Margot Katz is an author, an international business consultant and an expert on personal branding. Margot encourages women to "turn up the volume" and "be bloody good". For TheNextWomen she provides us in reply to our questions with an extract from her latest book: Tarzan & Jane, how to thrive in the new corporate jungle published by Profile Books. Set forth below is part I.

What is personal branding?

Imagine yourself as a product on the supermarket shelf. How do you stand out in a crowded market and get picked over others? How do you influence the buying decision? Like branding a product to set it apart from others, personal branding does the same for you. People have usually made up their minds about us within four seconds of contact, so the aim of personal branding is for you to be in charge of the messages you give out, making sure that people ‘get’ what you’re all about straight away, associating you with the things you want to be associated with. Not only that, but you want them to keep ‘getting’ you consistently.
It’s not about creating a false impression or trying to be like someone else; it’s all about being, a confident, bolder, crisper and louder version of you. The key is being natural, authentic and congruent.
It’s a step by step process that allows you to fine-tune your own brand, exploring creative ways of communicating it across different touch points so that you build a congruent message that gets remembered.

Is there a difference between men and women when it comes to personal branding?

The process is the same for men and women. Each individual needs to work out their own message and express who they are in their own way, though women are more likely to need to up their levels of confidence and boldness to achieve this.

How does one go about defining one's personal brand?

Branding is a bit like creating a theatrical production; once the stage is set everything contributes to the entire show: the acting, the lighting, the costumes, the programme and publicity.
It’s a step-by-step process that translates the reasons we as consumers choose products into the reasons we as individuals stand out:

Product
Us
Ingredients
The Inner Game: our vision, goals and values
Value for money
Be Bloody Good: our knowledge, experience, skills and competencies and our track record of achievement:
Packaging
Turn Up The Volume: how we look, how we come across, how we communicate:
Reputation
Don’t just sit there: being known and at the forefront of people’s minds:

How do you market your personal brand?

Much of the marketing comes down to networking and I mean this in the widest possible sense. Strategic networking has been identified as one of the key ingredients for success in the 21st century; deals are made, business is done and jobs are found through contacts. So marketing yourself is about being out there, and being known. This is absolutely not the exclusive domain of extroverts or people with the ‘gift of the gab’. It is absolutely not about showing off or bragging. It’s about authentically connecting with people building genuine relationships inside and outside our organisations. There is an infinite wealth of ideas and approaches about how to do this and beyond these, there are still more. Good networkers develop their social intelligence and keep going beyond what’s expected. New technology now drives how people network; email, websites and blogging mean that networking is fundamentally different today; it’s much more about sharing and exchanging information whether you’re in Melbourne, Milan or Manchester.

Please provide our readers with a few suggestions for raising one's profile?

Prepare weekly update reports highlighting your results and those of your team
Share best practice
Go to high profile conferences and report back
Develop a public profile by running seminars on your area of expertise
Comment regularly on matters in which you want to be seen as an expert
Get a mentor to open doors for you
Be a mentor
Comment on Blogs
Have your own blog
Get published in the company newsletter
Volunteer for projects
Get involved in what’s going on in your organisation eg sports, charity, social
Be a buddy
Use your PR Company to get into the media
Write a book or research paper
Voice your ideas at meetings
Grab opportunities to make presentations
Ask yourself: What can I do to help others? Who would value my skills and knowledge?
Send carefully selected, relevant and valuable information to people
Introduce people to others