The Story of Personal Brand

Branding, and really any kind of marketing, is all about telling a story. With personal branding you have to decide what your story is.

But don't think this means you can just make up anything. It really means that you have to tell YOUR story. First you have to figure out how.

Today a large part of your personal brand is going to be based in an online forum, using multiple social media platforms. Try to link all your platforms together. This way, you might have multiple stories to tell about yourself but anyone interested will still be able to find the big picture, or whole story, of who you are.

Social media means your brand is a story constantly unfolding. Others can enter the story and you can enter theirs. It's all about dialogue. Every time somebody searches you online, their entering into a dialogue with you, whether you know it or not. If there isn't much there, their not going to have much to say in the end. By putting your story and yourself out there, people can see what the story of YOU looks like at this specific arc in your life.

For Many People Personal Brand Counts Most

By now we've all heard of branding. That particular marketing strategy where companies attempt to make in image of themselves that is easily and consistently reproduced. But being recognizable and reproducible is only one part of the equation. The other half lies in becoming a part of the consumer's lifestyle. Starbucks is more than just a coffee shop, it's a way of life.

Anyone who's read Naomi Kline's No Logo will recall that in the 90's while branding was becoming all the rage in corporate culture, it was being denounced by Gen Xers. Well today that counter-cultural view has shifted. For Gen Y branding is all about finding a way to build a social identity on the web and in the working world. The principles of branding are now used by young professionals to build a Personal Brand, a way to stand out amongst the intense competition of the current job market.

But it doesn't stop there. Working and unemployed professionals, young and old, are building personal brands for themselves through blogs, Twitter, and any number of social media networks. From the kid just out of college to corporate CEOs, personal brand is becoming the way to market a professional identity for oneself in a broadband world.

This trend has taken off so much that it's becoming a business in itself. Today personal brand experts charge top dollar for consultation. There is also a growing number of personal brand resources on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and a seemingly limitless number of blog entries related to the subject. On Twitter, people like @DanShawbel and @YourBrandYou are becoming a popular resource for personal brand information. Facebook hosts this blog's own steadily growing group called The Personal Brand Network, and there is even a Personal Brand Network on the social media site Ning to accompany this blog.

So what are you waiting for? With all these resources constructing your Personal Brand should be no problem!

Personal Brand Fieldwork!

I've recently been discussing Personal Brand with a lot of young professionals. There's a lot of people out there with a lot of things to say, so I figured, why not document some of these conversations?

I've been asking people things like: What is your personal brand? What do you think of personal brand? Do you feel equipped to create your own brand?

Here's some of the answers I've received so far:

Personal Brand is More Than Words

Ever wondered what hand gestures, facial expressions, and other types of non-verbal communication tell your audience?

Well personal branding is more than just the words and images representing you online. Your personal brand online is meant to be a gateway to the brand that is YOU in person! Dan Schawbel just posted a great interview on his blog with lots of great tips for managing and being aware of your body language. Check it out here.

Dan Schawbel is a personal branding expert. His blog posts on the subject are always worth checking out. See more at http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

Nagivating the Working World in High Definition

Today I'm sitting here and wondering to myself, "What is MY personal brand?" Like many young professionals I've reached a point where I've realized that I need to make myself known. For years I've had an online personality that was scattered and fragmented: a Facebook page here, a Myspace account there, MSN messenger, ICQ, blogs I write, blogs I follow.

Now I'm realizing that all of these things are a part of my identity, but to an outside observer--a potential employer perhaps--it would be very difficult to construct a unified image from all these platforms.

Personal Branding is the process of centralizing all these different online places into a defined individual. While still using many networks, personal branding allows us to define ourselves, set out a personal path of development, and be locatable to potential searchers.

But we don't want to simply be defined. Good personal branding requires High Definition, a clear picture of who you are, where you're going, and how you plan to get there. Don't just centralize all your online networks, recreate them to build your brand into the clearest image of who you are and what you represent.

Personal brand should show your potential in high definition.

Interested in some of the best online communities devoted to Personal Brand? Check out the Personal Brand Network on Ning and Facebook.