The 1-Step Personal Brand

You hear a lot about personal and corporate brands.

How to build them. Steps to address and repair them.

Brand Steps

There are many approaches and you can break it down and break it down into the minute and detailed steps. However, I have come to a conclusion that there is essentially only one thing you need to build a brand...

For your company. For yourself.

My opinion for building a Personal Brand is very simple...

The #1 Step to building your Personal Brand =

BE... YOUR.... SELF

Your Brand?

That is all.

That's it. Not that difficult. Not world changing... or maybe it is.

We are so caught up with steps that we fail to see the simplicity. Whether your brand becomes great or essentially shows the horribility (is that a word, um nope) you truly are... the only thing to be, is yourself.
At least you and everyone else knows what they get.

Think about this when you work or are in your job search. As you walk through your company doors. Think about this when sitting in your department and dealing directly with the people you interact.Think about it when walking into an elevator and you see someone running towards it. Think about being yourself when you give a salutation or negative remark on a Monday, Friday or at the park.

You can be you or you can be someone else.

I don't know how to be anyone but myself. To be someone else is not as cool as being me!

Am I making it to simple or is this basically it? Please tell me what you think :)

Comment by Benjamin McCall on May 19, 2010 at 11:47am: Totally Agree!
Parallel to that, I think people create too many layers which can be tough. My main point is be as much of yourself as you can. When you start there the rest you can learn and perfect. If you don't start there then the brand is just another ploy!

Comment by Dr Linda Pakshong on May 19, 2010 at 12:27pm: I think that if you believe in yourself, your brand will be great! Its as simple as THAT!

Comment by JR Fent on May 19, 2010 at 1:24pm: You nail it Benjamin and Maren is awesomely correct too. For most recruiters, branding is simple because we are generally outgoing and believe in what we are doing. I spent time on the phone yesterday with an Oracle DBA who is very talented at his work - but has only one brand - he's good at being a DBA. That makes it pretty easy for him to get 'lost in the crowd'. He now, very late in his career needs to make himself 'a brand' based on what he knows and how he successfully performed in his field in order to go beyond his current role. This is not easy for someone that is not inherently social.

Books and advice on branding can really help someone to grow - but unless they have an outside force (such as a coach) - people will move toward tasks that they can do which do not take them out of their comfort zone. I'm not a fan of 'life coaches' but I think some people could use a one-on-one 'branding coach'.

Comment by Joshua Letourneau on May 20, 2010 at 9:47pm: Great article - some people prefer to be "Social" to their close friends and family, but don't have the bandwith or desire to blow their Twitter followers up too much. Some people concentrate more on their core social-circle and don't dedicate too much time to weak ties . . . while others dedicate the majority of their time to farming weak ties in lieu of furthering strengthening their (already) close ties.
Some people don't desire to become an online quasi-celebrity (and/or a wannabe one). It's just not important to Everyone - it's all about where we get our self-worth from. Most of the greatest individuals I've ever met have had a harder time living up to their own standards than what others say or think. This includes super athletes, scientists, rock stars, headhunters, etc.
I have to say that I know a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of people who are top performers who don't have an inkling of a social profile - for example, they may have a FB profile, but that doesn't mean they accept every friend request. To them, the word 'Friend' means more than a weak tie that may or may not be cultivated in the future.
P.S. There is a guy at the University of Chicago that teaches a course on how to build your network (meaning your real-life human one) in a way that maximizes your 2nd degree (your 'Network Horizon') while minimizing the relational demand of your 1st degree. If you're not careful, you can become overburdened and isolate some in your 1st degree that demand more of your time and attention; the result: an impacted 'brand'. The goal, in the case of his course, is to accelerate your visibility and career progression "through the ranks." The cool thing is that there is some hardcore science and data behind this discussion . . . we've been throwing the word "social" around as a punchline for so long that it's great to see the legitimate research that's coming forth, particularly in Academia.

Comment by Lea McKay on July 29, 2010 at 4:55pm: Fantastic Benjamin! It really is that simple!
I imagine a small part of it comes down to one's definition of success. For me, if you are yourself it is much easier to be happy and, in turn, result in success. Be yourself and do the things that you do best.
How can one expect people to buy into what they're selling if they don't believe in themselves enough to be themselves? Does that make sense?