Some friends were coming over to our house a while back for a visit, and I realized what kind of impression I was portraying to others, and the type of person I was telling them I was when they saw how the outside of my house looked. I take great pride in having my lawn nicely manicured and flowers planted around, it’s a reflection of me.

On the other hand, I call my wife the “Martha Stewart” of the family, because she has to have everything clean and everything decorated and in its place. Our house, on the inside, could be on the cover of “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine.

Now I don’t say this to brag or to elevate us above anyone else, but we live in a small home, about 1600 square feet, but we do work hard at keeping it looking nice.

But it hit me, the way the inside of the house looks, and is decorated, is the finger print of my wife on our home and our life, and the way the outside looks is the my fingerprint on our home and our lives. It’s says something of who we are and what we are like.

Everything about you is branding who you are where ever you go.

Everything that we say and do, and the way we say it and do it,  is a reflection or a branding of who we are. The way we talk, the way we dress, the importance we put on different things, are we organized and disciplined or not, all these and more, reflect a small piece of our personality to the people we are exposing ourselves too.

For example, those of you who follow me and read my posts are learning a little bit about me simply by reading what I write and the way I write it.

Because of all this we should take a pause and see the way we are reflecting ourselves to others, and if you don’t have a plan of action, you should plan on what you need to do to brand yourself. How do your prospects see you? What kind of person do you want to emulate to your world?

I’m not just talking about to your business world, but to everyone, because who you really are will always come out into the forefront. You can put up a mask to hide behind for only so long, and then the real you will come out.

You can put up a mask to hide behind for only so long.

Have you ever met someone who was famous and maybe you saw them running to catch a plane or somewhere behind the scenes, and they weren’t the way you had expected them to be?

I met Ted Lindsay once, hockey legend and Hall of Famer, and he was the most gracious man I have ever met. Here was this great hockey player who was known for the way he took care of business on the ice, and yet he took the time to talk to my sons and sign autographs. It made you feel important that he stopped to take that time to talk with you.

The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who are just being themselves. The same person you read and see in videos, is the same person that you will meet at a company function or maybe a person that is more personable than you thought.

Branding yourself goes a lot further than just doing videos and writing articles, it’s who you are on the inside, who you are when no one is watching, and letting your market get a little peak at the real you once in a while.

Now I understand, everyone needs the time when you let your hair hang down and you relax with your family and friends, there should always be a side of you that you keep for the very close and intimate people in your life. That’s not what I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about who you portray and how you portray yourself on the business platform, should be the real you, and not a mask to hind behind.

If you need help in marketing you and branding yourself, check out my page here.