PERSONAL BRANDING MADE EASY

The 7 Core Strategies Revealed

Keli Lenfield has taken the typical notion of personal branding and made it well, more personalised. We live in an extraordinary time when information is instant and celebrity influences our choices. Fashion and celebrity are partners for life and are a business whether it’s product endorsements, causes, selling magazines or providing a reference. Who they (the celebrities) are and what they represent is always available for the highest bidder and therefore under consumer scrutiny.

So how do you transfer this type of exposure and branding onto you, what you believe, what you represent, what you have to offer?

In her highly acclaimed hit book, “Everyone is a Supermodel. Secrets for any career based on my modelling experiences.”, Keli identifies and shares the “7 core skills” that will help you differentiate yourself both online and in person on a global scale. The best part is that amongst all of this comparison which is not going to end anytime soon, you learn how to take what is unique about you and use it to be noticed, create opportunities and succeed. “Imagine being in a room with 100 other women (or men) who look similar to you. Now imagine that your qualifications and experience don’t matter and that you probably won’t have an opportunity to talk. How do you compete? How do you get the opportunity to ask for the business?” she states.

In each instalment, Keli will unveil one of these 7 core skills in her own personalised fashion and guarantees that these skills can be immediately transferred and adapted to your unique personality, your own style and purpose and you don’t need celebrity cred to make it happen.

(1) Your Goals & You

Knowing what you really want sounds easy enough, its knowing WHY you want something that can get a little cloudy, but knowing this why is what will help you get you out of bed in the morning and keep you going when someone tells you you can’t do something.

This skill is all about identifying what you want from your life. What you want to do career wise, what you think may be holding you back and most importantly the real reason why you want what you want. By understanding your interests, passions, strengths and weaknesses, you will be on your way to either gaining employment and/or choosing a further learning pathway within an area of opportunity and as a bonus, complete fulfilment.

This blog is aimed to help you research and question your choices, employment options, personal strengths and professional goals.

Plan Goals & Options

It is important for you to start to listen to yourself and to learn to trust your feelings and instincts about your choices. This is about you. Not what you have been told you should do or think you should do to make someone else happy. So depending on how you want to document this skill, spend some time thinking about all of your past and present achievements, goals and opportunities that have been attempted and/or attained. Write these down and highlight the ones that really mean something to you.

I also highly recommend spending some time writing down everything you like and don’t like. Try and be as specific as you can. Some examples could be people, places, situations, job roles, travel, responsibilities, set hours, set pay, children or “on call” reliability.

Preparing a basic personal “SWOT ANALYSIS” is also something that will give you some clarity around what is possible for you to persue. SWOT’s have been around for a long time and they are highly recommended for business plans and proposals, but in this instance, they are extremely effective when used in a personal way, rather than a professional focus. SWOT stands for:

Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats

Some questions you could ask yourself for more insight could be;

What are my strengths? How do I relate to people? What opportunities are available for me? What are my weaknesses? Am I a self starter? Can my weaknesses be overcome with training and experience? Do I like to travel?

It is important that you objectively consider your personal and professional strengths, weaknesses and threats and your immediate and future opportunities.

The only rule you have to follow is NO negative self talk. This is an honest and objective opportunity for you and you may be surprised by the results because you are giving yourself some time and recognition.

Conduct Basic Research

Either you will start to see a pattern forming about what it is that you really love to do or you won’t and if not, that’s okay. It took me 20 plus years of being a “Jack of many” and a “master of none” to find what it was that I wanted to do and it all started with this process, so have faith – it always rewards.

Conducting basic research is a great skill to have and is so easy these days with Google available to practically the entire world. Start by having a look for associated careers that may lead to your ultimate career and then write down what further learning opportunities these careers present. For example, what pre-requisites or qualifications (if any) are required for each career?

Finally, when you consider a career path, part of your research should include what other workplace conditions may be involved within that career. These may include international or national travel, irregular work, diverse job role or expectations, remebering to be aware of your likes, dislikes and personal SWOT outcomes that could determine your realistic progress towards your goals. Write down what working conditions are possible and practical when considering your next step and plan of action.

MEET KELI LENFIELD

Keli Lenfield is a single mother, author, course developer, social entrepreneur and animal ambassador. She delivers courses to disadvantaged youth and writes for a number of magazines including The CEO Magazine and Haute Living. Her book has gained worldwide reviews and she is the founder of Keli Lenfield.com and Model Alliance.Global. Her tagline “Be the Difference to make a Difference” motivates her to be the walking and talking example for all who admire and inspire her.