How to Build an Unmistakable Personal Brand

How do you craft an unmistakable personal brand?

Before we dive into that, let me ask you the following…

Can You Define Unmistakable?

I was recently listening to Srinivas Rao’s excellent podcast, The Unmistakable Creative, and his guest was Julien Smith.

It was a 2014 show but it really resonated with me.

They covered a variety of topics, but throughout the interview I kept thinking back to the title of the podcast and the word “unmistakable.”

Huge shoutout for Srini for using the term “unmistakable” in his branding.

A guy like Julien seems to have this down to an art. He’s an experimenter and he is not afraid to jump into the pool naked, if you know what I mean. The guy just does.

Throughout this conversation, which covered topics such as entrepreneurship, the craft of writing, the power of habit, taking risks, and general sticktoitiveness, I kept thinking back to the word “unmistakable.”

unmistakable

[uhn-mi-stey-kuh-buh l]

adjective

1. not mistakable; clear; obvious.

Synonyms that immediately come to mind: distinct, unambiguous, transparent.

I also think of terms like well-defined, clear-cut, and undisguised.

But in a broader context, this is really about standing out by taking risks and creating “unmistakable” work.

That is what your personal brand is all about.

Your personal brand is what separates you from everyone else in the online realm.

So, if you are trying to build your personal brand — this translates to standing out — you need to answer the following…

Is it important to be unmistakable?

Can you become unmistakable?

And, what does it mean to be unmistakable?

The truth is, it’s a purely subjective matter and if you pose this question to several individuals, each will have a completely different answer.

But here’s the thing…

If you are really, truly working to make a name for yourself, creating a distinctive personal brand is something you must be focused on daily.

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to build an online business, working to write the next great novel, or simply in the midst of starting your own podcast, you need to find your secret sauce.

So how do you build an unmistakable personal brand?

1. Don’t fake it.

Going on some self-absorbed bender and creating a caricature of yourself won’t work.

Why? Well, think about it. Is turning yourself into some character going to benefit you and those you serve?

If you market yourself as some product versus just being, well, you, where’s the value in that?

Plus I don’t think people want to deal with someone playing a part. And if you try to maintain this fake persona…

a. People will sniff out the insincerity and;

b. Playing a part is exhausting and unsustainable.

You create a name for yourself by providing something of value and actually helping people.

2. Focus on your values, life experience, and skills.

Forget about passion for a minute and think about taking the following…

your expertise;

life experience;

values;

what you enjoy;

your skills;

and what you think you can get paid for… then transforming all this goodness into a clearly remarkable package for all the world to see.

Work on the phrase, “only I _________________________________”

Any aspiring entrepreneur — photographer, marketing consultant, fitness instructor, etc. — trying to build a personal brand has to think about this.

It’s called getting comfortable in your own skin, then diving waaaaaay deeper, which means working like mad to find your brand DNA, then crafting it into something special — the remarkable you.

To me, this gets to the core of creating an amazing personal brand.

Yup.

3. Work to define your uniqueness.

Stop everything you’re doing, put pen to paper and ask yourself…

“How exactly, am I unmistakable?”

“How is my business unique?”

“What is it that “only I” can offer to my clients?”

“How can I make a difference in someone’s life?”

Are your being clear-cut, distinct, unambiguous?

Is your online persona well-defined and honest. Does it display your unique skill-set?

And if you think you’ve already discovered your “thing,” are you taking risks?

Turning your specialty into unmistakable work?

Making the practice of embracing discomfort work for you?

If you’re still in search of your uniqueness, get to work cracking the genetic code of your magical brand.

It is in there.

4. Study your current branding elements.

Get out a pen and paper and do the following…

Look at your current messaging: Your logo, website, “hire me” page, etc. Study your content and visual branding and ask yourself if it’s 100% clear what you are offering?

Is your core essence displayed in the form of words and images? Does it stand out?

Is there a clarity across channels? Does the messaging and imagery on you LinkedIn page match your Twitter page?

And if you were given less than a minute to pitch someone, could you clearly articulate what you do?

Do you know what your core essence is?

Do you simply need restructuring and a little creative brainstorming to figure it out?

Or are you completely lost and really don’t know exactly what the “only I …” message is?

In that case, it’s time to build your personal brand from the ground up.

How do you build your personal brand from the ground up?

An amazing personal brand is about reinventing your life and business.

But reinvention isn’t about becoming someone else. No, quite the contrary, it’s more about discovering the remarkable you that’s been hidden from view for all these years.

This MIGHT be all you need, but if you want to get to the root of it, discover a bit more about yourself and how you can truly bring something great to the table for the world to see simply ask… How do you feel about your brand?