So far this month, there has been some very impressive articles relating to Personal Branding. I’ve taken the liberty to capture this news in one post to share with all of you. It also goes to show that Personal Branding reaches out to multiple topics and affects various audiences at once.
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The Golden Age of Individualism, by Steve Rubel, views Personal Branding as a rather old concept, yet it is ever more popular in the world today because of individualism. He says the main difference between the past and the present state of the world is that just about anyone can become a micro-celebrity in their field. In American culture today, both individualism and freedom of expression run wild. With the creation of Web 2.0, the Gen Y audience is driven by online micro branding. Steve says it’s all about using the web to flatten the playing field so that the Gen Y group can chase their passion and live their lives. This also takes place within large companies, as seen in the rise of corporate blogging.
The 10 P’s of Personal Packaging, by JoAnn Hines, explains how there are 10 P’s that can be incorporated into our business persona’s. The 10 P’s are perceptive, performer, persistent, poised, prepare, proactive, productive, purposeful, professional, and punctual. JoAnn explains how this process evolves and how you don’t have to concentrate on each one all the time. It is important to recognize that these attributes are a part of the well prepared competent professional and with a little practice it could be you.
The 7 C’s of Personal Branding Success, by Liz Pabon, describes how everything you do is connected to your brand. It’s all about being personable and being an entrepreneur or small business owner gives you the advantage of this approach. Larger companies strive to establish a relationship with their target audience by making their brand feel more personable. You are the ultimate spokesperson to represent your brand and with the 7 C’s of your brand, you will be successful. Liz lists the 7 C’s: Character, commitment, confidence, competence, consistency, creativity, and courage.
Job Listings – A Sign of the Times, by Rusty Weston, speaks to the exodus of job listings from print to online formats. People are searching for jobs, rather than browsing them for 2007 and beyond. Rusty believes that in a few years job seekers will be the one’s in demand and the hunters will be going after them. Nationally, there were 4,280,400 online advertisements for jobs in June, which included 2,744,900 ads that did not appear in May. In one year, online ads grew by 24% and new ads increased by 19%. Rusty believes that job listings are moving online and will stop being in print because of geography, computer skills, special interests, and convenience.
Personal Branding and Expertise, by Wendy Marx, bears the question “is outstanding performance born or made”? According to a Harvard Business Review article, someones IQ or gender do not give them talent and the only innate differences stem from height and body size, which are only significant in sports. To gain expertise, you need to struggle, sacrifice and take no shortcuts. Wendy says that you can’t improve yoru ability to make good decisions without experience, that a new tool won’t make you an expert and that you need to focus on your weaknesses, rather than practice your strengths.
You Are Your Brand and Your Brand is You, by Bud Bilanich, is where Bud recognizes the importance of his brand in his business. His quick Personal Brand message is “I am a keynote speaker, executive coach, organization effectiveness consultant, and author.” The line is expressed in his business brand as well because he is one with his business. He asked his network what they thought of him and built a brand out of the answers. One response was “Your common sense approach to business and life,” so now he is “The Common Sense Guy.” Bud explains that having a well thought out brand is not enough because brands need exposure and that blogging can fulfill that requirement.
Why Do You Want to Blog?, by Vinu Shankar, reveals the reasons why individuals blog. First is the need to disseminate knowledge, which means that you feel that you need to share what you’ve learned with the world. You may have some passion towards a topic, such as technical writing. Of course building your Personal Brand is important to become recognizable by everyone online. It could be a hobby for you, a community need or some form of peer pressure.
How To Be a Rockstar in Your Niche, by Brian Clark, hits on the topic of being a celebrity in a certain area of expertise. Brian says that you want to be a go-to individual for that particular niche, especially when a citation, quote or interview is necessary for the media (social and traditional). It’s no wonder businesses are blogging, after years of business people writing articles for trade publications to become viewed as experts. This will still work, but it is time to diversify yourself in other areas such as broadcast media, radio shows, conferences, run your own seminars and networking.
The First 7 Days of Personal Branding, by Neil Patel, hits on exactly what you should do the first seven days you establish your brand, along with strategies for each. There are thousands of people who try and brand themselves, but fail due to critical mistakes, so Neil gives some helpful advice to get started. On day 1 you should pick a niche. On day 2 you should help others in your space. On day 3 you should participate within your community. Day 4 and 5 consist of networking and starting a blog. Day 6 is about planning ahead, which means you need to create a strategy for your future brand. On day 7, you need to realize that you may not gain much traction or success at this point. It takes reinforcement and hard work to break through, as well as time.
Express your Personal Brand through your Blogging Voice, by The Podcast Sisters, speaks to those bloggers that need to speak your own personal style through your writing in your blog. The voice should be clear and distinctive so that people read your blog as if they are talking to you. To do this, you should write as you speak, read your post outloud and write what you know about.
Your Online Storefront, by Stephanie Ciccarelli, compares your online storefront to your website. Visitors on your website have the ability to browse your merchandise and become familiar with your personal branding as they would across a street. Your website functions as a store in that it has audio demos with samples of your product, graphics and photographs as visuals, the URL is the location, the site navigation acting as the layout of the physical store, and others. Your contact information enables people to do business with you. It’s all about making a good first impression of your Personal Brand through your online storefront.
Advantages of Video Blogging, by Charles Lau, dives into the new age of blogs. Video blogging, as Charles puts it, is the secret to market swiftly across the world. Your video is searchable on a many search engines, and also by the outsourced video websites. YouTube, for instance, exposes your Personal Brand in this way. Video blogging is something which moves from site to site and it is ideal for any business which needs a Personal Branding touch.
Brand Mortality, by Brad VanAuken and Team, discusses how brands are mortal like the rest of us. It poses an opportunity and treat for companies with launching new brands and saying goodbye to some old ones. The extinction of a category causes the decrease of the value of a brand. In the mind of the consumer a brand is only worth what it’s category is worth. They give the example of Polaroid, which was a brand that pioneered instant photography but was wiped out along with its category by the 1-hour photo-processing places.
