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Your mission today is to use a single word to describe a company, product and person. Then take a stab at yourself! The word doesn’t have to be an adjective. It does, however, have to be true to that person, place or thing. Why one word? A single word should require the least amount of thought and analysis. After you’ve thought of the word, create your own blog post and explain why you used that word and what word you want everyone else to cite when they see your name.
Two aspects of personal branding to remember
1) Your brand is how others perceive you
2) Your brand is your self-impression
Once you understand how you want to be perceived, you can proactively explain your brand to others, with body language, gestures, personality, etc. On the web, you have much more control over perceptions because people will judge you solely based on what’s available to them when they Google your name. In this regard, you can shape perceptions by using these describers to your advantage in resumes, social networks, blogs, and more. If you tell people who you are, then they have less time to make their own impression of you!
One word exercise
People
Myself – Resourceful, Ann Handley – Content, Mike Sansone – Trains, Drew McLellan – Friendly, Brian Solis – photos, Geoff Livingston – Communicator, Jeremy Shoemaker – AdSense, Valeria Maltoni – Wise, John Moore – Autopsy, Chris Brogan – Community, Mitch Joel – Digital, Rebecca Thorman – Storyteller, Loren Feldman – Uncensored, Pamela Slim – Savior, Jason Alba – Connector, Andy Sernovitz – Viral, Tiffany Monhollon – Relationships, Steve Rubel – Influence, Joel Cheeseman – Monster, Ben Yoskovitz – Startup, Mack Collier – Garden, Gary Vaynerchuk – Hustle
Companies
Gillette – Innovative, Apple – Creativity, Google – Search, Dell – Hell, EMC – Information, McDonalds – Gross, Disney – Mickey, Toyota – Sturdy, Nintendo – Mario
Products
iPhone – Connectivity, Photoshop – Imaginary, Ferrari Enzo – Lightening, Kindle – Futuristic
Brand tags experiment
Noah Brier developed a very simple website not too long ago. His theory is that a brand exists entirely in people’s heads, which I completely agree with. If you’ve heard about a brand or experienced it before, your might react either either positively, negatively or neutrally. What ever you say a brand is, that is what it is to YOU.
“Brand Tags” is Noah’s experiment in brand perception. All tags are generated by people like you and do not reflect the opinions of Noah. As you view each logo, write one a single word or phrase that enters into your mind. You’d be surprised what people have already tagged for brands!
