A businessman’s brand is his greatest asset.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room,” – Jeff Bezos, CEO, and Founder – Amazon. People discussing you behind your back can’t be tamed by you entirely, however, While you can never fully control what other people say behind your back, there are ways that can help you improve your personal image and branding. Your image and your brand are the defining pillars of a successful venture; your wholesome business is driven by the virtue of their proficiency.

A brand can be represented by a symbol, design, name, sound, reputation, emotion, employees and many more characters. Each of them contributes to building your personal image and brand in their own way, which ultimately makes you stand out of the crowd and reflects the uniqueness of your business.

After all, your personality reflects your businesses’ efficiency and vice versa. Moreover, businesses are all about people working with other people, and it is no secret that business relationships are driven by the personal image.

#1 Invest in yourself.

The very first thing you’ve to understand about the personal image is, it’s not about an outer appearance, it’s much more than that rather building a personal brand is to be considered as investing in ‘marketing yourself’. Just like any other business would invest to market their business or product or services, similarly, you can do it for your own self.

#2 Evaluate yourself

Speaking specifically in the context of branding, think about what you have that others don’t. What will get you noticed and eventually acknowledged by your clients and potential employees? What strengths do you have, that can complement this position? What weaknesses do you have, that require empowering and polishing? Analyze yourself thoroughly, comprehend the facts with respect to the current situation and contemplate the future consequences to prepare yourself.

#3 Map strategies

In order to accomplish what you dreamt of i.e. your vision, mapping out strategies is very essential. Stay sharp and alert, prepare yourself to take immediate and effective actions when required and consider your self-evaluation and analysis with utmost sincerity. Take professional courses; keep a healthy and strong relationship with the right mentors. Be prepared to respond to threats on time.

#4 Prioritize your actions

In order to brand yourself, you’ve to explore endless possibilities and make sure all your options are well accounted for. You might need some courses or certification in order to perform the more efficiently in your job. Will it be worth your time and energy? If yes, then go for it. Optimize the available opportunities.

#5 Have a positive outlook

Think about it. Do you want to appear as a negative person? One who is disregarded by everyone? When you have a positive outlook, you tend to respect everything you do and that includes your business too. Strive to stay positive irrespective of the situation. Speak as if, think positive, be and look as if, act positive, act as if and perform positively.

#6 Be accountable

Start with your external image. Take responsibility for your image. You’re who you’re! Stop giving unnecessary excuses to yourself. Following are a few excuses that people give on regular basis, my reply to them is –

• “I’m too fat,” then start working out.
• “I’m too short,” height is nothing more than a number.
• “I’ve no time,” there are only 24 hours in a day, get your priorities straight.
• “I don’t have enough money,” work harder!
• “I don’t like my company.” Change it!

Those are just excuses, and you’ll find no successful person making excuses or procrastinating. Do something productive, for a brilliant idea without synchronized execution, is worthless. Once you take liability for yourself – do the same for your business and your brand.

#7 Be flexible and adapt to learn

No one started being successful right away. Lionel Messi, the football legend says, “It took me 17 years and 144 days to become an overnight success.” It takes perseverance, hard work, and dedication amongst many other attributes. But above all that you must have an open mind to learn and change your personal brand if need be. In order to work towards your branding vision, improvisation becomes essential.

McDonald’s framed and golden arches, Nike’s tick or Ferrari’s horse, these are the symbols that come immediately to our mind when we think about tremendous brands, their significant visibility, and their influence. Businesses performing well on a large scale invest remarkably in branding, for it substantiates their growth, nevertheless, branding plays a crucial role at a personal level as well.