How to Communicate Your Powerful Personal Brand:
A step-by-step self-study guide for nurse practitioners
A step-by-step self-study guide for nurse practitioners
Module 1 – Terms and Concepts
You will define and differentiate the terms personal brand, nurse practitioner brand, personal branding, organization brand, mass marketing, and niche marketing.
You will identify, compare, and contrast nurse practitioner personal brands that are powerful, mediocre, and weak.
CLICK HERE to download cost-free question and exercise response sheets in printable PDF.
You will define and differentiate the terms personal brand, nurse practitioner brand, personal branding, organization brand, mass marketing, and niche marketing.
You will identify, compare, and contrast nurse practitioner personal brands that are powerful, mediocre, and weak.
CLICK HERE to download cost-free question and exercise response sheets in printable PDF.
Personal Brand
Everyone has a personal brand. When you were a junior high school student, you had a personal brand. If you are a candidate to become a nurse practitioner, you have a personal brand. And if you are a nurse practitioner, you have a personal brand.
Unless you were born into a family of royals, you did not inherit your personal brand. You created your brand and you modify it for better or worse just about every day.
Therefore, your personal brand has changed over time and will continue to change.
Your personal brand is the widely recognized and largely uniform perception or impression of you based on your experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large. (Adapted by the author from https://personalbrand.com/definition/)
Key words in this definition:
Nurse Practitioner Brand
Although everyone has a personal brand, only the nurse practitioner has a nurse practitioner brand. In like manner, only a physician has a physician brand, only a dentist has a dentist brand, and only a pastor has a pastor brand.
Definition: The widely-recognized and largely-uniform perception or impression of a nurse practitioner based on his or her experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, a healthcare practice site, the nurse practitioner profession, or the healthcare marketplace at large. (Author’s definition.)
Personal Branding
Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort of individuals to create and influence public perception by positioning themselves as authorities in their industries, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their careers, increase their circles of influence, and have a larger impact. (Adapted by the author from https://personalbrand.com/definition/)
Whereas personal brand is an objective, personal branding is a process.
Key words in this definition:
Organization Brand
Just as the nurse practitioner’s brand relates to individuals, organization brand relates to a business entity – a practice, an institution, etc. (In this guide the term organization brand will represent the brand of any business entity.) The organization brand may have a brick and mortar appearance (e.g., Main Street Medical Partners or Regional Medical Center), or represent a concept (e.g., Precision Telemedicine Consultants).
A nurse practitioner’s brand is seldom identical to the organization brand – even though a dedicated nurse practitioner employee might opine, “I am this practice. It has my name on the door. Patients come here to see me.” But what happens when that nurse practitioner changes employers? The nurse practitioner still has a personal brand.
Mass Marketing
There are two broad approaches to providing services or goods to the public – and each approach – or strategy – has advantages and disadvantages. The provider of services or goods who attempts to reach the largest possible audience will communicate with the mass market – which consists of everyone who has the means to obtain the provider’s service or goods. Examples of organizations that use mass marketing include Wal-Mart®, Amazon®, and non-specialty hospitals.
Niche Marketing
The second approach to providing services or goods to the public involves attempting to reach a narrow market that is defined by identifiable features such as age, gender, residence location, lifestyle, or disease state. The individuals thus targeted represent a niche market which is a subset of the mass market. Examples of individuals and organizations that seek to serve niche markets include pediatricians, gerontologists, diabetologists, US Veterans Administration hospitals, Petco®, and Whole Foods®.
As a nurse practitioner it is likely that you target individuals for your niche market via your education, your expertise, your certification(s), and the market(s) targeted by the employer that you select.
Defining your niche market involves answering these questions (among others):
"Choose the niche that you enjoy, where you can excel and stand a chance of becoming an acknowledged leader."
Richard Koch (1950) British management consultant, venture capitalist, and author of books on management and marketing.
Summary of Terms
Everyone has a personal brand. Only nurse practitioners have nurse practitioner brands.
The acquisition of a powerful nurse practitioner brand is an objective, whereas personal branding is a conscious and intentional process (does not occur by accident).
Organization brand relates to the brand of a business entity.
A mass marketing strategy attempts to reach the largest audience possible without regard to the characteristics of individuals, whereas a niche marketing strategy attempts to reach individuals with identifiable characteristics.
Illustrations
Following are “cards” intended to communicate features of a business organization (hence, business cards) and “cards” intended to communicate features of a nurse practitioner (hence, personal cards). Observe the subtle and not-so-subtle differences.
Exhibit 1
Everyone has a personal brand. When you were a junior high school student, you had a personal brand. If you are a candidate to become a nurse practitioner, you have a personal brand. And if you are a nurse practitioner, you have a personal brand.
Unless you were born into a family of royals, you did not inherit your personal brand. You created your brand and you modify it for better or worse just about every day.
Therefore, your personal brand has changed over time and will continue to change.
Your personal brand is the widely recognized and largely uniform perception or impression of you based on your experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large. (Adapted by the author from https://personalbrand.com/definition/)
Key words in this definition:
- widely recognized – not the perception of only a few individuals
- largely-uniform – little variation in perception from individual to individual
- perception or impression – resides in the minds’ of individuals in the brand owner’s circle of influence
- based on one’s experience, expertise, competencies, actions, achievement
- within a community, industry, or marketplace at large – specific to a “place”
Nurse Practitioner Brand
Although everyone has a personal brand, only the nurse practitioner has a nurse practitioner brand. In like manner, only a physician has a physician brand, only a dentist has a dentist brand, and only a pastor has a pastor brand.
Definition: The widely-recognized and largely-uniform perception or impression of a nurse practitioner based on his or her experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, a healthcare practice site, the nurse practitioner profession, or the healthcare marketplace at large. (Author’s definition.)
Personal Branding
Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort of individuals to create and influence public perception by positioning themselves as authorities in their industries, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their careers, increase their circles of influence, and have a larger impact. (Adapted by the author from https://personalbrand.com/definition/)
Whereas personal brand is an objective, personal branding is a process.
Key words in this definition:
- conscious and intentional – does not occur by accident
- create and influence – implies some type of action
- public perception – not necessarily the perception of the nurse practitioner or the nurse practitioner’s family members
- authorities in their industries – specific to one’s chosen field
- elevating credibility, advance their careers, increase their circles of influence, have a larger impact – desirable objectives
- differentiating themselves from the competition – essence of personal branding
Organization Brand
Just as the nurse practitioner’s brand relates to individuals, organization brand relates to a business entity – a practice, an institution, etc. (In this guide the term organization brand will represent the brand of any business entity.) The organization brand may have a brick and mortar appearance (e.g., Main Street Medical Partners or Regional Medical Center), or represent a concept (e.g., Precision Telemedicine Consultants).
A nurse practitioner’s brand is seldom identical to the organization brand – even though a dedicated nurse practitioner employee might opine, “I am this practice. It has my name on the door. Patients come here to see me.” But what happens when that nurse practitioner changes employers? The nurse practitioner still has a personal brand.
Mass Marketing
There are two broad approaches to providing services or goods to the public – and each approach – or strategy – has advantages and disadvantages. The provider of services or goods who attempts to reach the largest possible audience will communicate with the mass market – which consists of everyone who has the means to obtain the provider’s service or goods. Examples of organizations that use mass marketing include Wal-Mart®, Amazon®, and non-specialty hospitals.
Niche Marketing
The second approach to providing services or goods to the public involves attempting to reach a narrow market that is defined by identifiable features such as age, gender, residence location, lifestyle, or disease state. The individuals thus targeted represent a niche market which is a subset of the mass market. Examples of individuals and organizations that seek to serve niche markets include pediatricians, gerontologists, diabetologists, US Veterans Administration hospitals, Petco®, and Whole Foods®.
As a nurse practitioner it is likely that you target individuals for your niche market via your education, your expertise, your certification(s), and the market(s) targeted by the employer that you select.
Defining your niche market involves answering these questions (among others):
- Who will you serve with your services (i.e., how will you define and identify your niche market)?
- What specific services will you provide?
- How will you be compensated?
- When and how will you provide services?
- Where will you provide services?
"Choose the niche that you enjoy, where you can excel and stand a chance of becoming an acknowledged leader."
Richard Koch (1950) British management consultant, venture capitalist, and author of books on management and marketing.
Summary of Terms
Everyone has a personal brand. Only nurse practitioners have nurse practitioner brands.
The acquisition of a powerful nurse practitioner brand is an objective, whereas personal branding is a conscious and intentional process (does not occur by accident).
Organization brand relates to the brand of a business entity.
A mass marketing strategy attempts to reach the largest audience possible without regard to the characteristics of individuals, whereas a niche marketing strategy attempts to reach individuals with identifiable characteristics.
Illustrations
Following are “cards” intended to communicate features of a business organization (hence, business cards) and “cards” intended to communicate features of a nurse practitioner (hence, personal cards). Observe the subtle and not-so-subtle differences.
Exhibit 1
Questions 1, 2: Does East Valley Medical communicate its appeal to the mass market or to a niche market? What is your reasoning?
Question 3: What is the name of the individual who receives and answers East Valley Medical’s email communications?
Question 4: What are the names and credentials of the individuals who provide care at East Valley Medical?
Questions 5, 6: Would you classify this card as a business card or a personal card? What is your reasoning?
Exhibit 2
Questions 7, 8, and 9: How do you think the “typical consumer” who has not yet visited East Valley Medical would interpret the abbreviation MSN? . . . the abbreviation NP-C? . . . the abbreviation FAANP?
Questions 10, 11: Do you think that the “typical consumer” who has not yet visited East Valley Medical will understand that Jane Harris is a nurse? . . . that Jane Harris is a nurse practitioner?
Question 12, 13: Would you classify this card as a business card or a personal card? What is your reasoning?
Exhibit 3
Questions 14, 15: Would the “typical consumer” who has not visited East Valley Medical know that Jane Harris is a nurse practitioner? What is your reasoning?
Question 16: What is the name of the individual who may receive and answer Jane Harris’ emails?
Question 17: How would you modify Jane’s card so that it communicates more information about her nurse practitioner brand?
Exhibit 4
This card answers five questions:
1) Who is Jane Harris? photo, name, and credentials
2) What does Jane do? specializes in women’s health issues
3) How does Jane help people? menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, excessive dry skin, chronic yeast infection, thyroid hormone issues, libido concerns
4) How can Jane be contacted? via Jane’s email (as opposed to “info”) or phone 480-256-8533 for an appointment
5) Where is the consumer likely to visit with Jane? 25473 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ
Questions 18, 19: Does Specializing in Women’s Health on Jane Harris’ card prevent her from providing care to men? What is your reasoning?
Questions 20, 21: Does listing six health issues frequently experienced by women limit Jane Harris’ practice to providing care for only those issues? What is your reasoning?
Question 22: If you currently distribute cards in your practice, in what ways – if any – could your card be modified to communicate 1) who you are, 2) what you do, and 3) how you help people?
Question 23: If you currently distribute cards and you are an employee, what issues would your employer have – if any – if you prepared (at your expense) and distributed cards that communicate your nurse practitioner brand?
Questions 24, 25: Scenario – Nurse practitioner Jane Harris serves as associate pastor for her faith congregation and is a soccer coach for sixth and seventh grade youth.
How many personal brands does Jane have? What is your reasoning?
Relative Strengths of Personal Brands
Synonyms of Powerful – capable, dominant, dynamic, forceful, impressive, influential, persuasive, potent (thesaurus.com)
Synonyms of Mediocre – decent, dull, middling, ordinary, second-rate, so-so, undistinguished, uninspired (thesaurus.com)
Synonyms of Weak – anemic, fragile, hesitant, powerless, shaky, sickly, uncertain (thesaurus.com)
Question 26: How would you rate the brand of a nurse practitioner who is perceived as being hesitant, fragile, and uncertain? Powerful Mediocre Weak
Question 27: How would you rate the brand of a nurse practitioner who is perceived as being forceful, influential, and persuasive? Powerful Mediocre Weak
Question 28: How would you rate the brand of a pharmacist who is perceived as being decent, ordinary, and undistinguished? Powerful Mediocre Weak
Question 29, 30, 31: Scenario – Physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners were asked about their perceptions of three nurse practitioners with whom they work.
“John doesn’t really excel in any one area. He often seems hesitant to make decisions when prescribing medicines. He often responds to patients’ questions with uncertainty, saying ‘I think . . .’ or ‘Maybe . . .’ And John repeatedly gets his feelings hurt by his workmates and sometimes even by our patients.”
Powerful Mediocre Weak
“Joan is a decent nurse practitioner – pretty much like many of the PA’s and NP’s who work here. She seems to get her job done in an OK manner – gets here on time and leaves on time. I don’t really have much more to say about her.”
Powerful Mediocre Weak
“Lilly’s primary interest is wellness – and especially smoking cessation. She has attracted many new patients to our practice through the presentations that she makes to community groups. When some physicians need assistance they typically call on Lilly.”
Powerful Mediocre Weak
My observations:
Health professionals who create powerful brands tend to:
1) enjoy success in their chosen profession – financially and otherwise
2) effectively serve and help others
3) have enthusiasm for practice (get to go to work rather than have to go to work)
4) have enthusiasm for their profession as evidenced by organization involvement enjoy meaningful relationships with workmates, patients, and the public
Your observations:
Questions 32, 33: Consider two nurse practitioners who you have known for at least two years and who you believe to have powerful brands. Which of the above-captioned five “observations” do you associate with each nurse practitioner?
Nurse Practitioner A: 1 2 3 4 5 Nurse Practitioner B: 1 2 3 4 5
Questions 34, 35: What other features or characteristics do you associate with the nurse practitioners you identified?
Nurse Practitioner A: Nurse Practitioner B:
Questions 36, 37: In what ways – if any – do you think personality affects the creation of a nurse practitioner brand? What is your reasoning?
Question 38, 39: In what ways – if any – do you think self-worth affects the creation of a nurse practitioner brand? What is your reasoning?
Alphabet Soup?
An advanced academic degree in nursing opens doors to advanced licensure and certification. However, an advanced academic degree does not automatically confer on the recipient a powerful personal brand.
An advanced academic degree allows nurse practitioners to place abbreviations after their names – as does advanced licensure and certification(s). One reason for using abbreviations is to conserve space on name badges, printed materials, and signs. But if the abbreviations are not understood, they will fail to communicate anything.
Melissa Decaupa, a nurse practitioner and Vanderbilt University graduate, has written an internet-accessible article on the topic “alphabet soup” – meaning the abbreviations used by nurses and nurse practitioners. She categorizes and lists many abbreviations used by nurse practitioners to represent their academic degrees, licensure, certification, and peer recognition. The intended audience for her article appears to be individuals who may be seeking a career path in nursing.
(https://www.nursepractitionerschools.com/blog/nursing-roles-by-scope-of-practice/)
Decaupa uses DNP and PMHNP-BC after her name to indicate that she has a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner. She notes:
“Nursing is riddled with various roles, career paths, and backgrounds. There is no one way to become a nurse, and there are so many different kinds of these invaluable healthcare professionals! While this is such a beautiful thing about the field it can at first seem a little confusing, especially as you start learning about all the different [abbreviations] . . . This article attempts to elucidate the nurse ‘alphabet soup’ so that you can make informed decisions about which role you’d like to pursue.”
Education Abbreviations:
BSN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing
MSN – Master of Science in Nursing
DNP – Doctor of Nursing Practice
PhD – Doctor of Philosophy
DNS or DNSc – Doctor of Nursing Science
ND – Nursing Doctor
License Abbreviations:
NP – Nurse Practitioner [varies by state]
ARNP – Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner
CRNP – Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner
CNP – Certified Nurse Practitioner
LNP – Licensed Nurse Practitioner
NPC – Nurse Practitioner Certified
CNM – Certified Nurse Midwife
CRNA – Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
CNS – Certified Nurse Specialist
Certification Abbreviations (BC = Board Certified, NP = Nurse Practitioner):
AGACNP-BC or ACNPC-AG – Adult-Gerontology Acute Care
AGPCNP-BC or A-GNP – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care
FNP-BC or FNP – Family
NNP-BC – Neonatal
WHNP-BC – Women’s Health-Gender Related
PPCNP-BC or CPNP-PC – Pediatric Primary Care
CPNP-AC – Pediatric Acute Care
PMHNP-BC – Psychiatric-Mental Health
Subspecialty Certification Abbreviations (C = Certified, NP = Nurse Practitioner):
DCNP – Dermatology
AOCNP – Oncology [A = Advanced]
ENP-BC or ENP – Emergency
ONP-C – Orthopedics
Achievement Abbreviations:
FAAN – Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
FAANP – Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
For your consideration:
If a nurse practitioner is attempting to communicate “who I am” to other nurse practitioners (for instance in an article authored for a nurse practitioner journal), it would seem appropriate to use abbreviations – because most readers of that article are likely to understand what the abbreviations represent.
Name, DNSc, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP
However, if the nurse practitioner is attempting to communicate “who I am” to patients, the public, workmates, and others, I suggest that credentials not be abbreviated (when space permits).
Name, Doctor of Nursing Science
Board Certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
This latter illustration the nurse practitioner communicates at least five brand features:
1) My name is _____________ ________________.
2) I earned a Doctor of Nursing Science academic degree.
3) I am board certified.
4) My specialty is Adult-Gerontology Primary Care.
5) I am a nurse practitioner.
But what about the “Adult” in Adult-Gerontology Primary Care? A geriatric patient is an adult. Does this abbreviation seem to contain redundancies?
You be the judge. According to one online reference an “Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) is an advance practice nurse with a clinical focus on treating people from adolescents [sic] through adult ages and into advanced age.”
(https://www.nursepractitionerschools.com/faq/what-is-an-adult-gerontology-np/)
If there is sufficient space on printed media and signs, I suggest that this nurse practitioner’s brand features be communicated as follows:
Name, Doctor of Nursing Science
Board Certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
“Providing Health Care for Individuals 18 to 118 Years of Age”
Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
It is likely that most, if not all, diplomas and certificates that you have received or will receive from academic institutions, licensing bodies, and certification organizations do not use abbreviations to recognize your achievements.
Your Employer and Regulating Organizations
Your employer may restrict how you use your name, license, etc. on your name badge, signs, and printed materials – which may impair your ability to communicate your nurse practitioner brand. Also, the nurse practitioner licensing bodies in your state may regulate the abbreviations that you may use to communicate your license – as may the organizations that provide your certification.
Question 40, 41, 42, 43: In an article that John Anderson submitted to a journal he placed these abbreviations after his name: MSN, PhD, CRNA, FAAN.
- What is/are John’s academic degree(s)?
- What is/are John’s license(s)?
- What is/are John’s certification(s)?
- What peer organization(s) has/have recognized John’s achievements?
Question 44: Julie Jenkins’ earned a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree five years ago, and she is likely to receive her Doctor of Philosophy degree in six months. Julie opines, “Few nurse practitioners earn Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Therefore, when I receive my diploma I will have a powerful nurse practitioner brand.”
How would you evaluate Julie’s opinion regarding her attainment of a powerful nurse practitioner brand?
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Nobel Peace Prize recipient – theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician.
Additional information on personal branding . . .
These TedX videos and articles are internet accessible (click-and-view at the conclusion of Module 1 at PharmacistBranding.com):
“Powerful Personal Branding” - Ann Bastianelli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcr3MshYe3g
“The Personal Brand of You” - Rob Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGbsb6aXbzc
8 Reasons a Powerful Personal Brand Will Make You Successful
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289278
8 Steps to Building a Powerful Personal Brand That Will Change Your Life
https://www.inc.com/john-white/8-steps-to-building-a-powerful-personal-brand-that-will-change-your-life.html
5 Ways to Build a Powerful Personal Brand
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelcyvjoseph/2018/04/30/5-ways-to-build-a-powerful-personal-brand/#8af333d549ea
Nurse Practitioner Branding . . .
BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF A KIND!
Version 1.0 Copyright ©2020 Quentin Srnka