Brand

How do I stand out? Building your personal brand

Cat Lo

Jul 29, 2024 — 2 min read

👋🏻 Welcome new July subscribers, Hajin, Marcus, John, Nadine, Murray, Vaibhav, Liz. Glad to have you! 👋🏻

My current job scope involves understanding what it means to "grow my brand" for sellers at Amazon. I've been conducting research study for the last 1.5 months and I've been learning a lot of the ways different businesses think about how to position their brand message.

Branding as a concept an be applied to personal branding for careers. One big theme stands out, "How do I build my personal brand?"

This question comes from three different personas, each with unique goals:

Job Seeker: How do I stand out as a new designer to get a job?
Career Climber: How do I stand out at my job to become the "go-to" person?
Thought Leader: How do I stand out in the industry beyond my company?

Let's explore the building blocks of a strong personal brand and how they influence your sphere of impact.

Define Your Audience.

Who is your target audience? How do you provide value that is relevant to their interests?

Job Seekers: Understand company vision and job requirements and tailor your resume and portfolio accordingly.
Career Climbers: Align your expertise with projects, showcase skills, and present them as a compelling story.
Thought Leaders: Demonstrate ability to inspire others and drive new changes.

Establish Your Mission and Values

Articulate what you stand for using this template:

“I offer [UX expertise/superpower/partnership] for [product/engineering problem] to [value proposition]. Unlike [competition/history/situation], I [key differentiator]. Here are [tangible results]”

Example: "I enable design innovation to simplify the data-intensive world, creating a timeless, form-agnostic blueprint centered around user experience."

Craft Your Story

What from your current story and experience resonate with others? What pieces of information will become memorable when you create this connection with them as a person? Find a story that is authentic, compelling, and transparent.

Showcase your deep expertise and authority in a topic by showing samples of success.

Create a "slogan" or small bites

A story is really difficult to communicate because it takes time to tell it in layers. Break your story into quick, attention-grabbing bites. Try these approaches:

State your claim. "The world's most beautiful spreadsheet" yes, my coworker said that out loud in a meeting.
Make it a metaphor. "UX Whisperer", "Interface Alchemist"
Make it an attitude. "UX Maturity bullshit" "Empathy Engineer"
Make it directly about the people you work with. "UX for Engineering", "AI for Designers"
A catchy rhyme. "Design so fine, users align", "Simplify the Complex"
Establish an aesthetic or taste level. "Digital Distinction" "Function meets Finesse"

Why?

Creating a strong personal brand generates visibility at the right time. It ensures people are aware of your work and its potential benefits to them. This visibility can expand your influence and create new opportunities across your chosen field.