Your brand environment is made up of all that surrounds you and it helps to communicate your unique promise of value.  Here are seven components of your brand environment which you can evaluate to determine if you are being consistent in expressing your personal brand.

1. Office environment/desk.  What does your office say about you?  What makes it speak in your unique voice?  Have you moved to a completely paperless office, or are you surrounded with manila folders and sheets of paper?  Does your workspace  communicate your interests, passions, talents, values, and strengths?  Whatever your answers, be aware that your workspace reveals a lot about you.  A new study by psychologist Samuel Gosling and his colleagues at the University of Texas found that people are "remarkably accurate" at guessing one another's personality by looking at their desks.  What does your desk say about you?

2. Clothes/personal trademarks.  Make sure your wardrobe both reflects your brand and is appropriate for your target audience.  You may even want to develop a trademark.  For example, talk-show diva Sally Jesse Raphael wears her distinctive red eyeglasses.  Exercise king Richard Simmons always sports a tank top.  The Fashion Designer and Business Man known for turning Gucci around, Tom Ford is famous for his black suits.  What do you have that will set you apart in people's minds?  Whatever you choose, ensure that it's on-brand!

3. Leisure activities.  What you choose to do in your leisure time sends a message to those around you.  Do you take adventure vacations to exotic places or cultural vacations to major cities?  Make sure your activities are on-brand.
     
4. Business tools.  Pick your tools wisely.  From Blackberry PDA to laptop, Bic to Mont Blanc pen, every tool you use says something about you.  Does your briefcase reflect your brand?  What do you carry to meetings?  Consider the difference between hand-written "to do" lists and a Palm Pilot PDA.  Which is more consistent with your brand image?  And which do you use?  If your answer is the same to both questions, you're on the right track.

5. Communications tools.  Are you a phone person?  E-mail?  Instant messaging?  Or do you still prefer the touch of paper?  Which communications tools are most on-brand for you?

6. Professional and community activities.  Volunteer.  It's great way to give back to the community while you build your brand.  Choose an organization and an assignment that offer the potential for future projects.  Quite simply, volunteering is a wonderful way to do something great, and to feel great doing it.

7. Home.  Your home—and everything in it—exudes your brand.  Its location, architecture, décor, and your lifestyle all deliver a distinctive message.

> learn about managing your brand environment in the Exude phase of the personal branding process.

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