Welcome, Trailblazer!
You’ve taken the first step on the path of self-discovery. Get ready to unearth your unique identity and express it in a way that resonates with those who need to hear your message the most.
This interactive guide is designed to lead you on this exploration, providing the tools you’ll need to build a strong, authentic personal brand.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu
Table of Contents
Section 1: Welcome to Your Journey: Understanding Personal Branding
Section 2: The SOULiD Framework
Section 3: Uncovering your SOULiD: Strategize & Optimize
Section 4: Refining Your SOULiD: Utilize & Leverage
Section 5: Creating Your Personal Brand Strategy
Section 6: Putting Your Personal Brand to Work
Ready to dig deeper?
Our Brand Navigators will delve into your personal brand, answer your questions, and provide you with valuable feedback.
section 1
Welcome to Your Journey:
Understanding Personal Branding
Welcome to the first leg of your journey. In this section, we’ll unpack the concept of personal branding. Think of it as a fireside chat among companions, only here, we’re igniting ideas instead of firewood!
Your Personal Brand: A Unique Constellation to Guide You
Imagine your personal brand as a constellation in the expansive digital universe, a distinct pattern of shining stars–each one representing your skills, experiences, values and personality. This radiant constellation forms your personal brand and just as no two constellations share the same arrangement, no two personal brands are identical. This radiant constellation doesn’t just provide you with guidance, it also illuminates the path for those who are seeking out your unique set of skills and experiences to guide them.
Think of your personal brand as:
A Brief Expedition Through the History of Personal Branding
Personal branding is older than you might think. While the term “personal branding” was popularized by Tom Peters in the late 20th century, the concept itself can be traced back much further.
Here are a few earlier examples you might be familiar with:
Benjamin Franklin
(1706 – 1790):
Known as one of America’s “founding fathers,” Benjamin Franklin was much more than a political figure. He was a writer, an inventor, and philosopher who carefully cultivated his public image. His autobiography is one of the earliest and most influential examples of consciously crafting a personal brand. In it, he presents himself as a self-made man, who through hard work and virtue, managed to rise from humble beginnings.
P.T. Barnun
(1810 – 1891):
A master showman, P.T. Barnum was adept at not only promoting his circus attractions but also himself. He built a persona around being the greatest entertainer of his time and was a pioneer in using publicity as a tool for personal branding. His use of outlandish stunts to garner press attention helped craft an image that is still remembered today.
Coco Chanel
(1883-1971):
Fashion designer, Coco Chanel was a branding pioneer who not only created a fashion empire but also crafted a personal brand that was inseparable from her business. Her distinctive style and philosophy of simplicity, elegance, and comfort were evident in every piece of clothing she designed. She WAS her brand, a living embodiment of the style she promoted.
Walt Disney
(1901-1966):
Few people have created a personal brand as strong and enduring as Walt Disney. His name is synonymous with imagination, magic, and timeless storytelling. Even today, his personal brand continues to shape the company he left behind.
Charting Your Constellation
It’s time to begin charting your own constellation! Take a moment to reflect on your skills, experiences, values, and personality. What are the three brightest stars that anchor your constellation? For example, you might identify a major professional achievement, a distinctive trait, and a compelling story from your journey as the largest and brightest stars in your constellation.
We also call this your essence, the core values, passions, desires, and personality traits that form the soul of who you are. When it comes to your personal brand, this is usually the toughest part to nail down, and one that most brands and businesses overlook, so it benefits you to start thinking about your essence early in the process.
Remember, this is just the start of your journey. The process of building a compelling personal brand goes much deeper and involves careful planning, consistent effort, and a willingness to evolve.
As you’ve learned, personal brands have shaped history, guided the masses, and left indelible marks on our collective consciousness. Now that you’ve taken your first step and gained a basic understanding of what a personal brand is, it’s time to move forward on your journey.
How can you make your own constellation shine in the digital universe?
Next Steps
Next, we’ll be exploring the SOULiD Framework – the brandiD’s unique methodology that will help you not just define but refine and project your personal brand in a way that’s as unique as you are!
section 2
The SOULiD Framework
Now that you’ve begun to chart your personal brand’s constellation, you hopefully understand the significance and the potential impact it has on both your and others’ journeys. In the last section, we asked you to imagine your personal brand as a celestial body with each star representing the values, skills, personality traits, and experiences that make you uniquely you.
The next step is to chart the course between those stars using the SOULiD Framework as your compass to connect those individual stars and form a pattern that only you can define.
Tap into Your Heart, Mind, Body & Spirit
The secret to standing out among countless others lies in authenticity–showing up as your true self online, just as you would in the physical world. The gravitational pull of your authentic self is what attracts friends, clients, and followers to build an audience that appreciates your individuality. The clearer you can express who you are, who you are ideal for, and what you are offering, the more likely you will attract those ‘soulmate’ clients who resonate with your personal brand.
But what does it mean to uncover and amplify your soul? We define the ‘soul’ of your brand as the combination of four interconnected elements: Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Our SOULiD Framework helps you tap into these four facets of your personal brand:
How the SOULiD Framework Works
The SOULiD Framework is designed to help you explore these dimensions, aligning them to create a personal brand that is authentic, resonant, and impactful. Let’s look at an overview of each pillar for the SOULiD Framework.
SOUL stands for Strategize, Optimize, Utilize, and Leverage. These pillars act as guiding forces, aiding you in navigating the vast, often nebulous, realm of personal branding. Let’s take a quick look at each one:
Strategize: Here, we encourage you to look within, to explore your core values, your vision, and your mission. These form the foundation of your personal brand, the fundamental forces that hold your constellation together.
Optimize: This step is all about refining and enhancing your unique light. What makes you stand out in the cosmic array of stars? Who are the people attracted to your light? What are you offering to them? This is also where we discover your O-Factor – that magic stardust sprinkled across your personal brand–that indescribable something that makes you, YOU.
Utilize: Now that we’ve determined the map between your stars, it’s time to utilize it to determine your Unique Value Proposition and navigate your “why.” Why are you embarking on this journey? Why should others join you? These questions help orientate your brand’s true north.
Leverage: The final stage is about leveraging everything you have built so far, using your personal brand as a beacon in the digital universe. How do you want to manifest your brand online?
Perhaps you see yourself:
Hosting a podcast
Authoring a book
Speaking at events
Launching a YouTube channel
Once we’ve charted your stars, we move onto creating a marketing plan to steer your digital rocketship towards the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Remember, your personal brand isn’t just a constellation of stars but a celestial system with you at the center—guiding, attracting, and influencing. The SOULiD Framework is the compass to help you navigate this system so you can share your light with the world.
Your SOULiD Challenge
Before you launch into your next endeavor, let’s do a preliminary exploration to help you understand your unique brand qualities. As you may remember from Section 1, your personal brand is your signature constellation, the guiding North Star for those seeking your unique skills and expertise.
Grab a notepad, a refreshing beverage, and settle into a comfortable space.
When you are ready, answer the following questions:
These answers will inform the first steps of your journey into the SOULiD Framework. Keep them in mind as we continue our voyage into the fascinating cosmos of your personal brand.
Next Steps
Equipped with a basic understanding of the SOULiD Framework, let’s take a closer look at each stage. In the next section, we will focus on the ‘heart and mind’ of your SOULiD – Strategize and Optimize.
Ready? Onwards we go!
section 3
Uncovering your SOULiD: Strategize & Optimize
As we navigate the complex constellation of your personal brand, it’s time to turn our journey inwards and look at two dominant forces that shape the essence of your personal brand: your heart (Strategize) and your mind (Optimize). Just as celestial bodies align to form constellations in the night sky, these elements define your brand’s gravity, shape, and luminosity..
Embracing the Heart: Strategize
Imagine each star in your brand’s constellation representing a core value, vision, or mission. This stage in the SOULiD Framework is all about channeling your heart’s deepest desires and passions and transforming them into a strategic guidepost.
Strategizing isn’t just about making a plan. To get to the heart of your brand, you need to go beyond the surface level, deep into the essence of who you are. By focusing on these vital elements, you can illuminate your personal brand, allowing it to resonate with and touch the hearts of your audience.
Your mission: Spend some time today reflecting on what you value most in life. Using your answers from the SOULiD Challenge: Your Heart Insight in Section 2 to guide you, answer the following questions:
How can these values be incorporated into your brand to resonate more deeply with your target audience? Let your heart shine through and serve as a beacon to attract your ideal customer.
Channeling the Mind: Optimize
As we shift focus from the self to the audience, your brand’s constellation begins to take on a different dimension. This is where your answers from the mind insight come into play. Who are the stargazers navigating the digital cosmos, seeking out the path that leads them to your unique constellation?
In the optimization phase, we align your unique offerings with the needs and desires of your soulmate client. To accomplish this, we analyze your uniqueness, your ideal customer, what you are offering, and how these elements connect to form your O-Factor. Just as celestial bodies are drawn to each other, your brand’s resonance will pull your ideal audience into your orbit.
Your mission: Reflect on your offerings and identify the distinctive value that separates you from the crowd. Using your answers from the SOULiD Challenge: Your Mind Insight in Section 2 to guide you, answer the following questions:
As you think about your ideal customer–their needs, their aspirations, their problems–consider how your unique offerings can bridge that gap. This connection is your brand’s gravitational pull–use it wisely!
Next Steps
Like ancient explorers who used the stars to navigate unknown territories, your journey of self-discovery and audience optimization has begun. But the journey is far from over. There are still undiscovered parts of your personal brand that we need to explore. So, let’s continue our journey and move to the next phase: Utilize and Leverage, or as we like to call it, discovering your body and spirit.
When you’re ready, the next part of your journey awaits!
section 4
Refining Your SOULiD: Utilize & Leverage
You’ve explored the heart and mind of your personal brand, now it’s time to focus on its body and spirit –the tangible expression that creates your unique constellation in the universe.
Nurturing the Body: Utilize
Personal branding isn’t just an intellectual or emotional endeavor; it’s about taking tangible actions surrounding the work you’ve done, the impact you’ve made, and the body of work you’ve created. When it comes to your personal brand, this is the ‘body’ we are referring to–the physical manifestation of your passion, skills, and experiences–your essence.
To nurture your brand’s body, we employ the Utilize phase of the SOULiD Framework. This is the part where we shed light on the specifics of your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)–a distinct brand statement that conveys the unique benefits you provide, who you provide them to, and what sets you apart–and determine your ‘Why’ from a marketing perspective.
Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Crafting a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) can feel a bit like charting a path through a distant galaxy. This isn’t surprising, as it requires a level of self-awareness, market understanding, and strategic thought that goes beyond the scope of day-to-day business operations. It can seem like a daunting task to create your own unique constellation amidst such a dazzling cosmic display.
But as explorers who have traveled through the personal branding universe many times, we know that the beauty of the journey lies in the challenges, the quest for discovery, and ultimately in the unveiling of that distinct array of star qualities that set you apart from all the rest.
The end result is worth the journey for many reasons, among them:
Developing your UVP may feel like an interstellar journey, but the end reward is a guiding star that defines your brand, a message that resonates with your soulmate clients and aligns with your business vision.
Let’s look at the UVPs of some famous brands:
tagline
“Expect More.
Pay Less.”
unique value proposition
Target promises high quality products at affordable prices, which is succinctly summarized in their tagline. They provide a wide range of products, from home goods to clothing, to a broad consumer base. What sets them apart is their commitment to style and design at a lower price point, effectively merging the worlds of lifestyle products and discount prices in a department store setting.
tagline
“Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
unique value proposition
Google has a clear, service-based UVP. They aim to make information, regardless of where it comes from, easy to find and understand. What sets Google apart is the speed, accuracy, and user-friendly interface of their search engine, which has expanded to include a host of other interconnected services.
tagline
“Accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
unique value proposition
Tesla’s UVP lies in their mission to revolutionize transportation and energy consumption through electric vehicles and renewable energy products. They stand out because of their advanced technology, high-performance electric cars, and dedication to fighting climate change.
These examples illustrate the wide spectrum of UVPs across various industries and how they tie in with each brand’s purpose, offerings, and unique differentiators. Now it’s your turn!
Your mission: Shaping your personal brand requires deep introspection and clarity. Use your answers from the SOULiD Challenge: Your Body Insight in Section 2 to guide you as you answer the following questions:
Craft your own UVP using these answers. Make it succinct, yet resonant, and keep refining it until it truly reflects your brand’s spirit. Remember, this UVP is not just a marketing tool–it’s the pulse of your brand.
Discovering Your ‘Why’
As we continue our journey, we approach a central question: “What’s your ‘Why’?”. If your brand’s mission is the fuel that powers your spacecraft, your ‘Why’ is the gravitational pull that attracts your ideal customer into your orbit.
Your ‘Why’ is what makes your brand genuinely attractive to those seeking exactly what you offer. Unlike the mission and vision you created during the Strategize stage, which is driven by your passions and dreams, your ‘Why’ is what resonates with your customer’s wants and needs. Think of it as your personal brand’s cosmic calling card.
You’ve already reflected on your uniqueness from your own perspective, now you are going to reflect on it from your customer’s point of view. This shift in perspective requires a deep understanding of your ideal customer. But how can you see into the hearts and minds of your soulmate client? Trust us, it’s not as impossible as it sounds!
This is where we take off our explorer hat for a moment and don a detective’s cap. To grasp your ideal customer’s needs and desires, let curiosity be your guide, do a little digging, and most of all, listen. Don’t get discouraged if the path isn’t immediately clear. It’s an evolutionary process that you will refine over time, just like your brand.
Your mission: Spend some time in the shoes of your ideal customer. What are their challenges, their dreams, their fears? How does your offering light their path, guide their journey or make their sky a little brighter. Remember, you are not just offering a product or service: you’re providing a solution, a benefit, and an experience. That’s your ‘Why.’ Write it down and reflect on how it can be your personal brand’s guiding star.
The avenue into the hearts and minds of your soulmate client may seem challenging, but it’s a vital part of your personal brand exploration. The more you understand your ideal customer, the brighter your ‘Why’ will shine.
Igniting the Spirit: Leverage
Igniting the spirit of your personal brand is all about being true to your brand’s essence while balancing it with the needs of your audience. It’s not just about broadcasting your message into space; it’s about making sure that your message resonates and reverberates in the hearts and minds of your soulmate client.
This is what the Leverage phase of the SOULiD Framework is all about. It’s the stage where we harness the power of your personal brand and elevate your presence across the digital universe. As we get ready to launch your brand into the cosmos, we want to shape your trajectory with purpose and passion.
Your mission: Using your answers from the SOULiD Challenge: Your Spirit Insight in Section 2 to guide you, dig a little deeper into your purpose and determine your legacy by answering the following questions:
Locating Your Current Constellation
Before we take off, let’s pause and scan the stars to pinpoint your current location in the digital universe. Are you already a radiant star with an extensive following or a budding nebula with beautiful potential? To truly understand the magnitude of your digital footprint, it’s crucial to get a baseline read of how you are currently showing up online.
Your mission: Perform a digital audit. Search for your name online and see what comes up. Are you happy with what you see? One tool you can use for this exercise is The Online ID Calculator. It’s free and takes you through a series of questions and online activities to assess your current digital footprint.
Make a note of where you are mentioned, the context, and how you feel about each instance.
Plotting Your Future Course
As you gaze into the future, what aspirations do you have for your personal brand? Perhaps, you wish to share enlightening insights via a podcast, guide fellow explorers by authoring a book, or serve as a beacon of inspiration on the stage.
Whatever your dreams may be, your first step is to envision yourself doing it. Can you visualize your brand’s luminance spreading across the digital universe? Where do you see yourself shining the brightest?
Visualization is a powerful tool for manifesting your dreams, but it doesn’t work without a carefully laid out plan. After you’ve pictured yourself living out your aspirations, the next step is to plot your trajectory by breaking your voyage down into manageable and actionable steps. For example, if you are dreaming about having a successful podcast, the first step could be learning about podcasting or being a guest on a few to get the lay of the land.
Your mission: Write down your aspirations for your personal brand. Are there specific platforms where you want to increase your presence? Write down your goals and the actions you’ll need to take to achieve them. And don’t be afraid to dream big!
Forging a Cosmic Connection With Other Stargazers
Understanding your ideal customers’ online behavior is crucial to connect and engage with them. It’s not about being everywhere; it’s about being in the right corner of the universe so you can reach and interact with your soulmate clients.
Your mission: Identify the social media platforms where your ideal customers frequent. Are they Instagram scrollers, LinkedIn engagers, or podcast aficionados? Don’t be afraid to explore and experiment. You may be surprised to find that your brand resonates more powerfully on a platform you hadn’t previously considered.
Once you have identified one or two key platforms, develop a goal and a plan for each platform to promote connection and engagement. Remember, social media is not a one-way street, it’s a digital town square where you have the opportunity to listen, engage, and build relationships with your target audience.
Next Steps
By illuminating your brand’s spirit, understanding and expanding your digital footprint, and connecting with your audience on the platforms they frequent, you can effectively leverage your brand’s essence and make a meaningful impact that resonates with those you aim to serve.
You’re on the right path, and the stars are aligning for your success. The next stage of your journey is Creating Your Personal Brand Strategy, where we explore how to amplify your brand’s light across the digital universe.
Buckle up, brand explorer as we prepare for the countdown!
section 5
Creating Your Personal Brand Strategy
Congratulations, it’s time to take all you’ve discovered so far and put it into practice! As we gear up to propel your brand into the cosmos, consider this stage your pre-launch systems check. Just as astronauts meticulously review every system, gauge, and control panel before ignition, this phase ensures all components of your brand are synergized and ready for the big lift-off!
Think of the brandiD as your mission control, guiding you in distilling the essence of your brand into a potent marketing strategy. Like a well-plotted interstellar mission, this section is all about precision and focus–charting a precise course to identify the most efficient path to your starry aspirations.
The Elements of an Effective Marketing Plan
Before we get into your mission for this section, let’s take a moment to define what goes into creating an effective marketing plan. A marketing plan is not merely a document, it’s a strategic roadmap that aligns your brand’s objectives with practical steps to achieve each one.
The key components of a marketing plan include:
To illustrate this, let’s imagine we are creating a marketing plan for a hypothetical lifestyle brand that focuses on personal productivity and work-life balance. The objective could be to increase the number of followers and user engagement on Pinterest.
Here’s what a marketing plan might look like:
Keep in mind that this is just one example of a targeted marketing plan. A truly comprehensive personal brand strategy is mulit-faceted and typically includes more than just one channel. An effective strategy includes all the places where your brand lives, from social media to websites and beyond.
Your mission: Using the plan above as an example, construct your brand’s first mini-marketing plan. Outline your objectives, define your target audience, anticipate possible challenges, decide on your key messages, devise your tactics, and set an implementation timeline.
Here is a breakdown of each step to guide you:
Every brand’s journey is unique and what works for one may not work for another. The most important part is to stay consistent, keep adjusting, and keep learning as you work towards achieving a balance between your brand and your target audience.
As you continue to refine your brand strategy, remember that the journey is just as important as the destination.
Next Steps
Now that you’ve devised a plan that not only represents the essence of your brand but also serves as your guiding light, it’s time to put your brand to work.
So, let’s get ready to launch! Together, we’ll chart a course that propels your personal brand to stellar new heights.
section 6
Putting Your Personal Brand to Work
We’ve spent time charting the constellation of your personal brand–from identifying your target audience and where they reside in the digital universe to exploring their challenges and how your offerings can solve their problems. Now it’s time to set your course and get ready to launch!
Your personal brand is a unique signal radiating out into the vast cosmos of the Internet. And like any signal, it needs to emit regular pulses to be noticed. This consistency comes from maintaining your online presence and creating content regularly that is attuned to the rhythm of your brand.
From your website and social media accounts to your blog posts and interactions online,every piece of content you create, every engagement with your audience should echo the essence of your brand. When your audience interacts with you, regardless of the channel, they should instantly recognize your brand by its unique signature.
Keeping Your Audience in Your Orbit
You’ve taken the time to identify your target audience and now it’s time to connect with them! Engagement is like gravity–it keeps your audience in your orbit. Like an explorer making first contact, approach your audience with understanding, empathy, and authenticity. Speak directly to their interests and their needs, using the language, style, and messaging you’ve developed for your brand.
Your mission: In the digital space, you aren’t just an explorer, you are also a creator. It’s time to send out your first signal and create your first piece of branded content.
The key components of a marketing plan include:
Congrats! Hopefully, your first piece of branded content is live; ready to draw your audience into your orbit, and slowly, but surely begin to build your brand’s online presence.
Keep this process handy as you continue to create and share content , and you’ll be well on your way to a strong, consistent, and engaging personal brand.
Next Steps
As you venture forth, remember to remain true to your core values, be consistent, and always aim for engaging and valuable interactions. Your path doesn’t end here, though. This is only the beginning of your journey. So go out and let your personal brand shine brightly in the universe!
Now that you’ve begun to bring your personal brand to life, it’s time to gaze at the galaxy of possibilities ahead.
