The way you look and dress announces how you feel about yourself, and you'll be treated accordingly. I learned this concept at a young age, as I was a painfully-shy and introverted teenager. My low point was during a high school piano recital when I was sixteen. I walked across the stage with a disastrous haircut, in a dress my mother had made; it was a dreary color and horrible style. I sat down to play and completely blanked out. I hated the way I looked so much that I wanted to crawl in a black hole and disappear.

Graduation time arrived one year later and, to my utter amazement, I reached for a red dress to try on. I gazed at the image reflected in the mirror and, in that exquisite moment, I saw my own self peeping through. My new red dress had transformed me. I scoured magazines and taught myself how to do makeup; I went to a hairdresser and used my hard-earned babysitting money to get a decent haircut. And, of course, I wore red a lot. Unexpectedly, the most astonishing thing happened ? for the first time in my life, people told me I was pretty. They saw me. That dress and my new found self image gave me courage.

I gathered all my expanding courage, enrolled in a top-notch fashion school in Washington, DC and became one of the top fashion models in town. Top designers and fashion coordinators shared their secrets. My life was changed dramatically and it all began with a simple red dress that gave me hope and inspiration.

That red dress taught me this:  when you change the way you look on the outside, people treat you differently, and then you change on the inside. I have had many clients tell me they were hopeless cases. They discovered what I learned when I was seventeen: there are no unattractive people; only those who haven't yet learned how to look attractive.

If you would like to change your image, here are three proven things you can do:  

1. Find the colors that make you look better. Most people look better in cool colors than those with yellow undertones. This means that you will probably look better in navy blue than in brown, for example; and you may look better in fuchsia than in orange.  

2.  Find a hairstyle that suits you. A dated hairdo can seriously undermine your image. If your hair is a drab color like "dishwater blonde" (as mine was), you may consider adding a few blonde highlights around your face to illuminate your skin. Men needn't worry about coloring their hair, but if it is graying, it is best to avoid grey suits.  

3. Choosing clothing styles that flatter your body type. Get your clothing tailored and it will camouflage little "figure distractions," so that the eyes will sweep upward to the face and remain there. Avoid styles that are too trendy. It is better to be "eternally stylish" than "in style" for a fleeting moment.  

Change your image and you just might change your life!

For years, branding has been a buzzword, but not much has been written about Branding for People?. The same principles of branding apply for both products and people.  

1. Being distinctive: You need to have a certain something that sets you apart from the competition.
2. Garnering a position of trust: Building relationships and maintaining a high degree of credibility.
3. Maintaining a position of professionalism: Using only quality products and services and standing behind them at all times. Mediocre products rarely become brands. Ordinary-looking people rarely become brands.  

Product branding and personal branding share many similarities, but they part company when it comes to time and money expended. Product branding is often a lengthy and costly endeavor. Along the way, a relationship is built and trust and credibility are established. Fortunately, personal branding is neither a lengthy nor a costly process.  

The primary investment is instruction in the arena of image skills in order to insure a persona that is judged to be above average. At a single glance, your image must invoke trust and credibility. It must also be state of the art, so that it will be assumed that your products and services are the same.  

You must also be distinctive or special in some way. Corporate giants, such as McDonald's and Nike, are aware that their customers are not buying products, they're buying the experience. They know that brands exist in your heart, not in your head. Branding is about how products and people make us feel. When it comes to people, we want to be able to point proudly to our "expert" and brag, "That's my banker." Or, "That's my car salesman," or whomever.  

Consciously or subconsciously, we choose our bankers, brokers, car salespeople and other professionals the same way we choose our soul mates:  it is emotionally-based love at first sight. Something about the way they look not only emits trust and credibility, but also certain specialness.  

Branding yourself ? crafting your image ? is similar to the way a professional speaker crafts a signature speech. To brand yourself, it is necessary to craft your unique "signature image." You may be surprised to hear that the most dynamic and natural-sounding speeches are the ones that have taken months, even years, to perfect - often with the help of a coach.  

Maintaining consistency with your signature image is a must. In both corporate branding and branding for individuals, trust and consistency go hand in hand. Product inconsistency has killed many a brand.

For individuals, consistency means that, from head to toe, your image or persona evokes instant trust and gives you high credibility. In plain language, it means that all of the components of your appearance are in sync. If your hairstyle or clothing looks dated, it will be presumed that your products or services are also dated. Even in casual attire, at the company golf match for instance, you must look like you just left the polo match, not like you're ready to clean out the garage.  

Brands have power, but it is power that has been earned. If your image is not on a par with your products or services, you may be playing Russian roulette with your future. At the very least, your credibility will be diminished.