Personal branding- a priority?

Personal branding is about carving a niche that serves as an insurance against economic hiccups

As individuals and organisations try to figure out how to stay afloat in the ever so volatile economy, personal branding comes across as the messianic and one of the most logical solutions to the riddle of how to adapt, thrive and succeed in cut-throat competition.

In the contemporary scenario, brands are everything, and all organisations and the products and services that they offer are all about creating a buzz around themselves. With the advent of social media and its warm endorsements by the market, the boundary between work and personal life has become non-existential; hence, you define your work and in turn your work defines you. From the corporate point of view, personal branding is all about becoming one with the workforce and project ing an aura of innovation, productivity, loyalty and growth while for an employee, it's all about establishing and improving one's expertise and demonstrating the quality of work, so as to carve a niche that serves as an insurance against economic hiccups.

Personal branding is an exceptionally powerful concept that exudes a crystal clear gesture about who you are, what you can do and how well can you do it. It sets you apart from everybody in the ranks and establishes you as an authority of your realm. It amplifies the reach of your ideas, your thoughts and most importantly, you! Also, the great online propeller called social media allows anybody to lay a foundation regarding their individual and unique approach to handle things and also it provides a channel to know and understand how the common masses perceive that image. All these perceptions and reactions can be very fruitful with current and future customers and also employers. Building a brand around yourself not only allows you to scan through the existing prospective people have about you, but also to control it. Once you've established an adamantine brand, it can be used an invaluable asset. Building a personal brand is not only a tactic but also an assurance that with the growth of an individual and/or organisation, the brand image can be utilised as a tool to advance professionally and build a flawless image. It enhances self-awareness and clarifies the roadmap to one's goal. Personal branding also is extremely beneficial in creating and enhancing your presence and visibility at a humongous level.

One of the benefits of a powerful personal brand is that it gets you all the kind of clients, thereby increasing your business potential and maintains consistency in the flow. Whether you are an individual or a company, your reputation is enhanced and you take up the leadership role that adds prestige to your brand. You become a powerful trend in itself and that is one of the strong pulls that sells these days. But contradictory to the common perception, brands take time to develop and grow. Also, brands evolve organically; hence they demand consistency and a lot of clarity. The cornerstone for brand building is public image or perception, which is based on the connection one makes alongside trust, delivery and success.

The author is VP and head, corporate communications and media relations at Aptech Ltd

(Shrutidhar Paliwal)

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