Business Marketing leader Prof. Ruth Stevens talks about, ‘Personal Branding: How to Position Yourself for Success’, during IIM Bangalore’s EPGP seminar on August 04
06 August, 2021, Bengaluru: Drawing from her leadership experience in business marketing, Professor Ruth Stevens held an engaging workshop titled, ‘Personal Branding: How to Position Yourself for Success’ for the students of the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore, as part of the EPGP Seminar Series, on August 04 (Wednesday), 2021.
Prof. Stevens started the workshop by highlighting the need for a personal brand. “A brand helps you deliver a positive feeling and establishes you as a unique and memorable person. We all have a digital footprint now. It is inevitable. So, we must shape, influence, and control this footprint to our benefits.”
Listing out the three elements of a personal brand which are an image, a promise and a point of differentiation, Prof. Stevens engaged the participants by sending them into breakout sessions and asking them to come up with a personal branding message. “Identify professional and personal factors that will set you apart from others. Go narrow. Brands are known for something. Not for everything”, said the branding expert.
The next part of the workshop was about the top five tactics that one can use for establishing a personal brand – Volunteering, Writing, Speaking, Networking and Creating better online visibility. Prof. Stevens went to explain the nuances of each of these with examples and illustrations. “Choose the tactic that comes naturally to you. It must be fun and satisfying to you.” She also spoke about the importance of having a solid elevator speech and shared a clever approach to craft one. The participants were again given an opportunity to share and fine-tune their elevator speeches with some of their peers through random breakout sessions.
Prof. Stevens had a suggestion for introverts who usually find it difficult to network. She suggested them to attend networking events like how one attends a meeting. “Research who will be there and whom you want to meet. Make an appointment. Talk to them directly or through chat. Offer help. Add value and follow up.”
The final part of the workshop was about using LinkedIn to create the perfect professional brand image. “To start with, identify your target audience. What do you want them to know, think, and do? Think along these lines”, added the Professor. She went on to explain many practical measures to optimize the headline, bio, keywords, cover design, the ‘About’ section, photograph, skills, endorsements and status updates. Each of these areas were demonstrated with examples and recommendations that the participants could apply right away.
Prof. Stevens ended the highly informative workshop by urging the participants to come up with a personal branding action plan entailing the steps that one could take, both online and offline. Overall, it was a practical and insightful session for the participants.
About the author:
Prof. Stevens is a leader in Business Marketing and has held senior marketing positions at Time Warner, Ziff Davis and IBM, as well as two start-ups. She also teaches graduate students at NYU and Columbia Business School, and delivers lectures at business schools around the world, including IIM Bangalore. Crain’s B2B Magazine named Prof. Stevens among its 100 most influential people in Business Marketing.
Business Marketing leader Prof. Ruth Stevens talks about, ‘Personal Branding: How to Position Yourself for Success’, during IIM Bangalore’s EPGP seminar on August 04
06 August, 2021, Bengaluru: Drawing from her leadership experience in business marketing, Professor Ruth Stevens held an engaging workshop titled, ‘Personal Branding: How to Position Yourself for Success’ for the students of the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore, as part of the EPGP Seminar Series, on August 04 (Wednesday), 2021.
Prof. Stevens started the workshop by highlighting the need for a personal brand. “A brand helps you deliver a positive feeling and establishes you as a unique and memorable person. We all have a digital footprint now. It is inevitable. So, we must shape, influence, and control this footprint to our benefits.”
Listing out the three elements of a personal brand which are an image, a promise and a point of differentiation, Prof. Stevens engaged the participants by sending them into breakout sessions and asking them to come up with a personal branding message. “Identify professional and personal factors that will set you apart from others. Go narrow. Brands are known for something. Not for everything”, said the branding expert.
The next part of the workshop was about the top five tactics that one can use for establishing a personal brand – Volunteering, Writing, Speaking, Networking and Creating better online visibility. Prof. Stevens went to explain the nuances of each of these with examples and illustrations. “Choose the tactic that comes naturally to you. It must be fun and satisfying to you.” She also spoke about the importance of having a solid elevator speech and shared a clever approach to craft one. The participants were again given an opportunity to share and fine-tune their elevator speeches with some of their peers through random breakout sessions.
Prof. Stevens had a suggestion for introverts who usually find it difficult to network. She suggested them to attend networking events like how one attends a meeting. “Research who will be there and whom you want to meet. Make an appointment. Talk to them directly or through chat. Offer help. Add value and follow up.”
The final part of the workshop was about using LinkedIn to create the perfect professional brand image. “To start with, identify your target audience. What do you want them to know, think, and do? Think along these lines”, added the Professor. She went on to explain many practical measures to optimize the headline, bio, keywords, cover design, the ‘About’ section, photograph, skills, endorsements and status updates. Each of these areas were demonstrated with examples and recommendations that the participants could apply right away.
Prof. Stevens ended the highly informative workshop by urging the participants to come up with a personal branding action plan entailing the steps that one could take, both online and offline. Overall, it was a practical and insightful session for the participants.
About the author:
Prof. Stevens is a leader in Business Marketing and has held senior marketing positions at Time Warner, Ziff Davis and IBM, as well as two start-ups. She also teaches graduate students at NYU and Columbia Business School, and delivers lectures at business schools around the world, including IIM Bangalore. Crain’s B2B Magazine named Prof. Stevens among its 100 most influential people in Business Marketing.