Recently I was reading an article by DMS of a similar name “What’s in your Brand Bank Account?” – and he got me thinking again how closely aligned proper PR and
marketing focus is to job search today. In his post, he writes:

“Brands add to their accounts by creating things of value and giving them to people. For example, Apple has the genius bar
and their free seminars. Corporate social responsibility is another
form of giving (adding to your brand bank account).

Brands withdraw from their accounts through the attention that they demand from consumers in the form of television commercials, print
ads and the like.” [Excerpt From Blog post by David Meerman Scott -
Feb 16, 2010]

This is exactly the right advice for job seekers or anyone looking to “grow” their personal brand. The difference is in the execution and
of course the cost. For corporate brands the focus is in giving it
away, and that is also the essence of what works for a personal brand.
In the case of job search the additions to your “account” could in the
form of:

• Referrals (other candidates or business connections)
• Introductions
• Sharing of information
• Lunch or coffee as I noted in my last post
• Forwarding articles or other items of interest to the recipient(s)

I hope you can see that any of these items could be adding to your brand account with a two-fold benefit (similar to what I mentioned in
my last): the recipient will remember you, and you will have
undoubtedly improved your brand with them – and potentially others that
they tell.

So, as of this morning – what is in your personal brand bank account…and what are you doing to add to it? I am also interested in
ideas to share about unique ways to add or build brand this way?

I’ll leave you with our music biz to showcase both a pretty strong view of how you can hurt your personal brand (Kanye) and help it
(Beyonce) all in a few minutes. Way to go Beyonce!