What does your personal brand look like?

The short answer: It looks like you. You are the most clear picture of your personal brand.

Now for the longer answer that I can’t give in an elevator: A personal brand is much like a corporate brand except, well, more personal. It’s a combination of your visual and verbal dialog, combined with your actions, but when a brand is taken to a personal level, the elements that make up those three core ingredients are much more intricate.

When I zero down this equation to one person, I’m looking at nearly every detail that effects how people experience you and how you experience yourself. I also look at what makes you the person you are.

How do you get a snapshot of your personal brand? A quick picture is worth the roughly half hour it takes to put together. Here are 3.5 not-so-easy steps to discovering your personal brand. The last half step is SUPER IMPORTANT, so don’t skip it! It’s that first little baby step that you have to take if you want to evolve and grow. I promise you it will feel good.

1. Look into your eyes

If you want a picture of your personal brand, get up out of your chair, walk to the nearest full body mirror, and take a long hard look. Look at your excited eyes or the subtle wrinkles around them when you smile. Check out your posture before you straighten it up. How is your energy – both before and after coffee? Now, look down at your shoes and the clothes you wear. Notice how they make you feel. Got that feeling in your mind? Good. That’s a big part of how people see you.

2. Look out from their eyes

Note: It is nearly impossible to do this objectively by yourself because you have a daily relationship with your brand, yet I encourage you to give it a try.

Take a long hard look at your business card, logo and website – the most basic core elements of your brand identity. Remember, your identity speaks for you when you are not there. Your brand identity is a huge part of how people perceive you because most of the time, you and your clients are not together. Most often when people interact with your brand, you are not there, but your brand identity is. Does your identity speak to you, your audience, or both?

Read the copy on your site. Is it vibrant, exciting and positive, or does it put people to sleep? Does it drone on about the same old things, or are you bringing something totally unique to the table? Are you hiding your best secrets, or are you putting it right out there, hands open and on the table, driving home your unique qualities and winning approach?

3. How active are your actions?

Think about the things you say and the tone of your voice. Ask yourself some of questions, such as: Do you have integrity? Do you make empty promises, or do you follow up on your commitments? Think about how you treat people and how you respond to their needs. Do you speak with wisdom and authority? Are you quiet and reserved? Think about the sum total of your actions. Got all those things in your mind together? Write them down.

Add it up
Now, add up the results of items one, two, and three. Without gaining the incredibly important objective opinion (you can do that later), you will have a super quick capsule of your personal brand.

Your Assignment (the all-important .5)

You can start defining your personal brand today. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it. Tell me what you see when you look at yourself, your logo, business card and website. Tell me how you treat yourself and everyone you come into contact with.

Do you like what you see? Is it real? Do other people like it? Do they see the same things as you? Is there something you would like to improve?

I challenge you to think differently about your personal brand. Think about how to make it better by investing in real, meaningful, icky, scary, empowering change. Tell me in the comments one thing you can do to improve your personal brand – so it’s stated, and might actually become real to you. (If you’re shy, just put “Superhero X” in the name field.)

There, didn’t that feel good?

Your brand is kind of like breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Your brand is the motivational fuel that gets your business through each day.

Take it in, each and every morning, just like the eggs and toast, protein shake or coffee you crave at the start of each day. Each of us interacts with our brand every single day, whether it’s Monday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Monday-Friday, you have a relationship with your brand. You think about it, you see it, you interact with it. Saturday, that relationship probably changes. Your brand relationship on Sunday is very likely different from Mon-Sat.

As you drive to work, you may be thinking about a ton of things, but chances are that some of your thoughts are centered on some part of your company’s brand.

Monday is the day I use to set the tone for the week. I generally get a ton of work planned and started. Monday is the day that Train of Thought is in my mind all day, from the moment I wake until I put the computer to sleep late in the day.

Tuesday is most often the day when I connect with my craft. I sit at the drafting table and draw or paint. Traditional craft one of the big differences that sets my brand apart.

Wednesday through Friday I work my tail off. Saturday and Sunday are days I use to recharge my soul. It’s time away from my corporate brand, days used to connect with what makes me, well, me.

All week long, when I see my logo, I know what it stands for, and as a result, I am reminded of what I stand for. Train of Thought’s identity provides motivation, it tells me why I need to stay on task, and it reinforces the importance of following the creative path, practices and procedures that have led to our success.

Exercise: Get a clear picture of how you interact with your brand each day.

1. Carry a pad of paper and pen all day.

2. Write down every single way you interact with your company’s brand. If you think about work, write down your thought. If you imagine your office, write down how you imagine it. If you have positive or negative thoughts about how a meeting will go, write them down. If you think about a person you have to interact with, write down your thoughts about the person and the interaction. Is your identity on your company car? Write it down. Does the paint in your office match your identity? Write it down. Do you think about how your efforts need to reflect your company’s reputation? Write it down. Each and every time you see your company’s logo or identity characteristics, write it down. Think about the feelings your brand identity evokes.

By day’s end, if you are writing down every single thought that has to do with your brand, you should have at least 70-100 entries. If you have significantly less than that, you may be taking your brand touch points for granted, not staying true to your brand, or you’re not engaged in your marketing.

This exercise works for both corporate and personal brands. Give it a try. You might be surprised at just how much your own identity is wrapped around your brand. If you try it, and you find the results surprising, add a comment below.