50+ Tips to Brand Yourself Offline

65 Shares
Share35
Tweet24
Share3
Pin3
Email

Now that you know how to brand yourself online, complete your personal branding strategy with another handy list, this time of suggestions for branding yourself offline in the real world.

World Behind Standout Guy

It's all about leaving the best impression.

General guidelines

  • Show your expertise as much as possible.
  • Give people every way to find out about your brand-related successes and achievements without you needing to brag about them.
  • Make yourself easy to contact for thoughts and questions via telephone, cellphone, even a snail mail address.
  • Help other people in your industry such as bloggers, Twitterers, colleagues, advice seekers, etc.
  • Give people a reason to talk about you in a positive way that also matches your brand.
  • Follow other people in your industry and anyone else who can teach you how to spread your message.
  • Create and apply personal design guidelines that will share the values of your brand and are reusable online and offline.

Your appearance

  • Dress for success in whatever field you may be in.
  • Corresponding hairstyle
  • Confident posture
  • Firm handshake
  • Gestures you use
  • Right vocabulary
  • What you actually say to people and how you say it (to the point? Or always diplomatically?)

Where to leave your branding in print

  • A personal logo or monogram
  • Your handwriting style
  • Your signature
  • Personal stationery
  • Your mailing signature i.e. how you end your letters.
  • Your resume or CV
  • Portfolios
  • Diplomas
  • Test scores or grades
  • Business cards
  • Calling or visiting cards
  • Thank you cards
  • Event-related cards, such as holiday or condolence cards
  • Books you write or contribute towards, such as in a foreword.
  • Articles and white papers you publish in newspapers, journals, magazines, circulars, etc.
  • Press releases
  • Printed reports such as about the impact of recent changes in your industry by government or changes that you'd like to see.
  • Posters
  • Flyers
  • Art

Examples of choices that brand you

  • The gadgets you carry.
  • The car you drive.
  • The brands, companies and people you associate with.
  • The medals, trophies and awards you've won.
  • The medals, trophies and awards you've given out.
  • The people you admire and how you admire them.
  • The people you dislike and how you dislike them.

Opportunities to show your brand

  • Information interviews at companies you'd like to impress.
  • Out-of-the-box guerrilla actions that grab attention.
  • Distribute samples of your work.
  • Participate in events and activities where you will be introduced publicly.
  • Speak at conferences.
  • Throw a press conference if you have something newsworthy to share that's related to your brand.
  • Do radio shows, regular or intermittent appearances, such as interviews.
  • Get on TV, also for regular or intermittent appearances.
  • Give free advice at business expositions and job fairs.
  • Circulate an industry-related petition.
  • Give seminars or workshops about a topic you know in depth.
  • Participate in as many industry-related networking events that you can.
  • Organize networking events for your industry.
  • Join local, national and international brand-related communities such as business forums and professional groups.
  • If there is no such brand-related community, organize one.
  • Volunteer for groups where you are likely to attract the most positive attention.
  • Give out a personally-branded version of a free tool that your audience will find useful. Think schwag from conferences. Pens are the most typical example, but magnets, flash lights, keychains with your contact information and personal tagline are also common.
  • Use sandwich boards in a busy area. They're so low tech, they always get heads to turn.

Do you have any other real world branding suggestions that have worked for you?

I originally published this article on the terrific Personal Branding Blog.

Building a personal brand? Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for the latest ways to attract jobs with your personal brand.

Jacob Share

Job Search Expert, Professional Blogger, Creative Thinker, Community Builder with a sense of humor. I like to help people.

This Post Has 25 Comments

  6. Claire April 19, 2009 Reply

    Plenty of food for thought. This will certainly fill most of the gaps.

  10. Melissa Paulik April 23, 2009 Reply

    I think this is a great list. It could seem a bit overwhelming to someone who is looking to improve their brand. If you feel like you have a long way to go, I’d suggest picking two or three things that you know you can improve and work on these before trying to tackle everything at once.

    Let me also add that your overall energy level brands you. First and foremost, I would take care of my health by eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep.

    All the best!

    Melissa

  19. Pingback: AudioJungle

  24. Charleen Larson July 28, 2011 Reply

    I’m not actually looking for a job, I’m an entrepreneur. But these are great tips — everyone can benefit from branding themselves offline. I’m going to start at #1 and work my way down. I already do a few of these things, so it’s time to intensify those efforts as well.

  25. Kate September 29, 2013 Reply

    What is “offline”?

Leave a Reply