You are a Brand.

You, your name, your work, your ideas, your creativity, everything that makes you who you are, form part of a one-of-a-kind unique brand. The question is, what type of brand are you? What kind of brand do you want to be? And how will you get there?

Let’s start with a basic definition, what is a Brand? A brand is an idea, an expectation, an aspiration, it is how we identify and differentiate a solution provider from another one. Brands are design and build intentionally, they are meant to send a message and capture an intended audience. Corporations around the world understand the power of having a strong brand, that’s why they invest heavily in marketing efforts, and they spare nothing in protecting their name. To understand how important brands are, take a look at BrandFinance, who valuates and rank the most important brands around the world. According to BrandFinance, Apple has the first place in the ranking with a brand valuation of $263 billion dollars. That’s only what the name “Apple” is worth, not the company, which has a current market cap of $2.13 Trillions! So, yes brands are very important.

It is the brand what helps companies sell their products or services at much higher prices than competitors offering similar solutions. For instance, you wouldn’t pay the same for a brandless cup of coffee, then what you would for a Starbucks. Why is that? Because we associate the Starbucks name as more valuable and therefore of higher quality. The same is true for us as professionals. The result of our labor is our product or service, and the way we present and deliver it is our marketing. The higher the quality of our labor, and the better we present it, the more valuable it will be perceived. Brands are built over time, with consistency and creativity. If you want to be one of the most valuable brands in your field or profession, you must consistently deliver high quality work. You have to stop working just for money alone and start working towards building a strong brand. Regardless of how much you earn today, if you work intentionally towards building a strong brand, you will inevitably become more valuable to the marketplace and therefore paid much more. If you build a reputation of being reliable, problem solver and deliver high quality work most of the time, and furthermore you do it with a great attitude, then you will become one of the most valuable brands in your field.

Brands are not only about products or services but also about customer experience. What kind of customer experience are you delivering as brand to your coworkers and employers? Are your coworkers happy when they know that they will be working with you in a project? You have to be conscious that how you are perceived matters a lot for your brand. I rather pay more for a product of a slightly less quality but great customer service, than for a top-notch product where I’m treated terribly, would you do the same?

As a conclusion, you are your own brand, and as such you must be conscious that whatever you do it has to be your best, not because of how much you’re paid, but because it represents your brand. Remember that building a brand is intentional and happens over time, so every day and every action matters. Remember the phrase “it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and seconds to destroy it”, because when building a brand, it holds true. Aim to be the highest valued brand in your field, put love in what you do, be passionate about it, don’t worry where you are today, work towards building a strong brand and soon you will be wherever you want to.