Branding Yourself: Where to Start | by Katherine Clancy | Mar, 2023

If you google “how to brand myself”’, you may find things that talk about logos, taglines, websites, marketing, target audience and niche.

Branding is your outward facing identity. It builds familiarity and recognition in your audience. You’ve probably heard the term ‘household name’. These are brands that have stood the test of time portraying a consistent identity that people know and trust. That’s branding.

On a practical level, where to start would be defining:

Who You Are/What You Do/What You Sell

Your Market/Competitors

Your Brand Identity (logo, colors, visual imagery, voice)

The best advice on starting your brand: figure out what the f*ck you like.

What brings you joy, what excites you. Look at how you dress and your personal style (or what you wish it could be). What brands do you like, follow and admire? Are they relatable? Are they high end luxury? Are they ‘anti-branding’ (that’s still branding). Do they talk to you like a friend or do they hardly talk at all, alluring you with their mystery. Observing what you like and who you are will help inform your brand. Finding that inner authentic truth is essential to creating a cool, engaging, consistent brand.

NOTE: You are going to get bored of your brand, you are going to want to change it. If you’re a Gemini you are going to want to change it next week. Getting to the kernels of personal truth and personal joy will help create a solid foundation which you can always pivot off of. This allows for adaptation in the future without making drastic changes because it’s always coming from you.

Knowing your market is pretty essential. Are you trying to be another flower petal bridal stationary lookin’ ass in a sea of bridal stationery lookin’ asses? It’s okay if you are, if that’s you. But saving logos on pinterest is usually the best way to find out what NOT to do and how to stand out from the crowd. The great thing about branding yourself is that you are an infinitely complex being and no one else is just like you!

Knowing your audience is not bad advice either. Who are you talking to? Who are you trying to reach. This will help you start working on your brand’s voice: the overall vibe and feel you want your audience to pick up on. You are probably going to talk to your sick grandmother on a Sunday morning in a different way than you talk to your best friend at 3am in their car. This is where brand voice comes in. Know who you are talking to and how you would say it.

Have fun with it. Use your branding as an avenue of personal expression. If you want to dive deeper and pull out that essence of your personal brand~ call us.

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