Our focus is taking a series of clear steps in the personal branding process that can be reduced to three key pieces we’ll call the “3 Ms” of personal branding:
- Meaning. Understanding the purpose, values, and mission that guide what you do;
- Makeup. Combining traits, talents, skills, training, and attitude that are potential sources of value for the people that you serve, and;
- Message. Communicating your brand through face-to-face interactions and online presences. Create and manage your personal brand by focusing on these three areas. Do so in this specific order.
First, Meaning must be clear to you; after all, it is your brand! Nothing else, including the other two personal branding dimensions of Makeup and Message, are relevant without first having Meaning in your life that is known and lived on a daily basis.
Makeup then plays off of Meaning; it is the knowledge and skills needed to compete in your chosen field. These can only be rightly determined once Meaning is recognized.
Finally, Message is all about communication. Think about it, though. You will have no idea what the relevant brand messages about you should be unless Meaning and Makeup are already clear and present in your mind. Only then can a Message be transformed from words on paper into daily actions.
