Personal brand development

Introduction

I know, the phrase "personal brand," might make you barf.

But every established academic has a professional identity—what they're known for, how they approach problems, and the things you might call on them for. A ‘personal brand’ is just the box that everyone puts you in, in their heads.

And people are going to put you in a box either way, so you might as well try to actively design that box for them. When peers, employers, and collaborators look to you, it helps to become known as a go-to for specific topics, and helps propel you to the top in those areas.

The difference between successful researchers and overlooked ones often isn't just the quality of their work, but how effectively they've communicated who they are and what they contribute. It’s easy to get looked over in the sea of people and information. Here, we’re going to break out of the constraints of feeling shame around self-promotion and think of it as curating our social identity.

In this section, we will:

• Clearly identify our strengths and areas of expertise

Exercise: Your Professional Identity Blueprint

Introduction: This exercise walks you through the process of defining your professional identity beyond academia, identifying how you want to be perceived, and selecting content strategies that will reinforce your brand.

Exercise Components:

1. Expertise Domain Mapping 

Let’s begin by marking clearly what our specific strengths, skills, and hot takes are about our field. That will help us narrow down our content to have a core focus.

Upload your CV and papers, then use this prompt to tease out some unique perspectives and the table below to organize it clearly:

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Context: I'm mapping my expertise to develop my professional identity beyond academia. I am uploading several documents that I have created for you to analyze. Please help me categorize my knowledge and skills into these three areas: 1. Core Technical Expertise: The specialized knowledge categories from my research that have clear applications 2. Adjacent Skills: Capabilities I've developed during my PhD that aren't the focus of my research but are valuable (like data visualization, project management, grant writing) 3. Distinctive Perspectives: Unique viewpoints I've developed through my research experience (such as approaching problems differently, seeing connections others miss, or specialized frameworks I use) Here are several thoughts and projects that I would also like you to consider while forming your answer: [Write additional considerations about what your unique work and perspectives are here]

If you want to cleanly organize the skills, you can use a table like the one below:

2. Perception Anchor Definition 

Now let’s try to answer the questions “When people hear my name, what do I want them to think of?”

or

“What fills in the blank best about me: ‘The ________ Guy/Gal’?”

We’ll call these perception anchors, since they anchor people’s perceptions of us.

Write 3-5 perception anchors for yourself or you can use the following prompt:

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Context: I'm a PhD in [your field] developing my professional identity. I want to identify the key impressions I want to create when people encounter me professionally. Based on my expertise in [core technical skills] and my abilities in [adjacent skills], help me identify 3-5 perception anchors—key impressions I want to leave with professional contacts. For each perception anchor: 1. Provide a short phrase descriptor 2. Explain why this perception would be valuable in my target field 3. Suggest one concrete way I could demonstrate this quality My target fields/roles include: [list 2-3 target industries or roles] My natural strengths include: [list 2-3 personal strengths] I want to be known for: [complete this sentence]

3. Content Archetype Selection 

Types of content can be bucketed into major categories, which can help frame your work. Below are some standard content archetypes for content creators that you can explore and see which you might fit into:

 

The Specialist: Highly technical content for peers in your field

1. Focuses on deep methodological or theoretical discussions
2. Primary audience: Fellow specialists who understand technical language
3. Value: Establishes authority through demonstrated technical mastery
4. Examples: Technical blog posts, research summaries, methodological articles

The Translator: Makes complex concepts accessible to related fields

5. Bridges your specialty with adjacent professional domains
6. Primary audience: Professionals in related fields who need your insights
7. Value: Demonstrates both expertise and communication abilities
8. Examples: Interdisciplinary articles, methodology guides for non-specialists

The Thought Partner: Focuses on process and frameworks over technical details

9. Emphasizes thinking approaches and problem-solving methods
10. Primary audience: Those seeking to improve their approach to complex problems
11. Value: Positions you as a valuable collaborator who improves others' thinking
12. Examples: Decision frameworks, analytical approaches, meta-analyses

The Practical Guide: Application-focused content that solves specific problems

13. Translates research knowledge into actionable insights
14. Primary audience: Practitioners who need solutions from your domain
15. Value: Demonstrates the practical utility of your knowledge
16. Examples: How-to guides, best practice documents, implementation roadmaps

The Connector: Content that links different domains, ideas, or communities

17. Creates value through unexpected combinations of knowledge
18. Primary audience: Innovators and multidisciplinary thinkers
19. Value: Shows your unique perspective and ability to generate novel insights
20. Examples: Cross-domain analyses, unexpected applications of methods

For each archetype, rate your comfort level (1-5) and alignment with your goals (1-5) in the table below:

Archetype	Comfort Level (1-5)	Goal Alignment (1-5)	Total Score	Priority
Specialist
Translator
Thought Partner
Practical Guide
Connector
4. Brand Integration Exercise 

Now we’re going to take everything from the previous threads and bring it all home to concisely sum up our personal brand! Bring in the information we’ve built in this section so far and use the prompt below:

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Context: I'm creating an integrated brand statement based on my expertise domains, perception anchors, and content archetypes. My expertise domains: - Core technical: [list from previous exercise] - Adjacent skills: [list from previous exercise] - Distinctive perspectives: [list from previous exercise] My key perception anchors: 1. [First perception anchor] 2. [Second perception anchor] 3. [Third perception anchor] My primary content archetypes (top 2 from previous ranking): 1. [First archetype] 2. [Second archetype] Please help me create: 1. A concise professional identity statement (2-3 sentences) that integrates these elements 2. A one-paragraph elaboration that expands on this statement 3. Three specific content ideas that would align with this integrated brand