My formula for personal branding is different.
There’s no shortage of online advice on establishing and maintaining your personal brand.
But my personal branding formula is different — it’s actionable.
Here we go:
Formulas for Personal Branding
There are plenty of suggested formulas for personal branding:
Jennifer Holbus suggests the 3 C’s: Clarity, Consistency, and Constancy. Kimberly Moniz suggests the 5 P’s: Personal, Pointed, Prioritised, Purposeful, and Profitable. Abida Malik suggests the 4 C’s: Clarity, Consistency, Content, and Connection. 1Holbus, J. (2018, October 24). The Three Cs of Personal Branding. Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-cs-personal-branding-jennifer-holbus-mba-clssmbb-ccmp/ 2Moniz, K. (2023, October 4). Crafting Your Impactful Personal Brand: The 5 P’s Unveiled. Medium. … Continue reading 3Malik, A. (2023, August 9). Unveiling the 4Cs of Personal Branding. Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unveiling-4cs-personal-branding-abida-malik/
Linda Evans suggests a framework where the first letters are not identical: Authentic, Compelling, Relevant, Cohesive, Trustworthy, and Consistent. 4Evans, L. (2021, April 29). 6 Attributes of Effective Personal Brands. Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6‑attributes-effective-personal-brands-linda-evans/
There’s definitely a strong case being made for consistency:
Brand Consistency in Social Media = Followers subscribe now (today’s brand performance) on faith (tomorrow’s brand performance) via trust (yesterday’s brand performance).
In scientific literature, I found these suggested steps: Introspection, Understanding, Developing, Mantra, Crafting, Digital Footprint, and Communicating.
“Personal branding can lead to professional success by defining yourself professionally through six steps: introspection, understanding, developing, mantra, crafting, digital footprint, and communicating.”
Source: Medical Reference Services Quarterly 5Philbrick, J., & Cleveland, A. (2015). Personal Branding: Building Your Pathway to Professional Success. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 34, 181 — … Continue reading
Interesting, but where do you go from here?
The Power of Actionable Advice
Most online advice on personal branding is excellent and well-meaning — but also self-evident. What would be the alternative to being authentic, consistent, and clear? Disingenuous, inconsistent, and incomprehensible? I bet most aspiring personal brands could’ve figured out as much.
But there’s a personal branding lesson hidden behind all of these well-meaning, but often non-actionable, pieces of advice:
The “immediate” part is critical — results don’t necessarily have to be significant. The internet is littered with content telling people what to do in general terms. As a personal brand, you must find a way to break this cycle within your niche.
Think about it for a second: In this blog post, I’ve given you an overview of what’s been said elsewhere on this topic. That’s all good, but what action can you take based on that information? I’ve also pointed out that actionable content is more potent than informative content, but how — exactly — does that make your intended content work for you?
It doesn’t.
The Formula for Personal Branding
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Doctor Spin’s Formula for Personal Branding
Here’s my actionable formula for personal branding:
Stupid Majority + Smart Minority = PR Success
What do these concepts mean?
Stupid Majority = a majority of today that will steadily decline into a minority of tomorrow.
Smart Minority = a minority of today that will grow into a new majority of tomorrow.
So, what do you have to do exactly?
Identify your Stupid Majority. For example, in my niche, the public relations industry, there are plenty:
And so on.
There are plenty of Stupid Majorities (and corresponding Smart Minorities) everywhere — as long as you’re willing to scratch the surface. To get started, you must brainstorm and produce a list for your niche or industry.
Give yourself 30 minutes to produce such a list.
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“Top 50 Over 50”
The example:
An industry colleague of mine took notice of how we live in a culture that celebrates youth. If you’re past a certain age, you’re often regarded as “too old.”
In the business world, there are “top 30 under 0,” but not “top 50 over 50.” This is, of course, stupid.
And this is the drum his personal brand has been banging on for the last decade. Articles, seminars, publicity, and social media updates. Even though he’s made a difference, the fight with the Stupud Majoritl continues. And his personal brand is more relevant and in demand to this day.
At first glance, how “age discrimination” fits with a personal brand in the PR industry is not apparent. But on second thought, PR is all about business relationships and how the media portrays the reality we all have to live in.
Next Step — Actionable Content
My personal branding formula is deceptively simple:
Stupid Majority + Smart Minority = PR Success
Identify your Stupid Majority and become a champion by providing actionable content for your Smart Minority. How come this works?
If you’re interested in going deeper, I suggest learning more about:
In closing, I won’t wish you Good Luck.
I’m wishing you a Happy Fight!
Thanks for reading. Please support my blog by sharing articles with other communications and marketing professionals. You might also consider my PR services or speaking engagements.
PR Resource: More Personal Branding
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PR Resource: More PR Theories
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