No matter how successful you all ready are, paying close attention to your personal brand can help you realize your goals and aspirations. Maintaining your personal brand is vital to the effectiveness you experience in your work, at your home, and in your community.  At the core of others’ interactions with you is whether they buy into your personal brand.  Are you consistently expressing your brand message?

The notion of consistency sounds like a lot of work.  So why bother?

Inconsistency leads others to wonder whether you can deliver on your promises.  These days, any time a person doubts your abilities – even if that sense is totally false – it may mean getting passed up for a job, a promotion, or getting ignored in a business or public forum.  Even leaders find themselves in hot water, and the best way to cool off is to return to the consistency that built their brand reputation and led them to success.

Many think the reason for managing your personal brand is solely to control how others see you.  Some people are just immovable; it’s actually easier to manage yourself for the sheer purpose of personal fulfillment.  When your brand consistently demonstrates your value to yourself, first and foremost, and radiates out to others, you will enjoy a high degree of personal fulfillment and attract those to you who are drawn to your brand.

This is my checklist to help your personal brand ASPIRE to a higher level:

Assess:  What do you and supporters like family members, friends, colleagues, clients, and customers believe to be your core brand attributes?  With a clear vision of your strengths, you can better align your values with your brand and set a course for new successes.  It’s possible to begin a transformation process with this insight, moving toward a fresh perspective that feels naturally clear and honors your true spirit.  Or you may confirm you are right on track.

Social Media Strategy:  Given how much time people spend “online” a lot of life is lived on the Internet, competing with how much is experienced in person.  The footprint of your brand message across social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, your blog, and comments you make on others’ blogs give people the chance to research you.  When you do a quick search of your first and last name with quotation marks around your name, are the results that come up on the first three pages mostly about you and are they positive?  Are you aware of these entries?  Are you digitally distinct?

Prioritize:  Learning what makes your personal brand unique may be eye opening by identifying new interests and directions.  A successful personal brand strategy requires prioritizing your options.  This allows you to choose conquering a fear [how about of success?], or morphing your brand into something that feels most comfortable.  Through careful evaluation of your brand attributes, you can support yourself with strength as you move forward.

Image:  Here I’m referring to the way you communicate about yourself when people encounter you in person.  How you carry yourself, how you act, and how you look – your total image and style – are subject to visual review by any of your contacts.  Is your brand message consistent across your website, the way you communicate on the phone and your personal looks?  If you don’t look credible, you may have to work even harder to prove you are believable, that you are worth what you say you are, or worst of all, your online and resume efforts may crumble all because of a lack of image consistency.

Resume Positioning: Whether you’re looking beyond your current position, or want to score a top community volunteering position, the competition for whatever comes next in your life is high these days.  In this age of hype and bravado, a well-written resume clearly differentiates you from those who seemingly offer the same or similar skills as you might by highlighting your authentic brand attributes.  By keeping it real, your target readers get a sense of the real you on paper.

Exude your personal brand on every level.  Let your personal brand be a natural part of you, like breathing:  a consistent, naturally occurring thing that never stops.  You are always in control of your brand.  When you use it to your benefit, you will draw others toward you as they are attracted to your strengths, one breath at a time.

When you are ready for your personal brand check up, I am here to help you see your aspirations come to life.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.