Eight qualities of strong personal branding

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Eight qualities of strong personal branding

Peter Montoya’s personal branding is on point.

From the first few words on his website, you know what he’s all about. So you go to a piece he wrote on LinkedIn, and it’s in line. Then you want more, so you Google “Peter Montoya articles” and boom.

Everything out there* written by or about Peter Montoya is singing the from the same song book. And it’s hitting the right notes for anyone thinking about offering him a new job or a seat on a board or a keynote at a conference or an award.

* “Out there” being on Page 1 of a Google search

Of course, Peter Montoya’s personal branding should be phenomenal, since he legit wrote the book on the subject.

It’s an interesting read. What we found most intriguing were his “eight laws” for developing a personal brand: specialization, leadership, personality, distinctiveness, visibility, positivity, persistence and goodwill.

Specialization

Good brands associate with something specific and tangible, even if they’re good for so much more. Nike = running. Apple = creative computing. Volvo = safety. Peter Montoya = creating leaders. Re:word = killer copy.

When someone’s known for something specific, everything else is surprise and delight.

Distinctiveness

Good brands have a voice all their own. You know when Porter Airlines is talking to you. Or the Economist. Or Volkswagen. Or Ikea.

Same’s true with a good personal brand. It could be a stance or a style or a theme throughout the content. Whatever it is, it’ll create familiarity, which breeds interest over time. Then interest breeds intrigue, which breeds trial, which leads to trust. And once you have trust, you have everything.

Consistency

Strong brands persistently demonstrate their uniqueness, from TV ads to the way their customer service reps answer the phone. They take advantage of opportunities to do it and actively create their own opportunities. Eventually, that uniqueness becomes the norm for them — and an irremovable part of their brand story.

Personal branding works the same way. Maintaining a consistent voice/tone/POV will create comfort and, by extension, resonance.

Relatability

A good brand will never fly over its customers’ heads or talk down to them. It comes in from behind and raises them up. So does a good personal brand. It’s welcoming and safe and easy and makes people want to find out more.

A good personal brand is also honest about how it came to be. Everyone took a different path to today, and commonalities are a big deal, especially if you have them with the right reader.

Leadership

Good brands walk the talk and so do good personal brands. It’s too easy for poseurs to be discovered and snuffed out. That’s 10x true for personal branding where being known as a leader in anything is instant credibility. And leading the right initiatives could earn media that would only bolster a personal brand.

Visibility

Good brands are good brands because people see them. Conversely, what good is personal branding if no one knows about it?

Strong personal branding is strong and proud and out there for anyone to see ¾ which is why it has to be good.

Goodwill

Most companies have the money for quality damage control when their brands are damaged by a misalignment between words actions, motives misalign. If a personal brand is similarly damaged, most people don’t have the money.

The best way to avoid issues in this area is to be genuine.

Positivity

Nobody likes a complainer. Want to showcase problems? Excellent! Offer solutions, too.

And speaking of solving problems with personal branding…

If you didn’t check out Peter Montoya’s website, you really should. He’s attempting to tackle what he thinks is mankind’s biggest problem, and it’s hard to argue with him.

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