The Business of Personal Branding
Everyone has a story. We are all defined by our actions, beliefs, experiences, perceptions and choices.
We each maintain a unique personal brand that is defined by the sum of people’s experiences with us and perceptions about us. However, we are our own gatekeepers, thus our brand varies from person-to-person based on how much of our story we choose to share.
The Impact of Social Media on Personal Brands
We live in an online world dominated by content and community. And whether we like it or not, social media has made personal branding a 24/7 experience for many of us.
The mass-market adoption of social networking has forever changed the way that our stories are told and shared. We publish pictures, articles, opinions and updates that each tells a small piece of our story:
- What’s important to us.
- What we value.
- Where we’re going.
- What we’re doing.
- Who we’re with.
- What we buy.
- What we think.
- What we’re passionate about.
Though many of us may not realize, everything we do and say, both online and offline, is crafting our personal brands.
What’s Your Story?
So while taking the approach of not caring what other people think works for some personalities and career paths, most professionals will need to take a more thoughtful approach to their personal brand.
So what’s your story? What defines you? Would your definition of your personal brand closely match others’?
23 Personal Branding Questions
Here are some things to ask yourself and consider when assessing and developing your personal brand:
- What three adjectives would people use to describe you?
- What makes you unique?
- What are the top-five defining moments in your life?
- Who have been the five most influential people in your life?
- If you could go back and change decisions and actions, would you (i.e. do you live with regret)?
- If you could be anywhere, would you choose to be where you are?
- Do you know where you’re going?
- What life experiences have altered your views and actions?
- What do you fear most?
- What motivates and inspires you?
- Do you aspire to be great? How do you define greatness?
- Do you accept that success is a process, and not a privilege?
- Do you know how and when to lead?
- What are you passionate about?
- Do you believe in fate? Destiny?
- How do you balance your personal and professional lives?
- Do you view yourself as a brand?
- Do your friends and family have perceptions about you different than your professional peers?
- If you were to give your “last lecture,” what three things that you have learned in life would you share?
- Do you take risks and welcome change?
- Do you see challenges in life as obstacles or opportunities?
- Are you stubborn and closed-minded? Or do you view each experience as a chance to grow and expand your knowledge?
- Do you take responsibility for your own success or failure?
Your answers to these questions help to define who you are. How much of your story you choose to share, and the manner in which you share it, plays a large role in defining your personal brand.
A Final Note
Just like every organization has a brand that is constantly valued and judged based on experiences and perceptions, we are all personal brands.
Please know that I am not suggesting people be fake and overly controlled in their online and offline actions. I simply recommend that everyone take a conscious approach to understanding that how you act and what you choose to share defines who you are in the eyes of your family, friends, employers, peers, prospects, customers and business partners.
Your Thoughts
So what do you think about personal branding? Do you take a conscious, strategic approach to how you present yourself online and offline? Are you being true to yourself, and real with others?
Paul Roetzer is founder and president of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He can be found on Twitter @PaulRoetzer
Reader Comments
Matt Bertuzzi
December 04, 2009 12:29 PM | Permalink
Paul,You've shared some really interesting questions and given me a lot to think about. I would comment that it's tough work both being authentic AND being conscious of one's personal brand.
If I had to chose, I'd side with being real. The biggest upside is not avoiding saying stupid/damaging things, but owning up to stupid things said (and sharing what you've learned). Just my $.02.
Paul Roetzer
December 04, 2009 12:55 PM | Permalink
@Matt - This is a constant topic of conversation within the agency. Both related to how our professionals represent themselves in social media (often times as an extension of our corporate brand), how job candidates present themselves in public networks and how we advise our clients.As far as I'm concerned, there is no right or wrong, but depending on your career path, there certainly are some professionals who must be far more conscious of their actions and behavior.
In essence, we focus on creating an awareness that we are each individual brands, and then let people choose their own paths.
Tom Allinder
December 04, 2009 1:26 PM | Permalink
Paul, Some great questions here. Thanks so much for sharing them. I do know from my own experience, me being me sometimes is what other people don't want. I took me a long time to realize that being myself is OK but at the same time, constant tuning and refining is part of the process too.Dan Schawbel
December 05, 2009 9:09 AM | Permalink
Paul, good questions to ask and thanks for pointing out that personal branding is something professionals should consider, especially in this web 2.0 world.Paul Roetzer
December 05, 2009 12:29 PM | Permalink
@Tom - Sometimes the increased scrutiny that comes with social media participation can help us be more conscious of our actions and behavior overall, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't view social media as a reason to filter our personality, but I think we're all always striving to improve as individuals and as professionals.@Dan - Thanks for stopping by. For those who aren't aware, Dan has a book - Me 2.0 - that is all about personal branding, and also maintains a Website: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/.
Jonathan Rick
December 05, 2009 4:00 PM | Permalink
Hi Paul,I agree that personal branding is important, but I think it's overrated. Here's why:
http://is.gd/5dec8
Paul Roetzer
December 05, 2009 4:17 PM | Permalink
Jonathan,Thanks for your thoughts. Your post does make a valid point regarding highly qualified job candidates being overlooked simply because they don't meet arbitrary social media metrics, such as followers and friends. In that sense, yes, personal branding can be a bit overrated.
However, personal branding is about far more than social media metrics, and goes well beyond the assessment of job candidates.
This post was more about creating an awareness that we, as individuals, are always being judged and evaluated. Social media has simply extended that process into a 24/7 online world, which means we must be even more conscious of our actions and behavior, if we choose to care how others perceive us.
While the examples in your post are certainly qualified, and would be excellent prospects for any recruiter, the reality is that in the coming months and years, it will become standard practice for social network profiles, metrics and activities to be closely scrutinized and considered in both job interviews and employee evaluations.
Thanks, again for sharing.
Ricky Bouchard
December 07, 2009 7:04 PM | Permalink
Jonathan makes a great point in his post that social media metrics don't exactly paint a perfect picture for certain people. But it makes me wonder if the small amount of activity you see out of these people holds a little more weight than what you would see out of some more active users.With that being said, is it possible that the positions these people hold are better suited for the type of person that isn't overly involved in social media? Is not using social media an effective way of personal branding for some?
Ashwani
December 09, 2009 10:04 AM | Permalink
Today when social media technologies can have a varied impact on eprsonal brands both positive and negative. It is very important that every brand that takes utmost care as to how it presents itself in the online arena.Leave a Comment