My Personal Brand

by Phil Gerbyshak on July 8, 2009

I’ve been talking a lot about social media lately, but I think it’s important you build a base for your social media presence, so I’m going to back up a bit and talk a little about branding. I talk about personal branding, because I am my brand, and ultimately even if you are a business, you are YOUR brand too.

Pete Kistler put together this nice template for explaining your personal brand based on work by Meg Giusseppi. They are encouraging others to use it for themselves, and so here I am.

My vision is:

A world where everyone is connected to the people, places and tools they need in order to be successful.philgerb_twitter_tshirt

My purpose is:

To make difficult ideas simple so that everyone can be remarkably successful.

My passion is:

Helping people understand their uniqueness and maximize their presence to the world.

My values are:

  1. Simplicity. I like to make things as simple as possible and no simpler. Complicated ideas are only complicated until someone explains them in English.
  2. Authenticity. I am good at some things, and not good at others, and I’m smart enough to know the difference. I’m willing to admit when I made a mistake…and I’m willing to share what I learned with you.
  3. Relationships. Business is person to person, regardless of what business they are in. The more people you can develop relationships with, the more you can accomplish.

My goals are:

  1. In one year, I will have 10 courses/products completed around finding your brand and showcasing it for the world to see.
  2. In three years, I will be delivering courses and keynote addresses 30-50 times a year, with at least 50 courses/products for folks to use to build their brand.
  3. In five years, I will be published by Wiley or Portfolio with a book on the power of being a relationship geek.

My top three brand attributes are:

  1. I constantly am dreaming of new ways to do things better and more effectively
  2. I constantly envision what could be and believe in the power of YOU!
  3. I love people!

I excel at:

Uncovering patterns and strategies for simply explaining who you are and what you do.

Getting deep quick with people to understand what is REALLY there and not just what’s on the surface.

People describe me as:

Energetic, authentic, passionate, helpful

My weakness is:

Lack of attention to details. I spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture, and the details can get lost.

My target audience is:

27-40 year-old professionals/entrepreneur who wants to take their career/life/business to the next level!

I know I have competition. What differentiates me is:

My ability to break things down into the simplest possible terms and explain it to others in ways they can understand and take action.

What do YOU think?

Is this a helpful exercise for finding your brand?

What’s on YOUR personal branding worksheet?

Ideas for action:

Take some time to go through this exercise and find your unique brand.

Share it with those who know you best.

Revise often until you find something that really FEELS like you.

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8 Other Comments

{ 2 trackbacks }

7 Tips to Get Your Personal Brand Found Online | Brand-Yourself.com Blog
July 20, 2009 at 7:44 am
Personal Branding Worksheet | Brand-Yourself.com Blog
August 4, 2009 at 9:03 am

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

Hilary July 8, 2009 at 1:47 am

Hi Phil .. thanks for those two extra posts ..and for giving us your ideas – I’ve printed them out .. so I can use them later on (soon I hope) .. and take all the advice and guidance you’ve given us.

The whole concept is so important and the ideas you’ve give us are brilliant .. thank you so much .. in due course I hope I’ll be back to let you know how I go ..

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters

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Bill Welter July 8, 2009 at 6:44 am

Phil,
What a great exercise; thansk for the information and for the personal “case study.” I see how this exercise really brings clarity (and how darned organized you are.)
Cheers,
Bill

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helen diehl July 8, 2009 at 9:16 am

I love this post.
My first thought was – jeez – that’s a work & a quite a PROJECT to sit and answer
those questions hence why it is important to DO!
I always like a challenge……
I’m going to sit down & use that template. You’re the best!
thanks PHIL :)

H

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Tim July 8, 2009 at 11:32 am

Phil:

This is great! I admire you for the great deal of thought and specifics that went into putting your brand onto paper (and ultimately into action). Thank you, as well, for the template you provided. I will have to take a look and clarify for myself. Thanks again!

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Scott Scanlon July 8, 2009 at 1:19 pm

great exercise and very concise.

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carlos July 9, 2009 at 11:26 am

Great site! Good to see more people contributing their wealth and insights of spirit to the world! The ten commandments of Social Media is awesome!

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Phil Gerbyshak July 12, 2009 at 5:46 pm

So glad this was helpful folks. My aim with every article is to help, to teach, or to inspire. Nice this hit on those points, and that you’re kind enough to share your feedback!

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Patrick Ambron July 13, 2009 at 12:01 pm

I’m glad you found our post inspirational. We are encouraging everyone to fill out this checklist to help give their personal brand and career focus.

Patrick Ambron
Online Marketing Strategy, www. brand-yourself.com

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Pete Kistler July 13, 2009 at 12:06 pm

Phil,

I loved your personal brand breakdown. It got me thinking of new ways to make this “My Personal Brand” idea go viral. I just talked to my social media team and this could be big… shoot me an email at: pkistler@brand-yourself.com if you want to be involved.

- Pete Kistler
CEO, Brand-Yourself.com
@pete_Kistler and @brandyourself

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Julie Whelan Capell August 2, 2009 at 7:12 am

Phil – great the way you always give us the big picture, there is a lot in this post to think about. But most important, where can I get a T-shirt like that??

Julie

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@JoshHurlock April 7, 2009 at 12:51 am

Meg,

Thanks for the post. Everything starts with the vision and purpose. This is always what needs to be followed. Without a clean vision and purpose, the brand will go nowhere.

Also, as you stated, these steps will take work. However, the work will pay off benefits in the long run.

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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Meg Guiseppi April 11, 2009 at 2:32 pm

Thanks for commenting, Josh.

I’m glad you get why step one is critical. When I went through the process, I was anxious to get to the actual writing of my personal brand materials, but understood once I did start writing how important my vision and purpose was to the whole picture.

-Meg

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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Aubrey - Online Education July 20, 2009 at 3:07 pm

You listed some of the only social sites I don’t currently have: Vimeo, Disqus, BackType, and Posterous. I loved the idea that you should snatch up your username before it is taken. I would hate to build an online following and have that thrown off by someone using my online name.

Also I never knew how to add the gravitars, that was nice to know as well.

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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Liane YoungBlogger July 21, 2009 at 2:43 am

The basic concept is to use just one username and avatar (or picture) n all the sites you join. That way, you can be easily identified even through a number of social networking sites

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Candidates Blog July 21, 2009 at 6:20 am

7 Tips to Get Your Personal Brand Found Online…

Article provided by Brand-Yourself.com People want to interact with your personal brand on their own terms. That’s why building your brand online is so important. No matter where you are physically, getting Brand You on the web helps you……

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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RJ Sherman July 21, 2009 at 12:57 pm

Great Post!

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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Lonesome Road Studio September 8, 2009 at 8:45 am

Finally, a do-able list of steps to take in the branding process. Thank you so much for this insightful and very helpful article. I will definitely be adding this link to my blog.
Angie at http://www.LonesomeRoadStudio.com

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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Trace Cohen September 8, 2009 at 4:30 pm

Yes, Meg made it as easy as possible for everything to go through the branding process. Glad that it can be beneficial to you. What is the focus of your blog?

This comment was originally posted on Brand-Yourself.com Blog

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