Personal Branding and Mini-Mission Statements for Uncommoners

Today I want to talk about a topic that has been in the forefront of my mind for the past month: Personal Branding Statements (PBS).  Recently, I have been visiting my local library very frequently with the goal of giving myself an education on marketing principles.  I am not ashamed to say that I am a novice in the world of marketing, especially internet marketing, yet in my lines of work I can’t afford to be, literally and figuratively!

So I’ve been fumbling toward understanding, and it has become very clear to me that the creation of a solid PBS is an extremely powerful, and extremely necessary business asset for entrepreneurs and Uncommoners alike.

A personal branding statement is essentially a tagline, or memorable catch phrase that you can use to summarize your business goals and offerings.  I’ve spent some time working on one for The Life Uncommon web community – in fact, you may have noticed the addition of the new “tagline” to the top of the website:  “Life is Short – Live Your Design.” (comments and reactions to this PBS welcome!)

All successful products have unique and snappy personal branding statements: Coca Cola (The Real Thing), Verizon (It’s the Network), Dunkin Donuts (America Runs on Dunkin), etc.  They are quick identification and idealization phrases that people will associate with your products and business.

You may be scratching your head and wondering why I’m discussing corporate logos with you.  “What does this have to do with me?  I’m a writer/artist/designer/speaker, not a major company!”

Ah, it has everything to do with you, my Uncommon friends!  If you are an entrepreneur, Uncommoner, freelancer, small business owner, or service provider, than you are your product, you are your business, and therefore you are your brand.  Hence, you need a branding statement.

The truth is, I don’t care for the word “brand” very much when it comes to entrepreneurial efforts (it is very objectifying and dehumanizing!)…so we can refer to it in our Uncommon terminology as “mini-mission statements,” because what PBSes are (henceforth referred to as MMSes) are a soundbite version of what your Uncommon life is all about.

MMSes are important for Uncommoners because it helps give us structure and identity – while we may be involved in many different projects or sectors, having a unique and personal MMS can give shape to our overall goals and help keep us focused on our goals (because if you’re like me, you have a tendency to go off on vocational tangents and lose track of the path!).

A fabulous example of an Uncommoner’s MMS is author AC Gaughen’s phrase: “One writer’s struggle to make her passion her business.”  It identifies her profession, her goals, and her work ethic.

This morning, I was directed toward a very interesting group of articles about personal branding from a friend on Twitter.  The one that proved the most informative was called “The Top 10 Characterists of a Powerful “Personal Brand Statement”, and it basically outlined the important aspects of a MMS.  Check it out, and start brainstorming some ideas for what your own MMS – remember, it should be short, effective, easily memorable, and specific to your business and your goals.  It should also be authentic to you – don’t just craft one you think will be popular…craft one that is true to you and it will be popular!

Anyone want to share theirs, or throw out some suggestions?

Tagged as: marketing, Mini-Mission Statements, Personal Branding Statement, Uncommoners