Three Steps to Writing a Personal Brand Statement

Have you ever watched a keynote speaker at a conference, or read the latest viral social post from an influential expert in your industry, and asked yourself, “How did this person reach this level of visibility?”

Chances are, it wasn’t an accident. This high-profile expert likely dedicated considerable time and effort to build their personal brand.

But what is a personal brand? And how do you begin developing one?

A personal brand is a combination of an individual’s unique reputation, visibility and style of communicating their expertise in their field. At Hinge, we call professionals with a strong personal brand Visible Experts®.

Visible Experts are professionals who have attained high levels of visibility and expertise in their industry, establishing a personal brand that is widely recognized. And just as a firm can have a brand positioning statement, so can a Visible Expert. We call this language a personal brand statement or an expert positioning statement.

In this article, I describe how you can write a personal brand statement in three easy steps—one that will differentiate you from other thought leaders in your field and help people associate you with the value you deliver.

What is a Personal Brand Statement?

Much like firms carefully craft their positioning, mission and vision statements, individual experts who aspire to grow their visibility should write their own personal brand statement.

A personal brand statement is a carefully written paragraph, usually 4–6 sentences in length, that describes your expertise, who you serve, and most importantly, how your approach is different from that of other experts in your field. It may also specify key issues you believe in.

Usually, you won’t use your personal brand statement verbatim in marketing materials or on your website. Instead, think of it as a compass to guide you forward on your path to increased prominence. Use it to inform how you talk about yourself and how to describe your unique place in the universe of experts in your field. You can return to it again and again to orient you and remind you of language you can use to express your difference.

How to Write a Personal Brand Statement

Writing a succinct personal brand statement that captures your unique positioning doesn’t have to be hard. To get started, write down a few things that you think make your expertise different or special.

Try to answer the following four questions:

• What are you an expert in?
• What do you specialize in (if anything)?
• What other things make you different from your competitors?
• What do clients like about working with you?

You may want to pose some or all of these questions to colleagues and clients, too. The answers will provide the ingredients you need to draft your statement.

Whether you choose to write in the first person or the third person is up to you. Just keep the tone conversational (to make your expertise sound approachable) and to-the-point (so that your themes are easy to grasp). Your personal branding statement will speak to a wide variety of audiences, so try to avoid using technical language and industry jargon.

Now let’s dive in!

Three Steps to Writing Your Personal Brand Statement

Step 1: Identify your specialized area of expertise and describe it.

In one sentence, describe what you are an expert in. This can also be an ideal place to describe who you serve. Start your sentence with the phrase, “I am an expert in ________________.” The more narrow and specialized your expertise, the easier it will be for you to differentiate yourself from other industry experts.

Here’s how one expert might write their first sentence:

“I am an expert in providing accurate valuations for startup consumer-facing technology companies that are seeking their first round of PE funding.”

Notice that this expert has focused on a specific target industry—and then narrowed it further by specifying a particular business need. This narrow specialization helps the expert stand out from the many generalists in the industry.

Step 2: Build out the middle.

Your personal brand statement is an opportunity to tell your story—how you’re different, what problems you solve or where you stand on issues. And don’t forget who you serve if you didn’t address that in the first sentence. Who buys your services? Do you serve a particular industry? How do you want people to perceive you?

Two to four sentences is usually enough to explain why your expertise is important to your target audience.

Let’s see how our expert tackled the middle section:

“Many startups find the process of valuation and outside funding intimidating. I make it easy by explaining exactly how the valuation process works and what VEs are looking for in a startup business. I also have key relationships with a variety of strategy, finance and operational experts I can tap if a client needs to address problems with their business or pitch.”

Step 3: Write a concluding sentence.

Wrap up the personal brand statement by reinforcing the most compelling differentiators that matter to your audience—and if you can, make your conclusion the most impactful part of the statement.

Here’s the full text of our sample personal brand statement:

“I am an expert in providing accurate valuations for startup, consumer-facing technology companies that are seeking their first round of funding. Many startups find the process of valuation and outside funding intimidating. I make it easy by explaining exactly how the valuation process works and what funders are looking for in a startup business. I also have key relationships with a variety of strategy, finance and operational experts I can tap if a client needs to address problems with their business or pitch. When new B2C technology companies need to fund their growth, I deliver the defensible valuations and expert advice they need to make the strongest possible impression.”

In this example, it is clear from the beginning what the expert does and who they do it for. The rest of the personal brand statement goes on to establish what makes them different in this space.

At this point, you know everything you need to write your own personal brand statement. Why not get started?

A Couple of Tips

As you write, you may find yourself getting stuck or struggling with the right words. You may not be sure if you are accurately describing yourself, or you may wonder if you are being overly promotional. Maybe you worry that you don’t have a true differentiator. Don’t get discouraged. Hurdles like these are natural, and getting your personal brand statement just right can take time. Below are two tips that may help.

A little aspiration can be a wonderful thing

As you go through the process and ask yourself questions, you may notice some areas or skills that you need to work on. In fact, you may find yourself speaking about a version of yourself that isn’t fully-baked yet. Don’t get discouraged. As long as your objective is attainable and you want to achieve it, use your aspirational brand statement to set some personal goals. Just make sure you don’t over promise or paint yourself as something that nobody will believe.

Focus on issues where you can shine

No matter where you are in your personal branding journey, an expert positioning statement will help get you there by focusing your expertise in ways you hadn’t before. If you don’t have a narrow industry or service focus, you can still own an idea, issue or approach.

To do this, focus on issues that don’t have easy solutions and aren’t likely to go away any time soon. If you are having trouble thinking of relevant issues, try answering these questions:

1. Where do your interests lie?
2. Where do your clients struggle most?
3. Where can you deliver the greatest value?

Then, if you don’t have it already, start building your expertise around one or more of these issues. They will give you endless topics to write and speak about as you become a Visible Expert.

Now what? 

Take some time to apply your new positioning to the personal bios and profiles on your website and social media accounts. While you are at it, ask yourself a couple of questions: Do they present you as a highly credible professional? Do they convey a consistent message?

Whenever you introduce yourself or write your bio, pull out your brand statement and use it to frame the way you describe your background, expertise and differentiation.

Your personal brand statement is a powerful tool as you take your career to a new level of visibility, respect and value. And every time you prepare a new promotional piece or sit down to write educational content, you can dip into your personal branding statement for welcome inspiration.

Have fun. And happy branding!