Personal Branding DIY

This is the template to help you conduct the personal branding strategy session for a client who is buying a social media growth service from you.

What is personal branding by Chris Do:

Can you remember who you are?

If you can, are you courageous enough to show that?

1. branding = preference + differentiation
2. to heal the damage from technology advancement, the isolation introduced by division of labor.
3. every business has a story, some are good, some are not worth mentioning.
4. if you show up and pretend you are someone else, if you pretend long enough, you will forget who you are. Personal branding is not about invention, it’s all memory.
5. every dollar is a vote for the world you want to live in.
6. true strength comes from weakness — do a soul searching to find your weakness/shadow, then find a word to transform it. You take an liability and turn into an asset. “Tell us a story that sets the origin why you are a people pleaser”
7. the ego hasn’t been taught how to regulate, how to show up in the public
8. whenever everybody does something, just do the opposite.
9. how much is your brand just trauma dumping?
10. we can smell intention miles away.
11. every product without a story, you are definitely a product, but you are a commodity.

What is “Personal Branding” in Wikipedia:

1. It is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual
2. by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition,
3. to ultimately advance their career, widen their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.

Let’s reverse the definition by translating each element into

• questions that help you collect information from your client
• and the facilitations to help your clients to answer those questions

Element #1 — Identity & Alignment

“It is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual”

1-Do you remember who you are?

• what is the one or two word that captures your weakness most?
• why is that weakness inseparable from you?
• how would you transform your weakness into you strength?

Example:

• outsider
• it makes me feel both safe and alive, it keeps me grow, it makes me question things, it provides me hope, it frees me, it offers options and abstractions, it keeps me calm from inflammation
• a curious outsider, a tested outsider, a challenging outsider

2-What do they want to be known for?

• what is the field or subject they are?
• what is their natural strength?
• what do they find energizing?

Example:

• brand tech ->Irresistible social media content at scale → quick build of healthy cult → romantic AI companion
• questioning, reverse engineering, quantity input, quality result
• analyzing, problem solving, being needed

3-What is the public perception of your brand?

• how would online strangers describe you based on your current social content?
• how does your coworker and friends describe you?

Example:

• experienced in AI, inspiring, hard working, well-rounded, risk-taking
• always on the go, always want better

4-Are they aligned?

Example:

• not quite, wanting to be known for talked about the field and result, public perception talked about character and personality

Element #2 — Identity & Alignment

“by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition,”

1-What are their values?

This guides how they operate and make decisions as an individual or in the business. Pick 3–5 words that are most important to you.

Facilitation:

• How do you want to run your business?
• What do you want your brand to communicate?
• List everything important to you personally, what’s the pattern?
• What are the most meaningful and defining moments in your life?
• What are the words that best describe those patterns and moments?
• What is your client’s definition of each word?

Example:

• “continuity, concise, courage, curiosity”
• “unstoppable, simple, win, beautiful, intelligence”
• “generous, professional, simple, transparent”

2- What is their vibe?

Facilitation:

• How do you want your brand to feel to other people?
• If your brand is a location, what would it be like?
• If your brand is a character, who is it?
• Create a Pinterest board for the vibe

Example:

• exclusive, dark, elite, elegant, warm, intelligent, natural
• a luxury modern home with great mountain view

3-What is their visuals?

• color palette
• fonts
• logo
• brand photos

Example: Moon’s Vibe Board

4-What is their voice?

1. who are you talking to?
2. what do you sound like to them?
3. what’s your tone?
4. what words do you say or not say?
5. what emojis do you use or not use?
6. does your profile bio match up the brand?

Example:

1. masculine minority business leaders
2. a sweet concierge who keeps every guest happy by protecting them and giving them what they want without saying
3. elegant, humble, sophisticated, joyful, raw, sweet, cute, smooth
4. no casual, slurs, profanity, unkind, or unintentional talk.
5. emojis to avoid: 🙄, 😮‍💨, 🤮, 🤯, 🤢, 🤠, 🥸, 😎, 🥹, 😲, 😰, 😱, 😩, 😫, 🥱

5-What is their content?

1. what sub topics they’d rotate talking about?

WrapUp

The more you showed up with consistency in all your brand parameters (colors, voice, vibe), the quicker your audience and the public will start seeing you in a specific way. If you can do this consistently, your intention and your audience’s perception fall into alignment.

Reference:

1. Chris Do —Successful Personal Brand in 2024 (Full Masterclass)
2. Modern Millie — Personal Brand in 5 Steps
3. Modern Millie — BuildScaleProfit
4. lisafurze — BRAND VALUES LIST
5. Hubspot — How to Create Effective Brand Guidelines
6. Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling