This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at IUP chapter.

Personal branding is marketing yourself and your career as a brand for potential employers. Essentially, it is the story you tell and how you tell it. Personal branding can be extremely difficult for some people though which is completely normal. Here are a few things to keep in mind when thinking about your own personal brand!

Creation

Think of the words that inspire you whether it is woman boss, beautiful, motivation and run with that when it comes to creating your own personal brand. It is also helpful to think about what images and colors reflect those words and that helps when it comes to choosing your color scheme. Your wardrobe is also an important feature when it comes to this because you want your clothes to also reflect your personal brand too. What kind of style are you? Chic, preppy, classic, or a hybrid of others? The way you portray yourself says a lot about you as an individual and your brand.

Energy Style

Have a certain mindset and communication style with you. It is a fact that you can be known for your energy style when people meet you. You ideally want to have a certain degree of kindness and compassion when you communicate with people to keep up your brand.

Signature Look or Style

What do people remember you by? Was it a great pair of shoes or an awesome blazer? It can be everything and anything under the sun.

Leadership

Give yourself a sense of purpose whether it involves community service, a professional organization, or something in between. It will give you happiness and something to live for that people will associate you with.

Social Media

Everyone has a certain flavor for their social media accounts whether it is more fashion based, music themed, or full of wonderful people. Establish yourself that way because it is a key element of your personal brand. You do not want to tarnish your personal brand by posting pictures that will get you in trouble later in life.

Communication Mediums

Email and voicemail messaging is something that will help improve your personal brand. Communication mediums need to be clean and professional so that will make people want to come back to you. The voicemail message should be not weird and should give a strong message to future business contacts. The email signature is also something to keep in mind when it comes to messaging. It definitely does not hurt to have one that works and these are not hard to make at all.

Business cards and presentations

It does not hurt to have business cards for when you meet new people such as employers or just business contacts so it is helpful to have them also be reflective of your personal brand. The presentations that you present in class also reflect your personal brand so keep the colors and fonts in line with your personal brand and you will be able to use them for years to come.

Getting Inspired

If you are having trouble when it comes to creating your personal brand, Pinterest is an excellent resource that can be very helpful. It will spark your creativity and give you something to start from. This is where you can find your colors and images that will help you maintain a certain brand image.

I hope all of that was helpful and I hope that you are able to create a personal brand that helps you in your future career!

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