10 Personal Branding Books To Educate You

The difference between good and great branding experts is that the latter never stop learning.

Your online image is extremely important for your professional development.

It is important to spend time shaping your personal brand to present yourself in the best possible way.

Learning from the pros is key.

The following books have been researched thoroughly and provide advice from top professionals on how to showcase your experience, skills, and achievements to boost your personal brand.

1. Start With Why

Why do some people and organizations inspire others while most do not? The book starts with the premise that all organizations have a Why, or a purpose, cause or belief that drives everything they do. However, most organizations communicate what they do or how they do it rather than why they do it. Sinek believes that the key to inspiring others is to start with Why. When people understand the Why behind an organization, they are more likely to believe in its mission and be motivated to take action. The book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek is about why some people and organizations are able to inspire others while most are not. “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek is a book that answers the fundamental question:

Some people and brands are more innovative, influential, and profitable than others because they are better at taking risks and capitalizing on opportunities.

Some brands are able to create a strong sense of loyalty among both customers and employees. Even among highly successful business people, few are able to recreate that same level of success.

Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos share the same trait of beginning with WHY. They understand that people are more likely to support a product, service, movement, or idea when they understand the reasoning behind it.

The book demonstrates that the most influential leaders in the world think, act, and communicate differently than everyone else.

2. Hello, My Name Is Awesome

If you want to learn how to create brand names that are memorable and stand out from the competition, then you need to read “Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick” by Alexandra Watkins. This book is the ultimate guide to naming your brand, and it will teach you everything you need to know about creating a catchy, unique name for your business.

Even someone who is not creative can come up with memorable and effective brand names.

This book provides accurate and useful information for naming purposes that has been personally vetted by the author.

You’ll see how companies like LinkedIn and McDonald’s are using fun and creative names for things like their office cafeterias and conference rooms to add some personality.

She tells stories of both winners and losers in the naming game, using compelling examples.

This book will be very useful for you if you are struggling to name your company, brand, or product.

3. Building a Story Brand

“Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen” by Donald Miller is a guide to communicating with customers more effectively.

If you want to improve the way you connect with your customers, try using the power of storytelling. Stories can help you build rapport, establish trust, and make a lasting impression. When you use storytelling effectively, you can create an emotional connection with your customers that goes beyond the merely transactional.

The Story Brand process created by Donald Miller is an effective solution for business leaders who have difficulty discussing their businesses.

It’s essentially all about brand storytelling.

This new way of connecting with customers gives listeners a huge advantage, because it reveals the secret of how to tell a great story.

By telling a great story, you can help your customers understand the benefits of using your products, ideas, or services. Building a Story Brand helps you understand the seven universal story points that all humans respond to. You’ll also understand the real reason customers make purchases, and how to simplify your brand message so that people will understand it.

This means that you will be able to create more effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media.

Miller will help you:

• Write engaging copy for your brand
• See things from customers’ and potential customers’ viewpoints
• Understand your competitor’s marketing strategies
• Create a website or blog to attract customers

If you are not already aware, every classic story follows a story arc called the “hero’s journey”. This is what Miller uses in his book as a template for businesses.

Here is the formula:

• A character (your customer) has a problem
• They meet your guide (your business)
• You give them a plan (your solution)
• You create a call to action (and they start purchasing)
• You have success (revenue coming in)
• The character/customer avoids failure (which would otherwise have happened if they hadn’t followed your solution)
• The character/customer shares his success story (and you get organic praise)

4. Power Branding

This book is all about how to take the world’s most successful brands and use them to your advantage. Featuring plenty of real-world examples and case studies, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in branding.

All the most successful large corporations today were once small startups.

The biggest and best brands don’t blindly follow conventional marketing wisdom.

The author provides examples of how large companies use strategies that may seem illogical but can actually benefit smaller businesses as well.

Among the topics explored:

• How can a company grow big by thinking small?
• Why do the best companies sometimes avoid being better?
• Why do brands that create the most memorable advertising stay away from focus groups?
• What is the secret to an effective slogan?
• When can admitting a negative become a positive?

There is a diverse group of companies that offer powerful lessons. These companies range from traditional icons like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and General Motors, to new media models like Google and Facebook.

5. The Brand Gap

This book discusses how to bridge the gap between business strategy and design in order to create a successful brand.

In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:

• The new definition of brand
• The five essential disciplines of brand-building
• How branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• The three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• Why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• How design determines a customer’s experience
• How to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• The importance of managing brands from the inside
• 220-word brand glossary

This book provides new perspectives on branding for those who already have a grasp of the concept, as well as those who would like to understand it better.

6. Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Image, Your Future

In her book, “Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future,” Dorie Clark offers readers actionable insights in a friendly, conversational tone.