Lots of information out there about personal branding talks about the tools available to you. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging, VisualCV, MySpace, Squidoo, resume, cover letters, business cards, etc., etc. What less people talk about is development of a compelling personal brand — the thing that you’re trying to communicate through all of these media.
One of the key aspects of a brand is that it must be memorable. Brand isn’t so much what we say about ourselves — it’s much more what others understand about us. So, making it simple for others to understand what we have to offer goes a long way towards having the brand impact that we’re hoping for.
One way to help others internalize our branding message is with the use of a tagline.
A brand tagline is simply a catchy, one-sentence representation of our brand. Ideally, you want something unique that will add to your brand story.
For instance, a less-effective tagline might be “Delivering IT solutions.” If you’re an IT professional, it probably says so pretty clearly on all of your networking materials, including your resume. So, “Delivering IT solutions” doesn’t really provide any additional information for the people you meet to understand who you are and why you’re special. On the other hand, if you have done significant work developing solutions for growing companies, your brand tagline could be something like “IT platforms for growth.” That shares a little more insight on your unique talents, and will resonate more strongly with business owners with growing businesses.
What few words sum up your personal brand?
photo credit: Nad Renrel
Related posts:
- Personal Brand Evolution: How to Start Your Personal Brand Today
- Clarifying your message: Personal Branding Statement
- Executive Brand: Personal branding goes big leagues
- 5 Day Plan to Taking the Personal Branding Plunge
- Personal brand and individual experience
Get instant access to the Laser Guide on How to Create POWERFUL First Impressions (a $20 value) - FREE!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
Whats the difference between PBS and Tagline?
Here is mine: “Delivering realistic solutions for managing IT resources”
My website: Empowering Jobseekers Career with a Brand Identity
Thanks,
Hi Mohammed! In general, a Personal Branding Statement (PBS) may be more detailed. It might include a few things that are unique and marketable about you, and might be 3-4 sentences long. A tagline would be much more focused and designed to pique interest and create an impression in just a few words. Hope this helps to clarify!
Good focus for a blog post. A tag line helps position you and by using the customers language, it appears that you can solve their problem. More people should be doing this.
Dan: Thanks for your thoughts! It’s one of those basic tactics that many overlook. Your point about using the customer’s language is an important one… it’s all about them.
Hi there !
Interesting article. Your tagline could be also also an answer to the question : what do you do ?
If you answer : “I’m an IT engineer” there are few chances for you to be attractive… If you say “I implement IT solutions to achive positive results !” It sounds more original… I just made this one up !
And otherwise, great wordpress theme here !
Alex: That’s a good perspective. Anything that helps people understand what you have to offer is sure to be valuable. Thanks for reading!