Flickr photo courtesy of paurian
I was recently encouraged to invest some energies in developing my personal brand. A fair challenge, because as a person working in the online marketing industry, personal branding is an important tactic used to set yourself apart from the competition, build your network, and attract the right people to you.
What people really mean when they talk about personal branding is the management and marketing of that brand, or making public (on the internet) what other people might say about you. It’s like selling the answer to the question, “Who am I and what do I want to be known for?” And the “new” rules of marketing and PR say that it’s not about you, it’s about the value and resources you provide, the problem you solve, the client or user-centrism you exude.
This is not, of course, a new idea, but since Tom Peters kicked off the Me, Inc. discussion a little over a decade ago, we’ve become obsessed by the online identity management movement. And it’s certainly one and often effective way to navigate the world. However, the question of whether or not to “be” a personal brand assumes that the goal is to position and sell oneself most effectively in the marketplace of ideas and expertise. So is that really the question? If it is, being a personal brand becomes a lifestyle sustained by a number of specific behaviors (blogging at least once per week on your topic of expertise, re-tweeting articles of interest to your network) which are not at the top of everyone’s priority list. Alf Rhen has written another interesting, somewhat irreverent critique of the personal branding lifestyle here.
In a fit of irony, I wondered:
Who has personally branded him/herself as the expert on personal branding?
According to Google, the person doing the best job of this is Dan Schwabel of the Personal Branding Blog. (Also of interest is the #2 spot on Google’s first page, the Wikipedia article on “Personal Branding,” which suggests that a great many people may be trying to figure out just what the heck personal branding is all about and how to get started on building their own.)
I’m immediately skeptical of and put off by Dan’s claim that he will navigate ME to future success, for exactly the reasons that personal branding claims be so powerful. His tagline is less about the value his expertise provides to me than about his ability to navigate me there. As someone thinking about how to develop a personal brand with integrity, I’m not interested in the sales pitch. I’m interested in knowing how this person might be a resource to me in figuring out how to build my brand online. The takeaway: it’s best to learn about personal branding from people you admire and respect than from the self-proclaimed expert.
With all the buzz about personal branding and the value it adds to organizations, you might be tempted to think that the absence of a personal branding campaign is akin to having a perpetual identity crisis. But I have a personal brand, and if you’re human, so do you. If you talk to my friends and coworkers, they’ll tell you that I am genuine, deeply engaged, and thoughtful. I learn quickly, synthesize and organize information well, and maintain open communication. I work well independently and collaboratively, and I’m passionate about pursuing excellence. These qualities characterize all of my interactions, whether they be in social media, on the phone, or face-to-face. And a brand management campaign is not the only way to demonstrate the value I provide to individuals, groups, and organizations with my people and communication skills.
The question of who you are and what you want to be known for is a good one, and worth thinking about long and hard. Professionally, and personally, over the short and long terms, asking this question can help you to make good and wise decisions. (It’s also a good idea to check in to see if what other people think of you is in line with what you think of you, as our perceptions of ourselves tend to be slightly skewed.) This is an excellent starting point for thinking about personal branding. Asking the follow-up question, whether selling and marketing your brand online is the best way to invest your energies, bears consideration as well.
I suppose that brands me a skeptical advocate of the personal branding movement. What are your favorite personal branding resources? Whose personal branding efforts do you admire?
July 17, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Very good analysis and thanks for including me. Personal branding isn’t anything new, but what is new is that social networks have made it more obvious that everyone has a brand and has to manage it accordingly.
I completely agree that you need to figure out what you want to be known for.