A personal branding statement is super short—just a few lines. It shouldn’t take you long to whip it out, right? We’ll see.

A personal branding statement might be one of the most important pieces of writing you create as a job seeker or professional. What is a personal branding statement? A personal branding statement is a brief written statement which explains who you are as a professional and touts your value as a job seeker or employee. In your statement, you toot your horn (without being obnoxious, of course).

Why should you write one? How can you use it? You should write one because you need a personal branding statement for almost every social media site. You can use it on your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter profile, and your Quora profile. You can add verbage to it and convert it into a brief bio. You can use it when writing your elevator pitch. You can include it when writing content for articles on your blog. You can even use it as the signature at the bottom of your email if you like. There are many ways you can use your personal branding statement to brand yourself and help others understand who you are and what you’re attempting to accomplish.

There are three crucial steps you need to take before you actually write your personal branding statement, whether you choose to write it on your own or with the help of a career coach like me.

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1. Define your career goals.

Do some quiet brainstorming and reflecting about your short and long-term career goals. Don’t think about where you see yourself in five years. You might be a realist like me; that’s a terrible approach.

Instead, think about where you’d like to be in five years if boundaries, finances, health, and family constraints were not concerns for you. Where would you be working? Would you work for others or yourself? Would you live in the same geographic location or not? Create a vision board or at least a vision card or document, jotting down words which capture the ideal career you have in mind. If five years doesn’t give you enough time to plan this ideal career, think 10 years out.

Then bring yourself back to the here and now—where your hands are. Within the next 12-18 months, how can you get closer to that long-term goal? If you feel baffled when considering this question, you might need a career coach’s help in seeking a promotion, a job or career change, or simply some training or professional development to gently push you in the direction of your goal.

2. Select your target audience.

Who do you want to work with on a daily basis? Are you already working with those people? If so, great. Document your target audience. Once you see your audience listed on paper (or electronically), it’s easier to understand how to write your personal branding statement so that your wording is not too abstract or too concrete. You want to hit the sweet spot and ensure that your audience understands exactly what you’re saying and relates to the way you’re saying it. All good writing does this well.

3. Identify your greatest assets.

Poll your colleagues, former supervisors, and mentors. Ask them to help you identify your greatest professional assets, values, ethics, soft skills, hard skills, and unique abilities in the workplace. Which problems do people regularly bring to you, knowing you’ll solve them more quickly and easily than others? Work some of these keywords and talents into your personal branding statement.

It’s easy to get stuck when writing a personal branding statement. You may be cursed with verbal diarrhea and find it difficult to limit the number of words you write. If this happens to you, don’t freak out or give up. Just reach out to me for help and schedule a free consultation for branding coaching. I’m a professional writer and a career coach—I’ve got you covered.