Personal Branding Weekly – Less is the New More

  • 1 min read


Raise your hand if you are so done with the selfie! Me, too.  In fact, I find the most interesting people are not the compulsive selfie takers, they’re the ones actually focused on the conversation and the connection.

Yes, I’ve met Chris Brogan and yes, I know him by name. The same with Jon Loomer, Mari Smith, Dennis Yu, (and yes, Dan Schawbel) and even Mike Tyson (purely by chance in line at a local UPS store).  And, I don’t have one photo of me with them.

Sure, I could have stopped the conversation and asked for a photo, asked someone to take the photo or done it myself and taken a moment to get the right angle, and then gone on with our conversation but I didn’t want to lose the precious time of our interaction.

I think the best relationships you have are those with people that don’t show up in any selfie or “social proof” that they’re a friend. The proof is in the greeting, the interaction, the fact that they’ll answer your call or text in a heartbeat.

People get the concept of quality not quantity, it just doesn’t show up in their actions [tweet this]

They’re constantly seeking more followers, or fans, or likes or business contacts instead of deepening the relationships they already have.

This week I challenge you to not meet anyone new. This week spend time with people you already know and have connection with. Make that connection deeper, move the relationship along from visibility to credibility with focused effort.

Who haven’t you have contact with in two months that means something to you or your professional life? Make contact with them this week.

This week we had some great insights shared by the Personal Branding Blog authors. Pay special attention to Jeff Shuey’s article on “How to Become a Followup Artist”.

Picture of Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks– a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand.  Maria Duron is founder and moderator of #brandchat- a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Psychologists did not coin emotional intelligence until 1990, and Goleman’s book did not popularize it until 1995, so people raised between 1945 and 1975 grew up with no shared vocabulary for feelings, many still improvising one from watching, guessing, and going quiet when intimacy calls for words.

Psychologists did not coin emotional intelligence until 1990, and Goleman’s book did not popularize it until 1995, so people raised between 1945 and 1975 grew up with no shared vocabulary for feelings, many still improvising one from watching, guessing, and going quiet when intimacy calls for words.

Global English Editing
MLive announced in September 2026 that it will end print production entirely for eight of its Michigan newspapers, shifting those communities to digital only coverage after years of steadily declining print subscriptions across the whole state

MLive announced in September 2026 that it will end print production entirely for eight of its Michigan newspapers, shifting those communities to digital only coverage after years of steadily declining print subscriptions across the whole state

The Blog Herald
Thomas Stanley and William Danko mailed 3,000 surveys to American households and found that among the 1,115 replies, 385 came from actual millionaires, half of whom said they had never spent more than 399 dollars on a suit, 140 on shoes, or 235 on a watch.

Thomas Stanley and William Danko mailed 3,000 surveys to American households and found that among the 1,115 replies, 385 came from actual millionaires, half of whom said they had never spent more than 399 dollars on a suit, 140 on shoes, or 235 on a watch.

Global English Editing
The more the women in one survey prized happiness, the lower their well-being, though only when life was less stressful, and reading that happiness pays made a gold-medal moment land flatter

The more the women in one survey prized happiness, the lower their well-being, though only when life was less stressful, and reading that happiness pays made a gold-medal moment land flatter

The Vessel
An AI company built specifically to replace vanishing local reporters in news deserts nationwide shut its entire operation down in 2026 after journalists discovered it had been copying, nearly word for word, stories those same reporters had already written

An AI company built specifically to replace vanishing local reporters in news deserts nationwide shut its entire operation down in 2026 after journalists discovered it had been copying, nearly word for word, stories those same reporters had already written

The Blog Herald
Many women in their seventies say the decade feels better than their thirties, forties, or fifties, not because there is more time now, but because they finally stopped needing a thesis defense to justify disappointing someone with a simple no.

Many women in their seventies say the decade feels better than their thirties, forties, or fifties, not because there is more time now, but because they finally stopped needing a thesis defense to justify disappointing someone with a simple no.

Global English Editing
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore