Here's a branding statement I developed about teaching at the college level:
Branding Statement: As a teacher, Katharine Hansen strives to create an active, exciting learning community in which she one of the learners. She may lead and facilitate while providing content and expertise, but she is, above all, a learner. Her greatest source of pride in her teaching career comes from having learned, grown, and improved as an instructor.
The story behind the statement: In my first semester of teaching, I was a horrible teacher. I stood in front of the class and read my notes. As terrible as I was, one student, named Ted, saw something in me. I could have quit since I was so terrible, but Ted's belief in me encouraged me to keep going. I've improved every semester and am now well liked and respected among students. [explains how work has developed and improved]
More examples:
Branding statement: Amy Addison is a rising public-relations professional who relentlessly pursues continuing education and will not rest until she has gained the optimal and most well-rounded qualifications.
The story behind the statement: I have started on a program of self-directed study in business communication to prepare for my goal to graduate from a public-relations program that I have identified. I am also preparing my credentials and reviewing my notes from the marketing, financial analysis, and economics courses that I have studied so I can take tests to exempt me from these courses and finish my degree faster so I can make a greater contribution to my employer's PR agency and its clients. [illustrates consistent pursuit of continuing education and professional development to enhance value to audience]
Branding Statement: Frank Jameson is a marketing guru who generates innovative and profitable solutions to marketing problems.
The story behind the statement: Give me a marketing problem, and I will produce one or more innovative solutions that result in higher stakeholder satisfaction while achieving the organization's profitability goals. For example, while working as marketing manager for Nabisco, I took over a sagging cookie and cracker division that was losing market share and shelf space, and within a year returned the brand to its position as the dominant brand in its category. While the sales and profits results speak for themselves, it was the multi-pronged attack of working with the marketing staff, the salesforce, and our channel partners that I am most proud of. I collaborated with my marketing team to develop a plan that was easy for our salesforce to implement and that reinvigorated our channel partners. The plan involved updating some of the tired packaging of our flagship brands, developing some unique cross-promotional strategies among products in different categories, reinventing our entire product-line Web presence, offering our consumers multiple connections with our brands, and strengthening our relationships with our channel members by guaranteeing them more store traffic and increased sales. The result of this effort was a more loyal and involved consumer base, higher morale among our salesforce, increased enthusiasm from our channel partners, and high praise from top management and our stockholders for recouping the lost luster of the brands and increasing both sales and profitability. [illustrates how he has positively changed the people and/or organization he worked for]
For a career-changer:
Branding Statement: As an aspiring special-education teacher, Tricia Turkelson offers calm steadiness and patience while setting high expectations for students prepare them for life beyond school. She believes it is a disservice to students to do anything less. As a career-changer, she is mature, imbued with life experience, and clear about her career aspiration - to make a difference in the lives of students with disabilities.
The story behind the statement: One example of a making a difference is when I worked with an emotionally disturbed student during my field experience. He lacked social skills. I worked with him three times weekly to reinforce the idea that he should ask to join a group of other students. Eventually he built up the confidence to ask others to be a part of the group. The patience and communication skills that I developed during 15 years of managing staff as an office manager will make me a better teacher than I would have been had I started earlier in my life.Once you establish your brand, carry it through your career-marketing communication. You can use it on your resume (preferably in first-person rather than third-person), in an online or print portfolio, on your personal Web site, in your blog, on networking/business cards, and more. Also consider enhancing your branding by offering yourself to the media for your expertise, speaking in public, generating visibility in professional organizations, serving as an adjunct instructor on consultant at a college or university, writing articles for publication, and serving on advisory boards and boards of directors.
Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.
