‘You Already Have a Brand’: 3 Ways to Make it Better with Katie Zeppieri
Katie Zeppieri, Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of The MicDrop Agency
September 6, 2024
The Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of The MicDrop Agency shares the three critical questions you must ask yourself when building a personal brand.
Those who work in PR, marketing, and comms are constantly concerned with building and reinforcing our clients’ brands. But what about building our own? Some of us are the modern-day example of the cobbler’s son having no shoes. We’re so busy building everyone else up that we haven’t taken the time to create our own brand. That’s where Katie Zeppieri, the Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of the MicDrop Agency, can help.
Zeppieri recently appeared on episode 238 of the “PR 360” podcast and shared some simple tips professionals can use to build and improve their brands. According to Zeppieri, we’ve all been creating our own brands — whether we know it or not — and now it’s time to whip them into shape.
“Your personal brand can be summarized as what people would say about you when you're not in the room from a professional standpoint,” she told the podcast. “What would your manager say about you? What would your peers say about you? What are your skills? What are your strengths? So, you have a brand, but I want to challenge you to think a little bit more intentionally about how to build it.”
Zeppieri shared three big questions people should ask themselves to flesh out their personal brand.
1. What are your career goals?
Zeppieri says one should know where they want to be in five, 10 years while considering their specific field of expertise. Creating a lasting brand isn’t just about what you’re doing now but preparing yourself for where you want to be. “Once you have that in mind, even if it’s not fully formed, consider what you want to specialize in,” she said.
2. How do I communicate my expertise?
“First of all, make sure that your pages and platforms reflect those skills. A lot of people have personal Instagram and Facebook pages where they're posting family photos and that kind of thing, and that's fine. I recommend also having a professional page where you're sharing more about your career highlights and things you're working on and viewing it from that lens,” Zeppieri explained.
3. How do I create value for others?
Next, Zeppieri says we should consider how our brand benefits others and practice some thought leadership. “How can I teach others? How can I entertain and inform others and demonstrate my skill set while doing so?” she says. “If you're a great writer, what are the different pieces that you could be writing? LinkedIn articles, blog posts, long-form captions, what are the things that you could be doing to demonstrate your thought leadership?”
After you’ve begun building your brand on socials, don’t stop there. Zeppieri says that you also need to reinforce it in the real world. “It's not just digital; it's also in-person communications when you meet people. How do you describe yourself, right? Like, who am I? What do I do? What do I specialize in? How can I help you? All of those things should really be cohesive.”
The interview has been edited for time and clarity.
