SELFMARKETING: The I-Brand
AN INVENTORY OF PERSONAL MEANS
Every entrepreneur should assess his personal situation before getting started in order to define his or her goals properly. This process is crucial because it will lead not only to an in-depth analysis of personal skills and interests but also to a careful exploration of the own personality. In other words, looking at oneself carefully displays all important facets in one’s identity and quarries core values which will play an important role in the future career. Although this task is not easy to carry out, there are many methods, tests and tools that help with this self assessment process. As a first step, it is crucial to define certain areas (personal and professional) that contribute to a fulfilling life. In order to know exactly where I am aiming at I defined four aspects of life which are important to me. The purpose of this task was to get an exact visualization of my future goals throughout the course of this self assessment.
In order to be able to substantiate what I expect from life I finally chose my own way of structuring my personal means. As a marketer I learned that every successful brand has a unique personality. That is why I do not regard a brand as a single message or a set of product features anymore, but as a belief system consisting of seven essentials. In fact, a strong brand can rather be seen as a person - with a distinct identity which describes the respective product, service, or business. This approach is a very efficient way of analyzing and identifying the core values of a brand. Considering every person as a unique individual leads to the conclusion that this method works the other way around as well. A strong personality embodies many talents. And the sum of these talents can be seen as a (personal) brand. So here are my seven brand essentials that I defined for myself:
