In this article, how to create your personal brand for business success. I point out 12 character elements you may want to consider before putting your brand together. Each time a potential consumer comes into contact with your brand, they will have either a good or a bad reaction. You obviously would like their response to be a good one, right?

Your brand is the combination of you and your business. To begin with, this is how people come to know you by your business name, logo design and other symbols that point out your products and services. Your brand is what makes you different from everyone else.

Who are you?

Your brand represents who you are. 

• Your skills,
• Your needs, 
• Your values, 
• Your integrity 

• Your skills are what has helped you develop your products and services. 

• Your needs are what you want to be fulfilled, to be your very best.  

• Your values are your efforts which you are naturally drawn towards. For example, volunteering your services for the well-being of others.

• Your Integrity is all about you acting upon your word. What you think and say you should act upon.

How do you act?  

How you act is an essential part of your branding as it will reveal everything to the public about you when they interact with you.

Your personality and strengths, including any weaknesses, these are all a part of how you show up. Whether that be on a one-to-one basis, on the phone or by email. How you act is how others get a feeling about what is behind your brand.  

• Are you open to new experiences or are you closed-minded?
• Are you disorganised or conscientious?
• Are you introverted or extroverted?
• Are you disagreeable or agreeable?
• Are you calm and relaxed or nervous and highly strung?

Take this free personality test. It will help you to recognise and improve upon your strengths and weaknesses.

What do you do?  

What you do tells the consumer the type of business you engage in and displays heaps about your brand.  

• Do you provide a product or a service?  
• What type of industries do you service?  
• Do you serve people directly?
• Do you service companies?  
• How do you run the business?  
• Are you a control freak? 
• Do you delegate?
• Are you a solopreneur?
• Are you an employer?  
• How do you approach projects?  
• Do you happily engage in projects?
• Do you avoid projects? 

Any acheivements,, combined with all of these elements, gives the consumer an idea about who you are. It tells them what is important to you. 

Who do you know?

The type of people, businesses, your network and associations to which you are a part, will give your consumer a sense of your business.

• Who you know communicates who you like being around
• To whom do you sell your products or services? 
• Who is important to you?  
• Who do you spend time with and why? 

Where are you located?

Your physical location and environment communicate a lot about your business to others. Consider this when creating your brand. What will your environment communicate about you and your business?

• Do you work from a home office?  
• Do you work from an office building?  
• Is it tidy and clean inside?  
• What is your decor and furniture style?  

Where have you been? 

Where you have been, is an indication of who you are.  

Your travels will have exposed you to different experiences, thoughts, and beliefs. What you learn becomes a part of you and is then expressed in your actions and in what you do. Where you have been can tell a lot about where you are today and where you are heading in the future.  

• Where have you travelled?  
• Where do you live?  
• Is your past expressed in your business?

What do you learn? 

What do you choose to learn and do each day when it comes to your personal and business development? 

You have the power and choice in what to do each day when it comes to what you will learn and do. What you choose to learn, and where you place your attention is strongly expressed in who you are and becomes a part of your branding.  

• What is your focus to enhance your life?  
• What do you love studying?
• How has what you learned, influenced your business?

Where are you going?  

Where you are going is just as significant as where you have been. While, where you are going is embedded in your desires, dreams and plans for the future. Everything you do today is a stepping-stone towards where you want to be tomorrow. Ingrained in your business and your brand are the roots of what you wish your future to be. How people see you today will orchestrate how you want them to think about you in the years ahead. 

What are your beliefs?  

What you believe in will manifest in everything you do. Your spiritual or religious beliefs often form your operating structure. Meaning, what you believe in and how you grasp your place in this world, plays a considerable role in the type of business you choose to do. 

What are you thinking?

What you think is the fundamental principles of all of the elements that embrace your brand.  

Thinking is the focal point from which everything about you flows. Your thinking impacts:-

• who you are, 
• what you do, 
• your personal and professional network, 
• your physical environment, 
• what you believe, 
• what you choose to learn, 
• where you go and your hopes for the future. 

Your mindset is vitally important. What you choose to allow into your mind as a way of manifesting itself into reality. In a larger sense, what you are thinking is who you are, and this can appear in your brand.  

What is Your Story?

Channel the power of storytelling for your business. Sharing your brand story will create a strong connection with your consumers. They will feel as though they know you.

Your brand story paints a colourful scene of:-

• who you are, 
• what vision you hold, 
• what experiences made you the person you are today. 

Think about what message you want to portray. 

• Have you got a delightful story to tell about how your business was started? 
• Was there a turning point in your business that shaped you into the person you are today?
• What is your brand story?

Create a mood board

Creating a mood board is a great place to start when developing your brand. A mood board is a collection of all your visual merits that represents you and your business. Include photos, colours, typography, quotes, patterns, shapes and anything else that gives you visual direction for your business.

Secure your mood board guide and Canva template combo today. Capture your brand’s spirit, channel your unique voice, and create a lasting impression.

CLAIM YOUR MOOD BOARD ESSENTIALS