Personal Branding in Digital Markets

Nobody Knows You Yet.

By the end, they will.

This is not a logo and a colour palette. You do the work underneath a brand: your values, your story, the sweet spot where the real meets the possible, and a personal brand you can present out loud. You leave with work you can actually use.

Personal Branding · A Project Based Course

See the Schedule ↓ Access Workbook →

The Arc: Look In, Then Look Out

You spend the first stretch of the course understanding yourself with evidence, the middle turning that into a story and a statement, and the last stretch testing it against how strangers actually read you. The assessments mark the milestones.

Part One · Weeks 1 to 4

Introspection

Looking in, with evidence.

How a brand is judged, the use and limits of personality frameworks, core values, goals that connect to a value, and ethical branding. It all feeds the Self Reflection.

Part Two · Weeks 5 to 7

Story and the Sweet Spot

Where the real meets the possible.

Congruence between your real self and your ideal self, a story built on structure rather than credentials, and managing online reputation and crisis communication.

Part Three · Weeks 8 to 10

Extrospection

How others actually read you.

Social media strategy, engagement and networking, and visual branding. Your partner Case Study is presented at the Week 10 Showcase.

Part Four · Weeks 11 to 15

Roadmap and Presentation

From plan to out loud.

Choosing the right platforms, analytics and data driven maintenance, the readiness roadmap, and the final personal brand presentation delivered live.

Assessments & Deliverables

Four graded pieces at twenty percent each, plus attendance and participation, totalling 100%. Each one is built from the work you do in class, not bolted on at the end. The brief for every piece lives in the handouts.

Self Reflection
20%
  • Values, strengths, goals, and a personal brand statement
  • Carried by anecdotes and examples of your best self
  • Built on the knowledge from Weeks 1 to 4
  • Due Week 5
See the handout →
Case Study
20%
  • A real person's brand, analysed with a partner
  • Pairs and subjects confirmed at the Week 8 workshop
  • Both partners present, with peer feedback
  • Presented at the Week 10 Showcase
See the handout →
Online Readiness Roadmap
20%
  • A mood board and a written online content strategy
  • Values, domestic and international platforms, analytics
  • Planned on paper, so your privacy is protected
  • Due Week 14, LMS and peer assessment
See the handout →
Final Presentation
20%
  • Your personal brand, presented live to the room
  • Reflection, story, roadmap, and visual identity together
  • The whole course, said out loud
  • Weeks 14 to 15
See the handout →
The remaining 20% is earned in the room: Attendance 10% and Participation and Homework 10%, filled in by taking part every week.

The Tools You Will Think With

A brand is not a mood. It is a set of decisions you can defend. These are the tests and frameworks the course puts to work on your own material, week after week.

ToolThe question it forces you to answer
Brand CriteriaWhat makes a successful personal brand, and how do you evaluate it?
MBTI vs FFMWhat do personality frameworks describe, and what do they miss?
The Cost TestHas holding this value ever cost you something? If not, it is a preference wearing a value's clothes.
The Sweet SpotCarl Rogers called it congruence. Where does what is real meet what is possible?
Story StructureFreytag built it for the stage. Why do people remember stories and forget credentials?
Character, Reputation, IntegrityCharacter is who you are unwatched. Reputation is the search results. Integrity is the distance between them.
The RoadmapBeing everywhere is the same as being nowhere. Which channels, what content, how often?

What You Will Walk Out With

Not notes you file away. Work you can put to use the week the course ends, plus the reasoning to defend every part of it.

A Values Framework
A Brand Story
A Visual Identity
A Brand You Present Out Loud
A Readiness Roadmap
A Case Study You Read Yourself

"A brand is the deliberate, voluntary practice of defining and showing your value in the world. It is your story as it is unfolding, and you are responsible for it."

Matthew Clement

How You Are Graded

Weights follow the syllabus and total 100%. Four graded assignments at twenty percent each, plus attendance and participation at ten percent each.

ComponentWeightDistribution
Self Reflection · due Week 520%
Case Study · Week 10 Showcase20%
Online Readiness Roadmap · due Week 1420%
Final Presentation · Weeks 14 to 1520%
Attendance10%
Participation · Homework10%

The Schedule

Week by week, the way the syllabus runs it. The schedule may shift for class progress or university events, and any change is announced in advance.

Assessments ↑Handouts →Open the workbook →
Part One · Introspection, Weeks 1 to 4
1Week 1

Criteria for a Successful Personal Brand

Its features and evaluation methods, and MBTI versus the Five Factor Model.

2Week 2

Introspection Techniques: Self Reflection and Journaling

Looking inward with evidence, on the page.

3Week 3

Planning and Goal Setting

Building goals that connect to a value and hold up.

4Week 4

Ethical Personal Branding and Social Responsibility

The ethical audit of your own goal.

Part Two · The Sweet Spot and Story, Weeks 5 to 7
5Week 5

The Sweet Spot: Finding Congruence

The overlap between your real self and your ideal self. Self Reflection due, 20%.

6Week 6

The Art of Storytelling: Freytag's Pyramid

Crafting a personal narrative on a structure built for the stage.

7Week 7

Managing Online Reputation and Crisis Communication

Reputation is not what you post, it is how you answer.

Part Three · Extrospection and the Case Study, Weeks 8 to 10
8Week 8

Case Study Workshop and Consultations

In class discussion and pairing. Case Study pairs and subjects confirmed.

9Week 9

Social Media Strategy and Extrospective Factors

Engagement, networking, external factors, and visual branding.

10Week 10

Case Study Showcase

Partner presentations and peer feedback. Case Study due and presented in pairs, 20%.

Part Four · Digital Presence and Presentations, Weeks 11 to 15
11Week 11

Building Your Digital Presence: Choosing the Right Platforms

Being everywhere is the same as being nowhere. Choose, do not scatter.

12Week 12

Personal Brand Maintenance: Analytics and Data Driven Branding

Measuring what actually matters.

13Week 13

Online Readiness Roadmap Workshop

Building the mood board and report together, on paper.

14Week 14

Final Personal Brand Presentations

Roadmap presentations. Final Presentation (20%) and Online Readiness Roadmap (20%) due.

15Week 15

Final Presentations Continued and Course Close Out

The remaining presentations, and closing the course out.

Instructor

Matthew Clement
Matthew Clement
Hanyang University CEEC · Seoul

Matthew Clement teaches Personal Branding alongside Technology & AI and Multimedia Marketing in Seoul. With work spanning academic writing, digital publishing, and communication coaching, and years of teaching, he built this course on a simple idea: who you are professionally should be a decision, not an accident. The class runs on your own material, week after week, and ends with a presentation you can stand behind and deliver out loud.