Develop a Strong Personal Brand Online Part 1

June 1, 2008 · Comments

vaynerchuk and brogan Gary Vaynerchuk could tell you that his personal brand is worth millions, but he’s modest. My friend and PodCamp co-founder, Christopher S. Penn, often refers to branding by ZeFrank’s definition: “an emotional aftertaste.” ( See the The Show with ZeFrank episode here.) I have some thoughts on how one might develop a strong personal brand online, and what you might do with one, once you build it.

It turns out that I have so many thoughts, that I’m going to break this post up into 3. This will be the first part: Branding Basics.

Why Build a Personal Brand?

You might already know the answer to this question. There are lots of answers, actually, depending on you, your needs, the way the world has shaped you. Let’s look at just one answer.

The easiest answer is that you might want to be memorable, and you might want to transfer your real world reputation into the online world. A strong personal brand is a mix of reputation, trust, attention, and execution. You might want to build a brand around being helpful (what I hope my brand means to you), or being a creative thinker (Kathy Sierra, for instance) or being a dealmaker (Donald Trump), or being a showman (David Lee Roth), or whatever matters most to you, and also what you are capable of sustaining.

A personal brand gives you the ability to stand out in a sea of similar products. In essence, you’re marketing yourself as something different than the rest of the pack. Do you need this? I don’t know. Do you like to be mixed in with the pack?

Hints About Brand in General

What’s the difference between Coke and Pepsi? There’s a taste difference, for sure, but what does the brand signify? Tricky, eh? So what’s the difference between TechCrunch and Mashable to you? I would argue that Michael Arrington is more heavily tied into the Silicon Valley insiders scene than Pete Cashmore, and that the other authors on each site stack differently (I really love Mashable’s Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins, for instance).

Remember that trying to develop a personal brand involves differentiating in a Coke vs. Pepsi, TechCrunch vs. Mashable world. Identifying yourself as the social media expert or the tech geek blogger is about as differentiated as brands of rice.

In some ways, the differentiator on brands is in what you deliver. What differentiates me from others might be in the volume of useful content I deliver. I’m not sure. You tell me what makes me different. My answer would definitely vary from yours.

The Human Side of Brand

First off, remember that branding isn’t playing a role. Be yourself. It will become apparent rather quickly if you’re being someone that you’re not. Gary Vaynerchuk is the same guy, camera on or off. He may or may not tone himself down a bit when meeting new business partners, but I promise you that he reverts to being himself the moment someone’s come to know what he’s about.

Second, you may choose to use some kind of alias, because you’re afraid of the Internet and stalkers. That’s great, except that your brand equity doesn’t stretch to potential jobs, unless you go around explaining that you have a secret identity. As a guy who grew up reading comics, I’m okay with people having identities, but remember: that means the equity doesn’t transfer as simply.

Finally, brands are complex and not especially one dimensional. Don’t try to be a one-note experience. Madonna has much more than one brand element. So does Guy Kawasaki. Don’t whittle yourself down to a simple footnote. Be complex and colorful and interesting. Only, be sure you can say what you’re about in one easy sentence, and that others have a sense of what you represent without your help. Madonna is a creative force of emotion. Guy Kawasaki is an innovator and experimenter.

Coming up in the second part of the series is the Technical side of Personal Branding. I look forward to your comments on this post, and if I’ve missed anything, let me know. There’s a lot to cover. What do you think so far?

Part of the Social Media 100 series of posts. Feel free to subscribe for free to get the rest, and if you want even MORE content, subscribe to my newsletter, too!

Photo Credit, Brian Solis

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  • Robyn Flach
    Enjoyed this article and am looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.

    As someone relatively new to this arena, it's been great to learn from many of the established personalities out there, and very interesting to watch some of the newer folks come online and watch as their 'strategies' unfold before my eyes.

    And yes, I would say one of first words I'd think of around your brand/content would be helpful - you've hit the mark =)
  • Hi Chris -

    I recently gave a presentation on building a personal brand to artists at the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. Here are a couple of links to my thoughts on a personal brand.

    Newsletter recap: http://www.icanthrive.com/newsletters/080411.html

    The presentation on SlideShare:
    http://www.slideshare.net/BethDunn/branding-i-j...

    Here's snippet from the newsletter:
    "The first step is understanding the brand concept. A brand is not a logo. A brand is the sum total of your experience with someone, something or some company. It’s the warm feeling you get remembering Gramma’s toll house cookies and the squeamish feeling you get dropping your car off for repair at the auto dealer. And everything in between."

    Can't wait to read more and see the great comments that collect here.

    KAED!
  • Seems that there is an interesting distinction between branding of "stuff", and personal branding. We ARE our brand - the walking, talking, thinking, creating, relating person. We can't "create" it or fake it (inauthenticity will soon be exposed) - we can only learn to express it and touch others. Much of corporate life is putting on the mask, playing the game, spouting the party line, parroting the message - but now, we can toss that aside offer who we are. A bit scary, but fun, and ultimately fulfilling. I like being my brand rather than trying to be someone else's...
  • In the area of personal branding, I think the best advice is to be true to yourself.

    Your capabilities, abilities, expertise and knowledge will change as you grow; but who you are the core will likely not. Building a personal brand starts with self-awareness and self-understanding, and honestly, self-love. You have to focus within, before you can take it outside to others.
  • Good start on the issue of personal branding.

    One thing that's a pet peeve of mine is when people use secret identities. That puts me in the position of having to look at their name and figure out who they are.

    Another problem is when people read off a list of websites they have created and want you to visit them all. It's ok to have a bunch of websites, but don't make me have to write them all down.

    Give me one central location where I can use as a starting point to see everything you are doing.

    Thanks Chris...
  • I really love this gem: "Identifying yourself as the social media expert or the tech geek blogger is about as differentiated as brands of rice."

    I think I've finally started to nail down the visual elements for my blogger-self, but I haven't spent any time defining what makes me different than every other tech geek blogger out there. Good stuff to think about.
  • I REALLY can't see what I can get out of being a social media guru, if I ever aspired to being one. If there is money to be made this way- I can't see it. What am I in the business of?? Why would people want me to rave on about something? I'm creative and off the wall, but I think I'm right outside of what anyone would listen to. I'll say anything about anything or anybody, but I need a "brand" before anyone will listen- it seems circular!
  • Great thoughts Chris!

    One of the first things we did for branding was to copyright our logo. Many times people forget that a logo goes a long way in branding too. When we came up with "Lloyd" whom we use as our movie rating system, we started the copyright process. (Which, btw, wasn't as hard as many think it is.)

    We are branding ourselves as movie reviewers with a "family-friendly focus" and Lloyd is helping to brand us. When people see Lloyd, hopefully they will start thinking "family-friendly movies."

    You can see Lloyd at http://framebyframe.godlaughs.net

    Happy branding!
    Dr. Rus
  • Great article, Chris. You're spot on, for the most part.

    I'd argue one point, though. For some markets (such as writing) a "secret identity" is perfectly fine for branding.

    In some cases, that secret identity (we call it a "pen name") takes on a persona of its own, and one which is very different from the individual's persona. Is that dishonest? Nope. Not in the slightest.

    There are plenty of ways to make it work in business, too. An assumed business name fixes the problem of the identity "stretching to potential jobs."

    Maybe it's my niche, but I think you're off on this one. I've seen too many examples where it worked just fine.
  • Great advice, Chris. As someone who is going through a personal brand process, I can tell you that it's been truly insightful and liberating. I have always chosen to put my whole self out on the web as a means to control the brand rather than letting the web control how people perceive the brand. So far so good. I've also aspired to the notion that your personal brand is discovered and not created - being yourself is key (in my case being a 35 year old social media junkie with red hair and tattoos). Can't wait for part 2 of the series!
  • In a quarter century of living my personal brand, I've found that some development work has been necessary to evolve the brand to better reflect my life, as I change.

    When I was younger than most of my peers, then "ubiquity" worked as a brand element: between high energy and low personal economic value on my time, and low barriers to entry for exploring new areas (and working in tech media at a time when press passes made it free to attend many conferences), it was easy for me to project omnipresence, be it in the Mac world with user groups/online communities or later with real-world communities, cohousing and ecovillages.

    A different sort of positioning, call it "strategic presencing," better served me as fresh young energy came along: knowing the right three places to be on a given day to just _seem_ to be everywhere.

    As I focus and distill and gain experience, I've found that I'm picking and choosing more, calendaring items for others' benefit but participating less, investing any given time period's worth of effort into alliances that leverage my cred to help build someone else's brand, but in ways that I can share the benefit.

    Raines
  • Chris - I love the concepts of personal branding & how it factors into networking. Can I write that portion of this series? about being memorable & repetition. I view branding as a journey & have covered specific opportunities in many of my posts (Twitter, Facebook, blogging, forums, everywhere!)

    http://conniebensen.com/blog/category/branding/

    and for murfomurf - the goal isn't to become an expert,
    it's to have a voice. And no one wants you to 'rave on about something'. As everyone is suggesting - just be yourself! Your presence of your personal brand will evolve.
  • Absolutely agree, the brand lets others understand what your all about, whether its me, you, Guy or Madonna, Iv just had a think about why im different and wrote a post about it. Its a really thought provoking post. To @Garfield, I totally agree with the secret identities, if your excellent why call yourself something else, personally, I trust someone who uses their name, way more, it appears like they are being honest and transparent and thats the kind of posts i want to read.
  • I agree with the concept that branding helps you stand out and become memorable. I disagree completely with choosing to create a personal brand, and to know why, read my post on Personal Branding Prison at Copyblogger.

    Creating a personal brand traps you good and solid. Create a strong *business brand* and you have the solution to freedom and longevity.
  • I like the point about brand being also about "voice." It's a good one to make.

    More later. : )
  • @Chartrand - I dont think it traps you, for example, il use Guy Kawasaki, if he chooses to add/develop himself in a new area, its just a development of himself and his brand, it can change, the same way a business/artist brand can change - look at Madonna and Apple.
  • Excellent post, Chris!

    I had a discussion with colleagues who are traditional marketers last week, and funnily enough, I introduced them to Gary as my example of a new school marketer. They were very reticent at the thought of being so "informal" and "personal" about your brand, claiming that consistency of message required putting on an act.

    It was one of the more infuriating conversations I've had in a while but find great fascination in hearing their arguments against being a Gary Vaynerchuk or a Hugh MacLeod. Sure, the pressure's on for you to be an interesting character all the time, but if you've got it, flaunt it, right!?
  • @ Purdie - The name is James... Apple isn't a personal brand. It's Apple, not Steve Jobs Inc. Madonna can't do much with her business if she steps away from it either.

    Most freelancers these days make the mistake of building up their own personal brand, ie, they make THEIR name the big one, but when it comes time to take a vacation or step away for a month, they're in trouble. Their business can't survive without them.

    It's better to brand the business, ie Freelancer Inc. and be able to integrate other people into the situation so that longevity and passive activity occurs.
  • Chris, great post.

    My client and friend -- the Big Man Clarence Clemons, saxist with Bruce Springsteen's E-Street band -- once suggested to me that when you walk in a room you want every head to turn. He certainly makes that happen as do many celebrities that appear larger than life, like Angelina Jolie, Muhammad Ali, Ringo Starr, Mother Theresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, and others who I've met and/or worked with, who also have a special something. When you talk with them, you're aware of something more in their personality that truly makes them stand out, which is why they are who they are.
  • I think personal branding is something that happens whether we realize it or not. It's kind of like social media - whether companies listen and participate or not, those conversations are still happening about their brands. With personal branding, if you're not orchestrating and managing and paying attention to it, it's still happenening around you with every step you take. It makes sense to be on top of it or your personal brand may end up being something you wouldn't quite want it to be.
  • The whole discussion on personal branding is fascinating to me, especially when i think about the parallels to "real" brands. At P&G, they train us on the basics of the Brand Building Framework, the strategic decisions made to create a brand like Tide, Pantene or Old Spice. But we're never told to take that same learning and apply it to our personal brands. I've just started on that path to figure out my personal brand, starting online to do so. I'm still trying to figure out my WHO (my target...the people most likely to be interested in reading my blog), as well as my WHAT (my brand equity...what words people would use to describe my brand). Branding is a journey and personal branding is even more challenging because every decisions you make in your life could have implications on that brand.
  • I remember asking Dan Schawbel and Seth Godin about it before, and both mentioned that they don't there's that much of a difference between "real", corporate brands, and personal brands - that the same principles apply.

    I really agree with Lara here, though, so I thought I'd repeat what she said. Especially with the internet, people are going to talk about you, so you *should* stay on top of it.

    As to how to build the brand. I think you've got some great tips, in terms of the general side of it. To me, I think a personal brand should be something you don't have to think too much about. It should be natural to you - what you really believe in, what you're passionate about - not something that you try to form. Yes, you make a conscious effort to develop it, but the foundations of it has to be natural.

    A second thought - a large part of building your brand is thus surrounding yourself with the right people. People who encourage and inspire you.
  • Terry Fernandez
    Great Post or should I say great series of posts. I believe personal branding should be rooted in TRANSPARENCY coupled with great story telling. Gary V does that so well, so does Larry Lessig, Sir Ken Robinson, Colbert, Jon Stewart and countless others. We all have stories to tell, If we dont, then it is lost forever.
  • As a side note, I've gotten into several debates over the semantics of "brand" vs. "branding". Some brand pros have advised that we should be using the term "brand" - http://tinyurl.com/2pxlyu. I'm personally not that hung-up on the wording, but it seems to be an ongoing discussion. Thoughts?
  • I'm juggling three "brands" and so far it's working. My online ID is banannie, but I tie it in with my real name, rather than use it as an alias or secret identity. Using banannie as my ID helps differentiate me from the other Annies out there, and it immediately lets people know I don't take myself too seriously :) .

    But I also maintain Pixel Currents as my business brand. It's a more formal, serious brand, which helps when working with clients outside of the fishbowl. There's full acknowledgment and intermingling between these brands, though, because they represent different pieces of my third brand, Annie Boccio.
  • Loved this post but have internal conflicts here, Chris.

    In branding oneself, is it possible to close doors that otherwise would be open if there was just a hint of mystery, an invitation to ask more? I work in several niches, plus fantasy is a foundation for one of them. I'd love to hear suggestions about how to brand yourself in a way that doesn't limit you "shapeshifting" into a new specialty, while maintaining your integrity across the board.

    Any thoughts, Chris? I'll be waiting...
    Have a great weekend!
    Bonnie
  • Yes, a personal brand can differentiate you from the rest of the pack. But for it to be successful who have to tell a authentic story that your audience is willing to embrace and spread to others.

    When you are blogging with a Nick name you are not really trying to build a personal Brand. For example Maki at DoshDosh.com is not building a personal brand. The brand that is being promoted is the website DoshDosh.

    In my case I am trying to tie in my name with the website I want to promote. That's why I use the term "Aaron from Webspear" whenever I leave comments on blogs.
  • Having had a real stalker, I still use my information on the net. With Twitter, even if I suddenly disappear, there will be millions who can tell the police my last known wherabouts. All kidding aside, personal brand is tended to more more by those who are internet marketers than regular business owners. They are so consumed with a logo, they forget that bad service creates a brand. Even a location can do that.

    We was an at CD listening party last night at a restaurant that had been turned over to new owners. But it was so bad last time, I didnt order anything but soda.

    It was their bad luck to have a bad service nice and Lots of complaining customers. While I did not voice any personally, I just left the venue early, I saw a lawyer I know talking to the owners outside the place when I left. It cant be good.


    Dr. Wright
    www.twitter.com/drwright1
  • jdegnan
    Great Points Chris!

    RE: Flexibility in your brand - I agree that your brand has to be able to evolve over time, but I think the best personal brands are really rooted in their own self-selected, yet timeless characteristics.

    Take your Madonna example; she is able to reinvent herself over and over again because she considers her personal brand to be timeless. Each new side of her reflects both the style of the day as well as the same, in-the-face-of-the-critics passion for producing music. That's what keeps her fans loyal despite the evolution of her music because they can identify with her attitude towards opposition.

    Things like curiosity, aggressiveness and confidence never go out of style and can be the "Hardwood Floors" of your personal brand that you can go back to time and time again to suit the situation.
  • For me, a brand beginning can come from anywere, at any time. Or maybe that is just the realization of what one's brand is, can be, could be or should be.

    It's most likely been inside us for years just waiting for us to figure it out. Or maybe it's been outside of us and we just have to notice it. It's strange (though maybe not so strange) that others might see the talents, abilities, gifts and activities that we ourselves may not.

    We can see it in others as well, but not always so much our selves. But as for the brand just coming along at any given time, mine just came in a conversation online with a few folks several years ago. It pretty summed up who I was and what I was doing (or not doing may be more like it).

    David
    The Unmotivated Motivational Writer
  • @James… If Seth Godin says theres little between a business and personal brand, its good enough for me and my point. Apple and Steve Jobs go hand in hand - Sergey and Larry with Google etc.

    Why would a successful artist walk away from the business? How does a personal brand imprison successful people or do them damage? Everyone makes mistakes and i think your points encourage people to hide behind a business name incase they fail - everyone fails, its actually quite healthy, i think.

    Why cant a business survive without "the man/woman" if its their business and their employees and thier product/service surely that should help it, if it doesnt it sounds like a poor personal brand thats at fault, not personal branding as a topic.

    Its a great topic to comment on, some of the comments are great.
  • Standard apologies for the length of this. Please consider it a compliment to the amount your words got my brain chugging. :)

    I think the comment about "what you are capable of sustaining" is the big one that tends to get forgotten, especially in 15-minutes/celebrity-obsessed culture. Too much focus on getting there (and the definition of "there" is as variable as the number of brand meanings out there), and little focus on staying there and being credible with what you've achieved once you've achieved it.

    I admit that, though I certainly get the concept and importance of personal branding, and know there are plenty of tricks and bad habits companies and traditional marketing need to unlearn, I remain uncomfortable with the idea that developing a good personal brand is just being you - transparent, authentic, insert-buzzword-here. It's not. It's Schroedinger's Cat: by nature of being cognizant of our presentation to the world, even if the effort is to crumble synthetic facades, that awareness affects the presentation. Face, words, actions, whatever. Might not be in a bad way -- hell, might make vast improvements and filter out all kinds of bullshit -- but it's not "natural". (I.e. there's a concerted effort behind it that wouldn't necessarily be getting made if there wasn't something we were trying to accomplish, and for many, that accomplishment is self-serving.)

    Business is not "natural", and never will be, because it's backed by intent. 2.0 is not natural. We may all be friends now, but we're still selling (to each other and those beyond our tech/media/social ramparts). Using your comment about being able to say what you're about in one easy sentence -- to me an excellent example. Your average non-business joe doesn't spend much time or effort, I'll wager, making sure he has an elevator pitch for himself.

    Again, I don't think there's anything wrong with any of this, per se. People have to make a living, and dealing with people and companies that act like people is vastly superior to dealing with people and companies that are all about prevarication and manipulation. I just don't think we should delude ourselves that there isn't intent here, or that this doesn't fall under the category of business evolution. There've been other evolutions, there will be more, and there is an element of fashion to it. And in 10 years who knows what our focus in self-presentation and the subject of our blog posts and comments will be. (Though we'll probably hang out on some entirely different platform by then...)
  • @ Scott - Heh, I tend not to read Seth Godin because I don't believe in the huge following he has. Of course, that doesn't mean he doesn't have valuable advice, just that I tend to swim upriver against the current.

    Successful artists need time off like anyone else. People get old, too. They may want to retire. Life circumstances change things. Nothing is constant and preparing for this in advance is smart.

    Also, a business can't grow if someone has branded personal assets like one brain too strongly.

    For example, say my site was JamesChartrand.com I market myself as the best, the most, the everything. People love my work. I'm successful.

    Then I hire Harry.

    What would most people do? They'd want James. Because James has personally branded himself as being THE go-to guy. Harry's just Harry. He's not THE guy.

    Say I have a business, Men with Pens. That's THE business to go to, the best resource, tops. "Oooh, you have a Men with Pens design," the people tell their friend. "Very cool. I want one of those."

    They don't care WHO builds their site. Sure, they know it's James and Harry, but what they want is the brand name, the Men with Pens. Charlie could come in and that's fine. So could Joe and Jeff. The brand is stronger. Take away James or Harry or Charlie and that's all good too. It's still a Men with Pens design and just as desirable.

    That's the difference. There's no hiding behind a business name at all.
  • @ James. If Harry was better or as good, Harry would be just dandy, but naming your business after your name isnt clever, but running a blog under your name is clever. In your example calling your site jameschartrand.com is the mistake not building a personal brand, its the name of the site that will influence the users/customers, not you the man James Chartrand.

    What i think customers want is for a great product/service to solve their problem or need for a reasonable price.
  • I have been a big proponent of having a "personal brand" for a long time now. Personally, I think that in our ever more connected a public world, developing a "personal brand" is all the more important and increasingly common. The design, the "look and feel" as it were, of my site (http://patrickrhone.com) is based upon an overall personal branding. As such, that design extends to everything including my resume, business cards, etc. In other words, my intent has been and continues to be to develop a design and branding that is uniquely identified with me, Patrick Rhone. It is for this reason that I am not using an "off the shelf" blog template but have one hand coded from the ground up.
  • Good article on what I consider to be an important topic.

    Before I tried to establish my "personal brand", googling my name returned two main results: Someone named "Kevin Jon Heller", whose middle name was Jon and still returned the highest results, and a Jon Heller who posted pretty terrible videos on collegehumor.com.

    Hence, I registered my domain (the .com was taken, which was quite disappointing), and after only a week I became the first result for my name on google.

    Of course, I was lucky in that I didn't have much "competition", but I'm glad that people who look for me by name can find me more easily now.
  • I think Jon picked up on a very important point. I've been blogging for about a year now, and my blog is now on the first page (or top of the second) of Google for the search "derrick". And the whole first page of Google for "derrick kwa" are all refering to me and my content. Granted, "derrick kwa" is a unique name, but the fact that I'm on the first page for "derrick" speaks volumes, I think. =).
  • Dear Chris excellent article ! The Personal Brand to me is the way to penetrate the world wide web ! You have the ability to create content of interest ! You understand Math,Semantic's and General Semantics ! I as "Ok With Corrections!" will still be bogged down with a name like Pepsi,General Motors and the name My Mother gave me ! Here we go !
  • I have been very aware of personal branding and your article brought out some good points. A person's personal brand should never be something you have to "act." If you can't be yourself you definitely would convince others of what you are supposedly trying to market. Gary V. is an great example of this, he's the real deal. Though I would totally love to see him not tone down his overt personality when meeting a new business contact, they would totally be freaked out, but hey, he's being himself.

    I believe more than the product itself, personal branding is what keeps you in the forefront of a person's mind. Almost like a mascot, minus the furry costumes...unless you're into that as an image.

    I look forward to the future writings on personal branding!
  • I am relatively new to blogging - my first tries I had in 2005, but I am really systematically doing it for some months now. In my blog I try to brand myself (funny expression) as a person who walks through the streets and parks of Berlin with open eyes and tries to show to other people what I think is worth showing. It's not a techie photoblog, there are too many people doing that already and - and that's more important for me - I am not a techie and will never be. In addition to that I try to get the personal brand of being open-minded, saying my two cents when I've got them. And this I am doing (I very much hope so) by commenting and communicating on the web.
  • Enjoyed the post. I look forward to the next two.
  • Liz
    I haven't read through all of these comments (yet) but personal branding to me is the same as labeling yourself and, personally, I hate to be pidgeon-holed, even if it is complimentary. It feels inauthentic, like I'm manufacturing an appetizing image to be consumed. Life, and people, are more complex than that.

    Think of Britney Spears...the "brand" of Britney Spears was clearly shown to be one dimensional when she fell apart. And I think part of the reason she did was having to live out her personal brand.

    I realize this is not a pop culture blog but she seemed like an obvious example of personal branding gone amok on a national scale. Obviously, most people don't have to worry about tabloids and public breakdowns. But too much polish on ones personal brand equals phoniness to me. I don't trust people who have reputations which are too good to be true. Call me a cynic.

    Interesting idea though (applying marketing to oneself) and I'll read the next installments.
  • Wonder

    Now thats a brand.

    Nothing to wonder about. Good, plain, white bread.

    Don't even get me started when its toasted.

    mike
  • Am I alone or do the mere words "personal brand" make anyone else a little queasy?

    I'm not a product. I'm just a girl. My communications, online or off, share who I am, not who I want you to believe that I am. For me, those are the same, anyway.

    I know you communicated some of this in your "human side of brand" heading, but just the language of "branding" one's self is uncomfortable for me. Transferring the language of the marketplace to people, interactions and ideas is, perhaps, my personal hangup. For so long brands have been used by corporations not to convey the essence of a product, but to manipulate perceptions, so the word "brand" seems tragically connected to some form of deceit.

    Besides, it's like real-life, right? Nobody wants to be sold to - do they? They want connection, with a real live person. A human being with multiple dimensions, not multiple product offerings.

    In honesty, Chris, I like you not because I perceive you to be helpful (though you're that too, to many people, I'm sure), but because the questions you sometimes ask lead me to believe that you're interested in real connection too. They're not related to a blog post necessarily, nor to your area of expertise, just points of potential connection. I like you too because the first time I tweeted, you responded. You were kind. You also eat cotton candy.

    Am I too idealistic? Or can we just eliminate all the talk of "personal branding" and switch to the language of "just be yourself." Maybe I'll like you, maybe I won't, but regardless of whether I meet you at work, a cocktail party or on the web, I'm far less interested in you as a "product" than I am in you as a "person."

    Besides, even if you are selling services or an idea - online or off - I'll buy or hire you, in most cases, not because I perceive you as the best, nor even perhaps the perfect fit, but because I really like *you.*

    Just my two (okay, maybe three) cents ;)
  • I think a key point here is achievement. For every person you've mentioned in your post, they've achieved something.

    Now, many people have achieved and not become on-going brands - usually out of choice. But equally few people are brands without actually doing something.

    Louis Gray is an interesting example of this - the guy knows his smarts and has done for sometime, but only developed his 'online brand' when he started putting his thoughts down and achieving something.

    Scoble helped Microsoft to suck less/appear to suck less, Loic Le Meur has founded numberous successful companies and is a well read blogger, Guy Kawasaki was Apple's first evangelist.

    The point is you can't be a brand without some substance, some significant substance. Unless you want to be a paris-hilton type, and in this environment they don't float to the top.

    I myself do a lot, am very busy, but people tell me my brand has waned because much of what I achieve these days isn't very visible or public anymore. They're absolutely right, of course. And my brand has slid.

    I'm still deciding whether it's worth pushing it back up or concentrating on other priorities right now.
  • Part of the personal brand development is of course how that brand is perceived by others. Ben here hints at that. The success of James Chartrand's post was due in great part by him being exposed to the Copyblogger brand.

    If you do not believe me, take a look at the multiple posts I have written on that very same topic ;-) Many at The Blog Herald, and of course at Conversation Agent.

    Consistency also matters... and I'm sure that is contemplated in the next installments of this series.
  • @ Valeria - I like to think you're incorrect. We experienced our growth, success and popularity with our content before Brian asked me to be part of his featured team.

    The success of the post at Copyblogger is really no different than the success of other posts I've written there. It resonated with readers, plain and simple, and I think the comments prove it.
  • Trisharjackson
    I think it's interesting to read everyone's take on the word "brand". It's as if the word sales and marketing were profane. For others, it's just who they are.

    My person brand is my identity. I am the same person at work, at home, online, in front of a group. At times, that can get me into trouble as others around me believe that you need to act one way or another in different settings. If that is the case, wouldn't we all have multiple personalities in a sense?

    I stick to be true to myself first and foremost. Honest, outspoken, and driven. Has worked for me thus far and others have "branded" me this way as well. They bought into it as I've "sold it" for so long.
  • Liz
    I'm an academic rat and contemporary understandings of "self" understand every person to have multiple identities or selves. We aren't one and the same person at home, work, play, with kids or with our grandparents or with our partner, when we are at home or when we're on the road, for work or pleasure.

    All of these identities are a part of who we are but you can't compartmentalize yourself and pick one identity and call that your "brand". Well, you can but you'll be a superficial and/or manipulative person.

    I guess I think of marketing/PR as a necessary evil in a commercial environment. Businesses have to get the word out about their services and products. It's when you apply business principles to the complexity of a person's identity that I think you lose me. I don't think of people as commodities, whether individually or collectively...in fact, I think that attitude is a huge problem in the U.S.
  • Insightful, thanks. It's making me reconsider some things. I can't say that a lot about much I've been reading lately.

    Good Hunting.
  • This post intrigues me, because as you know Chris, I've been exploring personal brand since about January.

    Prior to that, I had a very long-standing "pseudonym brand" that I've had online for 10+ yrs in certain circles. But for reasons that very much made sense due to my career, that pseudonym wasn't tied to my 'real name' in any way. If you googled Lucretia Pruitt, you found a few entries from a class-action suit I was a party to, and a bunch of entries on a woman who died in the 1850s. If you googled the pseudonym, all but 2 of the thousands of entries were mine.

    But coming on Twitter and joining in the social media/social networking world consciously made me re-evaluate personal branding.

    I gave it a lot of thought before I decided to go with "GeekMommy" as a personal brand, but to tie it to Lucretia Pruitt. However, I also have a company brand that I have yet to reveal... because my intent is to strengthen my personal brand before adding more to the mix.

    I'd submit that there are few out there who actually confuse say, Mike Arrington with TechCrunch - but mentioning one always makes you think of the other. But that doesn't mean he's limited to a niche.

    So there's personal reputation (when someone says your name what do they think?) and personal brand (when someone says the brand name - whether it's something like GeekMommy or ChrisBrogan.com - do they instantly think of you?) and personal-product brand (when someone says BrandX do they automatically associate it with your reputation, like say Alltop.com and Guy Kawasaki?)
  • As Mitch Joel of Twist Image says "your personal brand is." Meaning, you already have a personal brand. We all do. People already know you. When people think of you certain things come to mind. It may be good or it may be bad or a little of both.

    Personal branding then is an effort to shape the values people assign to you from this point forward.

    As an example; if you have a reputation for being late and therefore disrespectful of other's time then you may decide to change this image. You may choose to work on being prompt and emphasize your commitment to being on time in your marketing communications. Another strategy may be to work on communicating how "in demand" you are. If people think you are a hot commodity they won't mind waiting for you to show up. Think of the wait at a popular restaurant.

    So, step one is...find out what your personal brand is.
  • @James - your content is great, no question about it. Truly. What I'm saying is that the place in which it is published matters to augment one's brand. Back in the days when Fast Company was highlighting expert bloggers and their posts, I "borrowed" off the FC brand, which made people who otherwise would have not read/discovered my content do so. That's what I was saying.

    Chris is a very likable individual - he gives to create community and opens conversations constantly. That is very much part of his brand. Hence the many comments to his posts.

    Brand matters, sometimes more than content. If you perceive that something is good, you consider it before something else that may be as good or better, but not perceived as such. In some cases, not as popular ;-) And brands can change, as Mike here mentions. Taking brands to the next level is my life work - mature and early stage. I've learned a thing or two along the way.
  • I'm anxious to hear the rest of your take on this. I'd add to this but the comments here have already been so valuable. The nuance of branding and focusing within a niche fascinates me.

    I'd be curious to hear your take on the differences between building a brand and positioning yourself as a thought leader. With the exception of Madonna, or maybe not, I'd say all your examples have an element of thought-leadership in them. Certainly you and Gary.

    I look forward to the next posts.
  • There are some thoughtful comments here. Something occurred to me after reading so many people who say "Be yourself" or "Be transparent".

    The thought was this: being yourself and being transparent means being open with your limitations and faults.

    Can you spell as well as the people who are reading your blog? If not, then there is really no way to hide this from your readers.

    Are you commenting on a blog post written by someone more gifted than you with rhetoric or Socratic reasoning? If so, then she and all of her readers will discover this when they read your comment.

    Unlike many here, while certainly "geeky" I am not involved in a direct way in the tech world. I'm not trying to "monetize" anything. I work at a job. There, we make things, we package things, and then we ship these things. We truly do "crank widgets". None of my income comes from a service that I can deliver online. No ad revenue. No online auction selling. I work in a field filled with "Old Timers" (Chemistry) and in an industry filled with people of every stripe (Alternative Medicine). While the occasional "tech geek" sneaks in, I am far more likely to meet "back to nature" types or "new age" people on the job.

    I bring this up because I view this "lack of contemporaries" as my own weakness. I imagine it is readily evident to anyone who sees my work online. I started my own blog not with the intent to brand myself, but simply as a way to learn a bit about web technology and teach myself the whole "new media" concept.

    What I've realized from the other comments here is that this branding is happening whether I intend it or not. So, I might as well direct it if possible. I'm interested in both the technical and the personal aspects and will look forward to the rest of the personal branding series.
  • Gee Chris..this got them talking. Your opening paragraph on 'WHY' is the most significant for me "you may want to transfer your reputation into the online world"- nice. You can only uncover what is already there...it is difficult to create a personal brand from nothing - even online. Look forward to the rest of the series. P.S. nice photo with Gary!
  • Hi Shannon-

    Very insightful commentary, and thanks for your perspective. You're right about the transparency of our limitations. In older business books, that was frowned upon (admitting one's limitations), but even when I'm counseled to the contrary, I believe that it's always better to be clear about one's own capabilities.

    Branding has kind of always been around. It's just a lot easier to do with these online tools. Some might argue that it's a bit more realistic in ways, because in the old days, if someone was crowing as if they were the best chemist in the world, there was no easy way for that person's local crowd to dispute this. Now, with the Internet, people can refer to other chemists in other communities who are sharing their work online, and make the comparison.

    I think you can still choose not to effect personal branding in your career. It's just that your counterparts might choose that tool as a way to establish their capabilities, and so you might at least understand how you *could* choose to play, should that become necessary.

    Thanks for your thoughts.

    Is personal branding inevitable? Interesting question. What do YOU think?
  • thank you
  • Hm. Either everyone's on a personal branding lovefest or no one gets what I mentioned.

    Branding is smart. Branding is good. Everyone should find their brand.

    *PERSONAL* branding is not smart. It chains you to that job and computer more than you can ever realize. If you're the singlemost asset in your business, you can't ever walk out the door, because you take your assets with you and leave the business empty.

    *BUSINESS* branding is smart. You achieve personal branding that doesn't link you as being the single-most asset.

    The trap of personal branding is especially dangerous for lone freelancers and single entrepreneurs. I am amazed to see the number of people believing that personal branding is THE thing to do.

    Wow. Good luck with that when you burn out, want to hire someone or decide to retire or sell your business.

    @ Valeria - Thank you for the kind words. You said, "the place in which it is published matters to augment one’s brand."

    Two things: One, that's why we published at our blog first and foremost until we had branding success for our business and two, I disagree. The place where your content is published matters to augment your credibility, not your brand.


    Because trust me, Brian Clark's brand and our brand aren't at all similar.
  • I can see both sides of the issue. I get that having a personal brand means that prospective clients know what they're getting: you've got a reputation, you've got a personal track record of success, and there's an immediate "face" to what you do. I also get James' point that it's maybe not the smartest thing to do for the growth of your business, in terms of burnout and trying to expand later on.

    I think it depends on the freelancer. I'm totally fine with "Colleen Vanderlinden" being my brand, because I know I'm never going to hire anyone to join me. It's my business, and I have never even considered expanding it beyond a one-woman show. As far as burnout goes, you have to know yourself, and how much you can handle. Am I going to make as much money as the Pen Men? Hell no. I get that. But I make enough, and I do work I love, so that's all that matters.
  • Scott Schablow
    Chris, You're spot-on with this post. I've researched many writings about personal branding, but you have the best knack for distilling it all down in an understandable way. One thing I might add is, as you are trying to distill your personal brand, get input from those who know you. They can provide insight into your perceived brand and help you craft your voice.
  • Very insightful - great timing. Thanks for the valid explanations. Great article. I'm so glad that I found Chris Brogan.

    Chris says that it's not about a role or an alias and don’t try to be a one-note experience.

    I guess the best thing to do to avoid being a one note experience is to practice the scales everyday. Yes.

    Here's my 2 cents - my friend the successful restauranteur at Six Feet Under in Atlanta thinks that the word brand is so tired - he laughs off the conversation - "monkey business."

    His brand just exists - it's not him at the tables as much anymore, it's his standards speaking for him. It is a good idea carried through with quality and service, year after year.

    Your brand is about your own personal standards in place and personified, even when you aren't physically present.

    That's pretty much it.
  • Lee said, "Your brand is about your own personal standards in place and personified, even when you aren’t physically present." I like that.
  • Nice read....

    We have great reputation in the real world .....now we want transcend that reputation to the internet
  • Chris thanks for this post it certainly rings true to the importance of having a personal brand. I would add that a well managed personal brand not only helps differentiate you from the pack it helps you command a higher premium as an individual, professional, and employee. As with advertising a greater premium is placed on products that grab attention and disseminate a strong message. The same applies for personal brands. Well managed personal brands capture attention and create an instant platform for a message to be communicated to others. This is a valuable asset for corporations that employ people as it is for manufacturers of a great product.
  • This is an insightful article, I has opened my mind to really see other side of branding. I also being a personal branding consultant, love your touch on the topic each time.
    I took time to read each of this comments. To listen to what people say and their perception about personal branding.

    Personal branding weather you like it or not its important.The way you pursue is what matter and differentiate you from merely commercializing yourself.
    People will discover you online, so your ability to influence what people get to know about you goes a long way to protect your personality.

    Go for branding and you could see your career protected.
    Thank you.
  • anant2311
    Anant Bisht Likes this post.
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