The concept of personal branding has become more important for professionals in an increasingly competitive job market. Personal branding involves creating a distinguishable and memorable image of oneself and one’s career through appearance, personality and experience. Basically, individuals are now using the age-old tactics of company branding and applying those concepts to their personal marketing efforts. Just as the color red is associated with Coca-Cola and Apple is associated with innovation and user-friendly technology, individuals are now striving to brand their own names in association with specific ideals, thoughts and attitudes.
The transition in the legal industry from the prevalence of solo/general practitioners to attorneys with focused/niche practices has caused a surge in the importance of personal branding. As firms get larger and practice areas more diverse, attorneys need to distinguish themselves as thought leaders within their own practice. While a firm could have the best marketing team in the world, it is impossible for them to entirely manage their firm’s brand, each practice group and every single attorney’s branding successfully. Attorneys need to take responsibility for their own personal branding to ensure they are not only directing the evolution of their own brand image, but also maintaining their own brand consistency. However, this does not mean they can’t ask for help.
