What’s your brand?
For most Georgia State students, the answer is “I don’t know.” I’m here to help change that! While we may not all be marketing majors, it is essential at our age to brand ourselves every day to ensure future success both in the workplace and in everyday life.
What do I mean by “What is your brand?” Simply put, it is how you market yourself to potential employees, friends, or even possible love interests…but we’ll save that last one for another day.
There are numerous ways you can market yourself and create your own ‘brand’ identity.
For starters, I recommend everyone to have their own personalized business card. You might think this is cheesy and comes off as trying too hard, but think about it: You never know when you will run into someone that could open up a great network for you. The essentials to any business card include your name, phone number, LinkedIn URL (you DO have a LinkedIn, right?), and your own professional blog or Twitter handle.
By having business cards on hand, you’re able to connect with that person on a personal level that a simple handshake and name exchange won’t do. Plus, it beats out giving someone a resume because that can come off as being a little greedy in looking for a job immediately instead of building that business relationship.
So whether you’re majoring in biology, finance, or music theory, it is never a bad idea to have a business card on hand. There’s tons of great templates online and companies that will make them for you at a great price.
While business cards are a plus, a good first impression is essential to creating your brand. This is best done by your outward appearance. I see a lot of students around school that seem to have the ‘I don’t want to be hired’ appearance. If you dress for success each day, you are bound to run into more positive opportunities than if you roll out of bed and come to campus. I don’t think suits and ties are necessary every day, but a clean, sharp look will definitely make you stand out in a crowd––a crowd that will be competing for the same jobs as you one day.
Again, tailor this to your personal goals and career aspirations, but much like business cards, you never know when you’ll run into someone important or of interest. When you do, you may not want to be wearing your high school band hoodie and ripped blue jeans.
Lastly, you create your brand best by knowing what you wish to accomplish in life and emulating that as best as you can. If you have aspirations to be a New York stock broker, start acting like one today! If you want to be an economist, start writing essays and research papers on random topics. The bottom line is: You can’t wait until you get your degree to just turn off the “college student” switch and go into career mode.There’s a popular concept in business called “faking it until you make it.” While you may not feel experienced enough in your field of study or career, confidence makes all the difference. If you dress nice, carry personalized business cards with you and act the part, even remotely well, you are well beyond the majority of students on campus today.
So I’ll ask you again, what is your brand? It might be something you want to think about next time you’re on campus!
