Branding

Overview

Before you dive into creating your own personal brand, you first need to assess its current state and brainstorm the direction you would like it to take. In this journal, you will reflect on your existing digital footprint, unique strengths, personal and professional values, and interests to plan for the development of your own unique personal brand.

Prompt

For this journal, you will submit a written self-reflection on your strengths, interests, and values. You will also find inspiration for your personal brand by brainstorming and collecting a variety of aspirational examples, which you will compile in either a web-based tool or an additional written summary.

Part I: Reflection

Before you begin your written reflection, take time to do the following:

· Think about what you believe are your own personal strengths, interests, and values.

· Speak to family, friends, and coworkers and ask them to describe your strengths and interests. Also ask them to provide an explanation as to why they chose these strengths and interests.

You are encouraged, but not required, to use the following resources to support your self-reflections:

· High 5 Test : This free online quiz provides a summary of your key strengths according to the quiz questions.

· 16 Personalities : This free online quiz provides a summary of your strengths, values, and preferences according to the quiz questions.

· Authentic Personal Brand Coaching, Chapter 4 (pp. 39–41 ): This inventory will help you to identify your personal values, which will become part of your personal vision and mission.

Based on your own reflections and feedback from others, analyze your current strengths, interests, and values. Use the following questions to guide your analysis:

· How do your own insights on your strengths, interests, and values compare to the insights of others?

· What personal or professional experiences and goals support your own identifications of strengths, interests, and values? Provide supporting examples.

· What evidence did others use to support their insights on your strengths, interests, and values? Is there anything that others noted that surprised you? Why?

· If you chose to use one of the resources to help you reflect, did you feel its insights were an accurate representation of you? Why or why not?

Next, take some time to reflect on how you currently present yourself to the world. Consider the ways in which you share your experience, interests, strengths, values, and personality through various channels—for example, on social media, at work, with friends or family, or through your hobbies. Use the following questions to guide your analysis:

· How do you wish to be perceived by others?

· What would people who interact with you both online and offline perceive to be your strengths, interests, and values? Why?

· Are there things that you could do to positively impact your digital presence?

Part II: Branding Inspiration

Now that you’ve completed your self-reflection, you can begin to collect examples to help you develop your aspirational personal brand. Explore the module resources, the web, existing personal brands you are familiar with, and the world around you to collect artifacts that appeal to you based on their visual aesthetic, mission, values, tone, or other components of personal branding.

Compile your examples and artifacts using whatever tool or format best suits your creative process. You will include either a link to the tool you used or an additional written summary as part of your journal submission.

Examples of possible tools you could use include the following:

· Popplet : A free iPad and web tool used to create visual idea webs; creation of a free account is required for use

· Padlet : A free virtual bulletin board that can organize ideas and visuals; creation of a free account is required for use

· Diigo : A web-based personal knowledge management tool with the ability to bookmark, annotate, and tag; creation of a free account is required for use

· Microsoft Word: A word processing tool with no account creation required

Regardless of which tool you choose to use, your branding inspiration must include the following:

· A variety of aspirational components from multiple personal brands

· Notes or descriptions that briefly clarify what appeals to you about any examples you include

· APA-style citations for any examples you used

· If you used a web-based tool, access to your idea board that your instructor can view publicly without creating login credentials

Guidelines for Submission

This journal must be submitted as a 500- to 750-word Microsoft Word document.

Under your written self-reflection, include a “Branding Inspiration” heading and add either a link to the web-based tool you used or your additional written summary. If you used a web-based tool, ensure that the page is publicly viewable so that your instructor can grade your assignment.