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  • May–June 2023
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand: How to Communicate Your Value

By: Jill Avery and Rachel Greenwald
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:5
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Abstract

For better or worse, in today’s world everyone is a brand. Whether you’re applying for a job, asking for a promotion, or writing a dating profile, your success will depend on getting others to recognize your value. So you need to get comfortable marketing yourself.

In this article a branding thought leader and a professional dating coach present a guide to creating your personal brand. It’s an intentional, strategic practice in which you craft and express your own value proposition, and it involves seven steps: (1) Define your purpose by exploring your mission, passion, and strengths, and thinking about whom you want to make a difference to and how. (2) Audit your personal brand equity by cataloging your credentials, doing a self-assessment, and researching how other people view you. (3) Construct your personal narrative by identifying memorable, resonant stories that will best convey your brand. (4) Embody your brand by paying attention to the message you’re sending in every social interaction. (5) Communicate your brand through speeches, social media, the press, and other channels. (6) Socialize your brand by getting influential people to share your stories. (7) Reevaluate and adjust your brand by doing an annual audit to find deficits to fix and strengths to build on.

This process will not only allow you to better control your image and the impact you have on the world but also help you uncover and share the unique abilities you have to offer it.

Keywords

Personal Brand; Influencer Marketing; Leadership Development; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Identity; Reputation; Competency and Skills

Citation

Avery, Jill, and Rachel Greenwald. "A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand: How to Communicate Your Value." Harvard Business Review 101, no. 3 (May–June 2023): 147–151.
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About The Author

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery
  • Case Study: Should a Dollar Store Raise Prices to Keep Up with Inflation? By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
  • Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
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