How Image and Appearance Affect your Personal Branding

As I’ve mentioned in my previous blog, personal branding is the visible representation of who you are and what you stand for. It is your identity that people immediately associate with you among other individuals/companies in the same position or niche. Your personal branding should have these 5 components:

1) Visual Impact
2) Image managements
3) Brand Values
4) Goal Fulfillment
5) Self Management

This is the reason why personal branding needs image management because your brand must be consistent from your logo all the way to how you carry yourself when you are with others. Image management is how you create an appearance and image that will highlight your strengths and work out your weaknesses.  Let me share with you the components of appearance that you need to consider when building your personal branding:

  • Consistency and Congruency
  • Capsule coordination core wardrobe
  • Colour
  • Dressing principles to balance proportions and style
  • Wardrobe organization
  • Comfort and Fit
  • Hairstyle, Makeup and Accessories
  • Categories of business dress
  • Complete look/grooming
  • Cost

As the person behind your personal branding, you need to invest in your image and appearance to effectively represent and promote your brand. You need to let your image and appearance speak for you even without using your words. And this is why image management is important so you will know how you can look and feel your best. Allow me to share with you the benefits that image management can do for your personal branding:

  • You display credibility and reliability simply because you are well-coordinated in the outfits you wear to interview or meetings. This is important to note since studies showed that it only takes 0.1 seconds to form a lasting impression of a stranger.
  • You feel more confident and in-charge even when meeting highly influential people in social circles and business meetings. The goal of image management is not merely to look as attractive as possible but to show the impression that you are professional, excellent and look like you really mean business.
  • You maintain clear message when you have consistency in what you say to how you look. Clarity is one of the factors that strengthen your personal branding.
  • You discover your unique style which also helps build an authentic voice for your brand. Authenticity is crucial when you want to have an influential personal branding.
  • You can powerfully communicate the values that you uphold in how you dress yourself. It now draws others to you and your brand with the same values and principles. Your manners and character will be discerned by others through your image and appearance and will be immediately associated with the brand you are promoting.
  • Your overall look and image displays what your personal branding is really all about. Because aside from your appearance, others will also observe the tone of your voice when you speak, your posture, and the way you interact. How they perceive you will directly influence how your personal brand will be received.
  • You personal branding is accepted more positively when you present them a sharp image and powerful appearance. Trust and respect are two criteria people seek when they first meet you. When they feel your warmth and see you as a competent individual, your personal branding is established and others will be more inclined to believe in what you say.
  • You show the worth of your personal brand through your appearance and image. It is hard to negotiate a salary offer if you look lousy in your interview get-up.
  • Your appearance help build stronger relationships. Psychology Today shares that the connection between taking care of our physical appearance is strongly related to the health of our romantic relationships.
  • You gain an advantage through an attractive physical appearance and image, especially when you are going to an interview. According to Newsweek“57 percent of hiring managers say qualified but unattractive candidates are likely to have a harder time landing a job.”
  • Your success can be determined by the way you dress yourself up. Business Insider reported that in a study done by Yale in 2014, the participants who dressed in suits profited an average of $2.1 million which is significantly higher than those who dressed poorly who only averaged at $680,000.

Look at that! What a huge difference our image and appearance can make in achieving our personal and professional goals. An image consultant understands all these and can guide you in much detail how you can reach your specific objectives in building your personal branding. She is well-versed in every component of image management. She can also identify and work on areas in your personal branding that needs to be developed or tell you how you can emphasize your qualities to promote your brand.

Radiance Image Consultancy offers image management services and provides consultations, seminars and workshops to work on your personal branding. Talk to us today.