[vc_row margin_top=”-40″ padding_left=”40″ padding_right=”40″ type=”3″ bg_position=”top” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_cover=”false” bg_attachment=”false” padding_top=”25″ padding_bottom=”0″ parallax_speed=”0.1″ css=”.vc_custom_1399373744721{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Personal Branding Tips for Women

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]In today’s competitive working world, women who want to progress in their careers need to learn to build personal brands in order to stand out from the clutter, get their skills recognised and outshine the competition.

While there are still parts of the business world that are dominated by men, that is not going to change unless women step up to the plate. Women need to find ways to differentiate themselves and demonstrate their value if they want to be visible and take their careers to the next level.

Personal branding means being deliberate in cultivating how others see you by focusing on your USP (unique selling proposition), how you position yourself relative to colleagues and competitors and how you ‘package’ yourself in an authentic and noticeable way that makes you stand out. Personal branding is about self-knowledge – understanding what differentiates you from others with similar qualifications and experience.

Here are three pitfalls that women are especially prone to in terms of personal branding and marketing, and how to avoid them:

• Thinking that being a good listener means we should never speak up. As women we tend to pride ourselves on being great listeners. But being a good listener doesn’t mean you give up the right to have an opinion. The most effective personal brands are built by people who know both how to listen well and to express themselves in a real way so that they are heard too.
• Undervaluing personal relationships. Women are sometimes criticised for being too relational in the workplace, and yet many women are gifted at making emotional connections very quickly. Learn to see this as a strength and use it to build deep, mutually-beneficial networks.
• Suffering from the superwoman syndrome. Many women believe that building and marketing a personal brand means they either have to be superwoman or pretend to be her. Nothing is further from the truth. People are drawn to genuine brands, but can spot a fake quickly. By being yourself, vulnerabilities and all, you create emotional connections – the key to a successful brand.

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