Marketing Your Personal Brand: Using The 4 P’s


The world today is a marketplace, with many industries and booming career options. The jobs scenario is bustling with people who are well educated, smart, presentable and ambitious and of course equipped with that killer attitude. Everyone wants to be someone; is willing to go that extra mile and take that one extra step in order to race ahead. Keeping up with the current trends, updating oneself with the latest product knowledge and projecting oneself in the right angle have become critical in the road to success.
In such a world, where cutthroat competition rules and where no one is willing to step aside to let the other take over, how does one market oneself to differentiate our image from the rest? How does one go about creating a special ‘personal brand’ that will give oneself an edge, an exclusive lead above the rest?

In advertising terms, branding is the “image” created in the minds of people when they see or hear a name, product or logo. Your personal brand is your very own; it defines you, your abilities and your persona.

In other words, personal branding is about developing an image of yourself that you want to project in everything you do. It’s not about being fake or superficial. If you are not authentic in what you do, that will come across clearly.
Each time you step outside the house, you are subconsciously marketing yourself. The clothes you wear, the postures that you adopt, the tone of voice you use are all factors that determine your inner personality.

Technically speaking, marketing may be defined as the process of planning and executing the design, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods and services. In the current context, when we speak about a ‘personal brand’ – the product we are dealing with is ‘you’; as an individual, a human being. All of us have an inner value attached to us, a price, that is determined by various factors such as personality, education, presentation and attitude.

A combination of these factors, coupled with appropriate packaging and promotion; is what creates a ‘personal brand’.

The key to successfully branding yourself and doing it effectively is to first establish a personal brand identity. Once you are done with that, focus that message on who you are and what you stand for within your chosen field. Your aim is to get the word out in the jobs arena that you have arrived and would like to take them on.
Begin by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors — or your colleagues. What have you done recently: this week, to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Or otherwise, your most noteworthy personal trait?

You have to assess yourself. If you are not enthusiastic about yourself, your capabilities and your personalities; there is little chance that you are going to generate any interest in the eyes of the outside world. You have to think of yourself as strong, as an incredible person with noteworthy skills. You have to bring your strengths out in the open and learn to underplay your weaknesses; in such a way that you emerge the best.

Technically, a regular marketing mix is a strategic balance of the four P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. These four elements are fundamental to any marketing plan. [George and Jones 56]
Let’s now see how you could use it to market your ‘Personal Brand’.

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