If You read the last post, I believe by now, You have a much deeper understanding of the concepts of branding and personal branding.
If You did not read the last post, You should read it here.
You will need the knowledge in that post to proceed here.
With that understanding, it is time to start working on building your personal brand.
One of the foundational building blocks in building a strong personal brand is the understanding of your USP.
I know You are about to ask “Which one is USP again?”.. 
USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. Some call it Unique Selling Point too.
It is a very straight forward concept, as the name implies, your USP are those attributes that make You unique and easily distinguishable from every other person in your space.
Entrepreneur.com defines USP as
The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition
Let me help You understand it better.
Whatever it is You are doing, trust me, there are 1001 other people doing it.
The big question is WHY should we patronise You over the rest?
Take for example You are a Web Developer or an Accountant, there are many Web Developers and Accountants out there WHY should we patronise You or WHY should an organisation hire You instead of the others.
Pinpointing your USP is vital to not just building your brand but selling your products and/or services.
I have a good news and a bad news.
Which do you want to hear first? 😉
The Bad News is “Nobody can identify your USP for You”
The Good News is identifying your USP shouldnt be a problem also there are no right or wrong answers.
One vital tool I use in crafting USPs is what we call the SWOT Analysis.
Which one is SWOT again tori olorun? 😯
SWOT stands for Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats.
In crafting your USP, You need to first sit down and analyse yourself and your products or services.
What are You strengths?
In which areas are You stronger than any other person in your space? What can You do better than every one else?
What are your weaknesses?
If You look Jesus (or whoever You serve) in the face, in which areas do you know You are not that strong? What are other people in your space doing better then You?
Now with your strengths in mind, which opportunities are available to You that others cannot enjoy because they are not as strong as You are in that area?
With your weaknesses in mind? which Threats do You face? In which area will other people “out do” You?
That is a basic explanation of the SWOT analysis.
Dont forget our goal in personal branding is to EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE our STRENGTHS while micro-managing our weaknesses.
Now that You know your USPs, You already have a foundation to build your personal brand on.
Some practicals anybody
The purpose of this series is not just for You to read something.
By the end of the series I will expect You to have built a personal brand for yourself (if You dont have one yet)
So what I will like You to do is get a blank sheet of paper, do a SWOT analysis of yourself.
From your SWOT, craft a USP for yourself.
Let me know if You need help in doing this via the comments section.
I will see You in the next post when we will talk about the Elevator Pitch.
I am Seun Ogunmola I help People and Organizations to leverage on Technology to achieve their goals Faster, Easier and Cheaper.
I also write on diverse subject areas including Finance, Business, Productivity and Governance.