Branding tips to help you advance your career or build your business – I have them for you in this fun, short video.

Professional branding is more important than ever. No matter your career goals, have an effective personal brand is one of the best tools for networking and career advancement. This is true even if you are happily employed – branding isn’t just for businesses and business owners. Also, branding is a core underpinning of how professionals should use social media and other online platforms.

So, what are the elements of a great brand?

What should you consider when creating your own professional brand language? Here are very simple but incredibly powerful tips on branding, and in the holiday spirit, The Elf on the Shelf is here to help me illustrate them.

This video has all 8 tips on branding, but you can just listen if you prefer ‘podcast’ style. There are no slides or graphics- just ten minutes of me chatting with you about elements of an effective brand and marketing strategy.

By the way, if you’re put off by the idea or the term professional branding, please be sure to read this post on what branding is, and what it isn’t. In this post, I set the record straight, and make sure we are all on the same page about personal branding practices. (Spoiler – in my view, personal branding is an authentic and compelling communication strategy – nothing false or disingenuous about it!)

Tips for Personal and Professional Brands (preview)

Want a preview? Here’s a hint about the first 5 tips, and you’ll have to watch for the final three. The last one is really important for career longevity, so don’t miss it!

Branding has to be memorable. Our attention spans are so short – people who meet you will forget your name, lose your business card, bounce out of your website. But, you can leverage great branding practices to be sure people think of you again, and can actually find you again!
Branding has to be clear. Keep it simple. Even when you have something totally new and innovative, build on something or someone people already know.
Take that memorable and clear brand language, and wrap it up with some curiosity. Make people want to learn more. This gives you plenty of time to give the rest of the details about your experience and credentials – you can’t cram all of that into an elevator pitch without boring people to death.
Weave in some of your best social proof. It’s basic but true – just human nature – we all gravitate to people and things that other people like. Be sure your social proof is part of your package.
Make a personal connection with emotion – how will it feel to work with or hire you? Emotions are incredibly powerful persuaders, and they lead to action!
(in the video)
(yes, watch it or listen to it)
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Maybe you want more than 8 tips, or perhaps you’d like more than 10 minutes. If you want more information on personal branding and the benefits of a clear professional brand value proposition, I have a gift for you.

I recorded the webinar that you missed at the end of this video, and you can watch the entire thing for free! If you were to come across this video on my YouTube channel, you’d have to actually do more than just click here if you wanted to catch that branding webinar replay. But, lucky for you, this branding webinar replay is available on-demand, instantly, right from this blog post.

I always like to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment on the video, and tell me what you think about these brand lessons – how will you put them to work for you?