9 Questions to Help You Define Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

9 Questions to Help You Define Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The following answers are provided by members of  Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched  StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 1. Who Do I Admire? While you want to develop a personal  brand  that is authentic to you, take note of the people you most admire (from any industry, time period or generation) and note the characteristics or experiences that draw you to those people. These are the building blocks of yourbrand   or the  brand  you aspire to have.   â€"  Lindsey Pollak,  Millennial Workplace Expert 2. What Are My Goals? Start with your goals. Ask What are my personal goals and what steps do I need to take to achieve them?   â€"  Amanda L. Barbara,  Pubslush 3. What Drives Me? Figure out what drives you and define your personal  brand  around it. This authenticity will make you stand out.   â€"  Josh Weiss,  Bluegala 4. What Makes Me Different? To start defining your personal  brand, first ask yourself, “What makes me different from everyone else” and “What gets me excited in the morning?” I’m a firm believer in Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle.” I believe that it’s  more  important knowing why you do something (that is, what drives you) than what you do. Figure out what makes you different and why you’re doing what you do. Those are the best places to start.   â€"  Sean Kelly,  HUMAN 5. What Do Others Think About Me? Its about getting clear about your essence. One of many questions you can ask yourself is, What do others usually come to me for that I think isnt a big deal? Often those closest to us see things about ourselves that we cant or simply dont acknowledge.   â€"  Mike Ambassador Bruny,  Ambassador Bruny Dot Com 6. What Do I Want to Be? The first part of defining your personal  brand  is determining who exactly it is you want to be. From there, you can figure out the steps you need to take in order to become that person. For instance, perhaps you want to be a fashion guru. Once thats defined, you can work backwards to determine what it takes to be that guru. This might be having good fashion sense, hosting fashion events and consulting others about this subject matter.   â€"  Andy Karuza,  Brandbuddee 7. What Is My Oxygen? What in your life can you simply not live without? What brought you immense joy as a little kid? These are the threads of your personalbrand  that you can follow to find the unique value and perspective that you bring to the world. My oxygen: reading, sharing, systematizing, business-building, great meals with friends, in-depth conversations and long walks through New York City with my headphones on (pretending Im in a movie). What is yours?   â€"  Jenny Blake,  Jenny Blake 8. What Are My Personal Values? The first question I would ask is What are my personal values? Am I the hardcore women-in-tech-advocate who prioritizes helping others or am I the Jill-of-all-trades who gets involved with music, business and sports? Maybe Im both.   â€"  Nanxi Liu,  Enplug 9. What Adjectives Do I Use to Define Myself? Asking  what adjectives you use to describe yourself is a great  starting  point for getting to the specifics of your  personal  brand. Start by listing out adjectives you feel represent you, or ask friends and family to chime in. Once you pick a few adjectives, you can begin to construct your personal  brand   transforming abstract concepts into concrete representations of who you are.   â€"  Doreen Bloch,  Poshly Inc. Feature Photo