Posted by MichiganAl on 12/9/08 1:36pm
Msg #271513

Personal Branding

I discovered a wonderful blog about personal branding:

http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/

The author, Dan Schawbel, is a social media expert and has some impressive credentials (but dang, he's so young to be so wise). I think it's a great read for anyone who's self employed and trying to build their image. It definitely gives me some food for thought. Two recent posts that seem especially relevant are about personal ethics and the dilemma we face when we witness others performing in an unethical manner (backdating and falsifying experience came to mind for me) and about people destroying their personal brand by being selfish and making posts and blogs that are about self-promoting instead of about truly trying to be useful (which for me brings to mind how a handful of people use this and other forums to promote their own self interests and promote their own expertise).

http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/do-you-have-an-ethical-personal-brand/

http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/a-personal-brand-is-demolished-by-being-selfish-instead-of-useful/

Reply by HKB on 12/9/08 2:21pm
Msg #271526

Simple rules which I feel are great rules to follow:

Do No Harm
Make Things Better
Respect Others
Be Fair
Be Loving

Reply by Ernest__CT on 12/10/08 4:21pm
Msg #271615

Excellent, HKB! Rules to live by. n/m

Reply by MikeC/NY on 12/9/08 8:40pm
Msg #271568

An interesting read; I thought the piece on destroying a personal brand was more powerful. As you said, there are some folks here who are into self-promotion, and have no clue about how much damage they are doing to themselves.

Here's the #1 rule about internet marketing - it's not about YOU, it's about THEM. No one cares about your glowing resume (at least not early in the relationship); what they care about is getting the information they're looking for, as quickly as possible with as few distractions as possible. The average Internet user has the attention span of a 2-year old - if you don't capture them within the first few seconds, they're moving on to the next guy.

Forget about SEO, number of website hits, "Captain Obvious" blogging, ad naseum... that might impress some of your peers, but it means little to your potential customers. THEY have a problem or a question; YOU need to be able to offer them a solution or an answer. Promoting yourself doesn't provide a solution - it's just more noise.

Reply by Michelle/AL on 12/10/08 8:32am
Msg #271577

Good Info & Reminders, Guys. Thanks for sharing. n/m

Reply by Ernest__CT on 12/10/08 5:00pm
Msg #271621

Thanks, MichiganAl, for great links!

"Branding", "Personal brand", and similar terms are to be found all over the blogosphere these days. Your brand may be your own name or your company name, but it is how you are known to your customers and potential customers. We must all remember, it's never about us; it's always about our customers.

If you don't subscribe to Amber Naslund's blog or follow @AmberCadabra on Twitter, at least read her blog entry http://altitudebranding.com/2008/12/value-through-the-looking-glass/ for a discussion of adding value.