Building Your Personal Brand

Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a helpful tool that shows layers of needs from the most basic (physiological needs, such as food) all the way up to self-actualization — becoming everything that you are capable of becoming.

Values: These are core principles that give meaning to your life — a set of standards that determine your attitudes, choices, and actions.

Interests/passions: The things that intrigue and motivate you determine how you want to spend your time.

Mission: Everyone should have a mission statement — an expression that clarifies what you are all about and what you want to do in life.

Vision: Your ideal version of how you will use your mission is your vision.

Strengths: Certain abilities and patterns of interest consistently produce a positive outcome in your life, and these are your strengths.

Freak factor: This term refers to a unique quality that makes you different and unusual.

Personality attributes: Describing the face that you show to the world helps you define your personality.

Education and work experience: These attributes are easy to identify because they're based on fact.

360º feedback: The people who know you best (such as friends and coworkers) can provide key information about your character.

Goals: Getting specific about what you want to achieve greatly increases your chances of success.

Target market positioning statement: This tool identifies how your brand will be positioned in your target market. It puts into words what makes your brand important and unique so that the people who need to know about you can clearly understand what you represent.