The article “Building Your Personal Brand” talked about ways that potential PR practitioners could use to help them start build their on brands. In this article Sheerie Bakshi shares her personal experiences about what she learned that helped her to achieve her own personal brand. She mentions the importance of being able to market her skills and knowledge to help market a company’s communications services to future clients. She also mentions how important it is to market your skills to your internal and external clients (http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=1907).
In the article Bakshi gives four suggestions on what you can do to build your personal brand. One of her suggestions that I think is a good suggestions would be to seek out speaking opportunities. I think this is a good suggestion for those trying to better market themselves, because it gives people in the market a chance to see who you are. Public speaking engagements also lead to networking, which is one key thing that public relations practitioners will need to be successful in this field. I have personally used public speaking opportunities to help market myself. I have given speeches at campus events to students younger than myself, as well as my peers while I was in office. I also try to be the speaker for the different organizations I am involved in because it gives me a chance to sharpen my presentation and public speaking skills. This has also given me the opportunity to meet and network with many people who can help guide me to the career path that I see for myself. Speaking opportunities at my internship would be beneficial for me because it would give me a great chance to network. I could do the speaking or moderating at The Florida Bar events, which would help to market myself, could, and communicate with people that I have similar interests with.
For graduating PR students trying to build their personal brand, I would suggest that you really take the time to figure out what it is you want to do in the PR field. Start brainstorming different ideas and career paths for yourself. From there I would suggest that you start thinking of a branding name for yourself and using that name when you blog, or as your twitter name and any other social media stream that will get your name out there. Also take advantage of every opportunity you have to network and meet new people. A few days ago I was invited to attend the Florida Public Relations Association luncheon. The topic of the luncheon was “Personal Branding” given by a guy named Matt Chevy who recently became an entrepreneur. He explained how much he went through starting his own PR and Graphic Design Company because figuring out how to brand himself was one of the most important things he had to do.
Also maybe try to find someone that could serve as a mentor to you. I currently have a few mentors in places that I one day dream to be. I am constantly picking their brains about everything that I want to know. Seek knowledge from someone that has the career that you wish to have and ask questions and take notes. That’s the only way you are going to learn.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
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