeper level
Most relationships are built on shared values
and interests
Having a brand shows self-confidence
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5. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Now on to the tricky part…
Getting started with the nasty
question:
Who am I?
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6. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Marketing… Is that who I am, or what I do?
The way I saw it, I had two options…
1)I could think forward to who I wanted to
become (tricky)
or
2) Reflect on the choices I’ve made that
have gotten me to this point
(easy)
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7. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
I began thinking of all the choices I’ve made that have
impacted my life and why I made them. Throughout the
process, I noticed some key traits about myself:
I’m extremely goal-oriented.
I build very few relationships but all are deep-rooted.
I avoid the norm and choose the path less traveled.
I pick jobs where I have a greater pull than paycheck.
I love solving problems and helping people.
I prefer quality over quantity.
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8. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Next, I developed a list of things that I value…
Commitment
Passion
Results
Truth
Sustainability
Quality
Uniqueness
Impact
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9. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
After I made my lists, I began to think about how I
could integrate them with my brand.
Immediately the word “cause” came to mind.
Cause: (verb) To make something happen.
(noun) A person or thing that gives rise to
an action, phenomenon, or condition.
– Dictionary.com
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10. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Is it personal? Yes.
Can I identify with it? Yes.
Does it encompass my values? Yes.
Is there room to develop it? Absolutely.
Thus, Marketing for a Cause was born. And I can happily
say that one year later, it is still personal to me.
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11. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
My Advice to Budding Brands:
Make it personal, it’s the only way you’ll keep it up.
Don’t focus on what you do, focus on what makes you,
you.
It’s okay if it’s vague, it will make people question you
about it.
Allow yourself room to grow into it.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid of it… We as
people naturally evolve and refine over time- and so
should our brands.
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12. Marketing for a Cause www.marketforcause.com
Questions?
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