Who are you, and why should I care?

Who are you, and why should I care? - The question that really goes through every interviewer's mind when considering if you should be the candidate that they hire...

But right there brings me to my point of this post, which is to

ESTABLISH WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT, AND HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE CARE

Lately I have been trying to figure out ways to answer just that Mr. Bart, and that's all thanks to a book I am currently diving into called "The Brand Called You," by Peter Montoya and Timothy Vandehey. 

This books is truly changing my perspective of how to take control over how other see me, think of me, and why they should care about what I have to say. It is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to make a name for themselves.

Being able to control how other's see you, and get to know what you are about before even meeting you is a very powerful tool to have indeed. And Thanks to Amazon.com, you can get this book used for only 30  freakin' cents! That's right, take all my money Jeff Bezos, all 30 cents of it you inspirational bastard!

Bart's caption up there is a prime example of Personal Branding. Just by looking at him and reading his dialogue you can dictate 3 things. Who he is (a cocky kid based off his stance), what he is about (being a punk-ass kid who skateboards), and if we should care (unless there is a "doh!" resulting from his pranks, then probably not).

Knowing how to express and control how others see and interpret you is such a powerful tool, I encourage all of my readers to take 5 quick minutes and help establish the brand called YOU.

Here are some tools you can take advantage right now in order to establish how you want to brand yourself so that you can start taking some control:

The Personal Branding Brainstorm

1. Talk to colleagues, customers and staff about how they see you.

2. Make a list of your strongest professional traits and skills.

3. Compare your list with what others tell you. How do things differ?

4. List your main competitors and their personal images.

5. List the things that make you different from your competition.

6. Write down the values, interests or traits you share with your customers (if non-retail, than what you share with your peers).

7. Start asking referral clients what the person who referred them said about you

8. Start a "genius file": Collect the branding materials of the professionals in your area who have great personal brands (like doctors, real estate agents, financial advisers, ect.)

A REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF PERSONAL BRANDING VIA MY OWN RESUME

Whenever I am at a business fair looking for potential opportunities to expand my horizons, I want the employers to know 3 things about me.

1. I am a professional. 2. I'm different, superior, but yet authentic. 3. I am the valuable asset your business is looking for.

Check it out, think my resume does my personal brand justice?

(Honestly though I love feedback and open to all criticism, so please feel free to have at it!)

This bad-boy landed me a top-10 internship fall quarter! Not too bad if I do say so myself ;)

Now that you have been introduced into the world of branding, 

GET OUT THERE and starting letting the people know about a BRAND CALLED YOU!