paulapwulA few days ago, I was reading a Harvard business review article on personal branding – that’s kind of my thing – and I got a phrase that caught my attention.
Much of professional and personal success depends on persuading others to recognize your value.
It struck me on two levels. First, that sentence is so real. Think about it, you’re contributing value to the people in your life and vice versa. At work, with friendships, relationships. People are naturally designed to gravitate towards value. If there’s something in it for us, we’re interested.
Secondly, this was something i already knew. But seeing it explained like this made it a solid point. The publication could have said “This is something others already know, there’s no need to publish that” and well, I wouldn’t have read the article and I couldn’t then have shared my insights on them here.
So often we ignore, downplay or outright reject our value because we think others have more or better. Many of us don’t build our personal brands and share our insights because we feel like there’s nothing unusual about them.
Yet the truth is, if you allow yourself to provide solutions, you will see the impact that you will make.
So, how do you figure out your unique value?
I actually have a free email course called You’re the Brand that will help you do this in less than a week + a workbook so as soon as you’re done with this episode, head over to the link in the description and join the course.
How to figure out your unique value
When you’re trying to figure out your unique value, the first step is to take an audit of where you are. Even though you were not deliberate about it, you already have a brand, a collection of things that make you. Let’s go through that list.
- skill sets,
- credentials,
- social capital,
- cultural capital,
Skillsets.
We go through life picking up a variety of things, learning how to walk, talk, write, relate with people, helping out with whatever our parents do, etc. Building skills. You want to take stock of those skills. You don’t have to be an absolute expert at them, but take note of the things you do well and don’t underestimate any skill.
Credentials
Getting into the online business space was not the plan. The original plan was to be an attorney, so that’s what i went to school for. I was called to the Nigerian bar in 2017. These are credentials i have that no one can take away from me and if nothing else, are proof that I have a good education, I can handle pressure, I get things done and I can sue. – for whatever it’s worth. Take stock of your credentials and they don’t have to all be from formal education. What certificate courses have you attended? I recently got a certificate from Mckinsey and co and I’m glad I did because one of my biggest hangups was always that I didn’t work a 9-5 job so i had no idea what the expectations of a delivered job were so it showed me that I was doing a good job and taught me some structure.
Social capital
Yet another underestimated value add. Social connections and relationships matter. Who you know, who’s in your network, who’s within reach. And the best part is that they don’t even have to be part of your industry. The people you know will be a part of your unique value because when you start going things and gathering support, the will come through for you.
Cultural capital
The way things are done and the expertise you’ve developed through your upbringing, interactions, hobbies, and interests matter. As a brand, you can stand out because you have had access to experiences that any don’t or haven’t had yet. Whether it is a really luxurious lifestyle or traveling the world with missionary parents, you have unique experiences. Don’t ignore them.
Finally, find the solution that that the combination of all we’re talked about can provide and to who. Take all of these and use them to build your personal brand proposition. You can use the workbook in my free email course to out these all together and figure out your unique value and who it can be valuable to.
You can get my brand new course – Recognized and Paid to get started with positioning your personal brand for profits right away.
