The New Branded Me
I am back. Finally.
This is so telling.
I started writing here, then stopped.
Why? you ask.
Simple. I didn’t need to. And I had plenty of work as a linguist, mostly as a translator. I also edited, wrote and re-wrote content for many of my clients.
And now, I’m pivoting.
I’m pivoting from translator and trans creator to content writer. And, it seems like I’ll have to create a brand for myself.
To be brutally honest, I have resisted this self-branding malarkey thus far, as I was working mostly with agencies and getting work via word-of-mouth, or its digital equivalent. And I made a tidy living. I travelled and loved my lifestyle so much, I became somewhat writing-lazy. Also, busy.
And, not branding myself has always worked pretty well.
Until it didn’t.
Staying in the background, being a professional, and
letting the work speak for itself is no longer applicable it seems.
In a world of selfies, influencers, and self-styled experts in everything from make-up to life coaching, only a “branded me” will stand out from the crowd, it seems. As opposed to discreetly staying in the background, I’m giving myself a brand identity.
With brand colours, values, expertise, my specific brand of humour, sense of style, playfulness and professionalism.
So that my peers and clients will “know what I stand for” and “its (or rather, my) value to the world” and so that my audience knows who I am, what I stand for, and why it’s “worth choosing me over my competitors”. I quote all this from clever people who have written articles on the subject.
Gone are the days of simply providing a good service and letting your personality stay in the background (it used to be the hallmark of professionalism). I now need to “command respect and confidence from my peers and customers” through personal branding.
After reading a very enlightening article on what colours mean, I chose my colours. It’s all about combining colour theory with business.
Black —
Black evokes a powerful, sophisticated, edgy, luxurious and modern feeling.
Green —
Green evokes stability, prosperity, growth and a connection to nature.
White —
White evokes cleanliness, virtue, health or simplicity. It can range from
affordable to high-end.
Source: https://lnkd.in/dS4qwnJd
Article by Matt Ellis
I am nothing if not a researcher. So, a few articles later and I’m more “in the know”.
Due to the fact that social media has forever changed the way we interact and conduct business, “branding is no longer just a tool for major corporations and companies to market themselves”. Well to Generation X, that’s not necessarily a natural way of doing things. To Baby Boomers, it’s a foreign concept (to most, anyway). Unless you've always been an attention-seeker. Or American. Or, in Real Estate.
What is UP with the posters of reals estate agents posing like their life depends on it? Well, maybe their living does depend on it. I can learn. Even if I’m prone to ridiculing it as I walk or drive past. (Lolly is THE expert on the Atlantic Seaboard (with her lip filler Lolly looks more like she’d love to suck on a lolly). OR The Belgian expert in the region (Andalucia, Spain)) I mean really. They’re all experts. Anyone who has ever dealt with estate agents knows that very few are experts on anything at all. They want to sell, sell, sell. Only the exceptional ones give you great service. They oversell and under-deliver. I have always lived by the adage: “Undersell, over-deliver.” Not anymore, though.
Apparently, if you haven’t branded yourself consciously “…no matter how you feel about your online presence, you already have a personal brand. Even if you haven’t optimized your LinkedIn profile to provide much information, you’re branding yourself in a way that tells the world: “I’m not investing energy into my industry.”
Source: Forbes article by Kara Dennison.
Oops! Big oops!
So, here I go. Starting off with my LinkedIn profile. It’s a step-by-step process.
Selecting my brand colours was step 1.
I mean, I get that the colours aren’t really THAT important. But a brand identity, consistency, and ubiquity are.
So, here goes. Me creating a conscious brand identity. Onwards and upwards, I say. Embrace the new, I say.
Adapt we must, I say.
