Millenium Marketer

Coast's Ri Rea Top, a brand message aspiration

I have many, many problems to solve at work. Many.
Aside from everyday challenges, which you don’t want to hear about in technical detail, here is one challenge that you may have faced before.

Re-vamping personal style = continuous work on personal branding message or branding strategy. Whether you’re looking for a new job or vying for the next promotion, this is a piece that is often discounted but actually quite important to communicating effectively to someone else about who you are.

It’s not very different from giving a brand a new name. Network Appliance, for one, rebranded themselves by shortening their name to “NetApp”.  While I may be strongly familiar with the qualities and attributes of my personal brand (i.e. hard working, creative or whatever else that is credible), being able to communicate the right message is top priority.

Some people invest a lot of time in making their personal style work, but this is really challenging to do when I have other competing priorities at work or at home.

The first step is to have the right essentials that will help keep your brand message consistent on a daily basis. With Tim Gunn’s top 10 Fashion Essentials, I can at least state this message simply and effectively.

Hmm…at least I’ve got a few items on this list, including a black dress and a white shirt. Score!

Then the part that is really hard, because time is so limited for us, is being able to choose the right pieces at the right price. Call it the extra “razzle dazzle” of your brand message, if you will. For some inspiration, there is no better resource, next to hiring a personal stylist than tapping into the fashionista and personal style community at Polyvore.

At Polyvore, you can ask for advice from aspiring stylists, view sets made by community members, or create your own. It’s an awesome way to learn to set up your personal brand and decide what really says that it’s you. You can experiment by putting together “sets” and see what each piece might say about  you. You can also <a href=”http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/advice.browse”>ask for consulting advice</a> in exchange for giving your own advice, too. Already, I’ve been recommended satin blouses to go with blazers–like the one on the right, which with the right pieces will say, I’m nice, a little feminine, and ready to work. I’m excited about the prospect of learning more so I can share more with these hardcore brand strategists or brand managers :)

Overall, it’s important to send the right message, but equally important is to remember not to obsess over your look, because it’s just a thin layer between you and the other person. It’s important to keep a good attitude, of course, and always smile while working hard!

This post is a nod to @trishaisworking who is an awesome brand strategist herself, and who has been great to encourage me, reminding me that I probably know more than I think I do about making my clothes work for me.