Personal branding is a topic that you’ll hear about at conferences, read about on blogs and in books and see people online trying to achieve every day. Some get it. Most do not. Personal branding is difficult because it’s not just a logo that you slap on your blog or website. It is much more.
Personal branding is all about you, what you look like in your avatar on Twitter, what you say on Facebook, what you write on your blog, what ads you choose to display on your website and in return what is said about you. It is about honesty and being yourself. It is about writing in your own voice. All of that packaged together is your very own personal brand.
Once you’ve combined all of this info, then you can get a logo to represent your brand, a byline, a photo that you use on all of the Social Networking Sites you belong to and a bio that you use both online and in press releases. Know your niche and let that become your own evangelist of it. Keep it clean and professional or not, depending on who you are. Stick to it. Don’t change midway and totally revamp yourself. You’ll get caught and it won’t be pretty.
Since there is so much work involved in personal branding, being authentic is necessary. The best compliment you can get is when someone meets you in real life and tells you that you are just like you are online. Keep the right company. If you associate with people with bad reputations, you will be grouped with them.
Personal branding is your true self in a tidy package that looks brand new online every day. It’s not boring, but it’s not outrageous unless you are. Find the right line to walk, find yourself and then share it with the world online and off with your own personal brand.
