Most people don’t give much consideration to their personal brand, but giving it your focus will bring new levels of success in business, career and life, according to marketer Andrew Montesi.
The managing director of marketing company Apiro Consulting and lead marketer at PickStar has worked with business leaders, entrepreneurs, elite athletes, politicians as well as everyday people, helping them build personal brands that impact and influence.
Andrew said the first hurdle for many is not understanding what a personal brand is.
“Very simply, your personal brand is what you are known for,” Andrew told Bushy Martin on the Get Invested podcast.
“Sometimes for better or worse. But the key elements of that personal brand, it can be a collection of things including your purpose, values, your story, which is a massive one. Skills, experiences, your credibility and, to some extent, your network. And then you pull that together and that becomes what you’re known for, and it should be authentically who you are, not what you do.”
And everyone has a personal brand, whether they like it or not.
“There’s too many people out there that just don’t take ownership of their personal brand,” Andrew said. “And you don’t have to have a strategy around it to grow the personal brand. But at the very least, take control over it and manage it.
“Whether you’re motivated by business or career or not, your personal brand determines your level of influence, it determines your sphere of influence. It becomes the building blocks of your personal network as well and the favour and the opportunities that you get. And it can sound a bit tacky, but that’s the reality. If you’ve got a personal brand that really resonates with people, whether it’s the guy down the road or your manager, you’ll see more favour and opportunities in your life. And that’s a fact.”
Andrew said building a personal brand takes preparation, strategy and execution, and it starts with clear goals.
“(As a marketer) I really need to know where you want to get to, otherwise we could be wasting our time,” he said.
“I could be wasting my time, you could be wasting your time, and we could just be banging our heads against the wall. There’s this whole preparation phase and knowing the purpose, vision, values et cetera, but who do you really want to reach and influence? How others perceive you at the moment versus how you want to be perceived. Those key, unique things about what makes you stand out from the rest. What makes you unique?
“For listeners out there who are thinking about this, well, if you think about the gamut of different things anyone can do to build their brand or to market themselves, start by playing to your strengths and what you’re comfortable with.”
Andrew believes that authenticity and storytelling are the keys to successfully building a personal brand.
“People can connect with you on a personal level, depending on your story and how you articulate it,” he said.
“People buy into you, they want to invest in you, whether it’s on a personal or financial level, if they connect with your story. And your story is often what builds your credibility and authority to be who you are out there in a marketing sense or as a brand.
“I tend to work with people who walk the talk. Where I get concerned as a marketer is if someone is asking me to sell something that’s not really them. Someone who wants to be perceived as an expert but they don’t back it up with a credible career, with the qualifications, with the expertise and the experience.”
Listen to the full podcast interview here.
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