Using Your Personal Brand to Develop Your Elevator Pitch

As Reach’s Chief Content Officer, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you our guest blogger for today, Susan Guarneri.  Susan is a Reach certified Master Personal Branding Strategist and content contributor to “Personal Branding for Dummies”.

Today’s Guest Author:

Discover and land your dream job! Susan Guarneri, the Career Assessment Goddess, is a certified career counselor and career coach, Reach-certified Master Personal Branding Strategist and content contributor to Personal Branding for Dummies. An early adopter of personal branding and online identity management, she specializes in Career Focus, Proactive Job Search, and Branded Communications.

“You know how many professionals and executives yearn for a better job, but it’s a nightmare to make it happen. My clients are the ones who land not only a better job, but often their Dream Job. And they enjoy every moment of the ride!”

Your personal branding strategy

The above example is my Elevator Pitch, which identifies my target audience (professionals and executives), their need (yearn for a better job), the pain they are experiencing trying to attain that need (a nightmare), and their desired outcome (their Dream Job).

It also incorporates a bonus phrase (enjoy every moment of the ride) which hints at the personal brand attributes, strengths, values, and methods that The Career Assessment Goddess (my tagline) uses in the process.

Your Elevator Pitch is all about your relevant value to your target audience. It is a shorter, punchier message derived from your more encompassing personal brand statement. While the Elevator Pitch is geared to connecting outwardly (to your target audience or prospects), your personal branding statement serves you.

Going through the process of distilling your personal brand statement allows you to:

1. clarify your unique promise of value to your target audience,
2. communicate your brand promise with passion and power, and
3. commit to authentically living up to your brand promise.

For example, here is my personal brand statement:

“Through my passion for career assessments and dig-deep questions, as well as my natural enthusiasm, intelligence, strategic insights, genuine empathy, and creativity, I challenge, inspire, and support stressed-out and struggling professionals and executives to reach higher than they ever dared in their careers – and to land their Dream Jobs!”

The first part of my personal brand statement explains HOW I do what I do, which is a unique combination of my natural talents, knowledge, attributes, and strengths. These were made clear to me via my 360Reach personal branding assessment results.

The second part of my personal branding statement identifies who I choose to work with (stressed-out and struggling professionals and executives) and for what purpose (to land their Dream Job). That purpose reflects the role I play in contributing to my Vision for the world of work: that no one has to work at a job that is boring, demeaning, or that they simply can’t stand.

So, if you feel clueless about crafting a memorable Elevator Pitch, remember that discovering your authentic personal brand comes first. The personal branding process is more than just reflecting on what you think is special about you. That’s important – but it’s not the whole story.

Often the feedback obtained via the 360Reach reveals attributes and strengths you would never have thought of or that you never deemed important. Those personal brand attributes and strengths put you on the pathway to defining your own personal brand statement – and, ultimately, a powerful Elevator Pitch!

For more examples of elevator pitches, personal branding statements and taglines, check out Susan Chritton’s new book Personal Branding for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012).