First session I attended, bright and early Saturday morning, was Mitch Joel's talk on personal branding. He compared the idea of a personal brand to toothpaste out of the tube--it's already there, may as well slap some branding on it!
He walked the audience through personal branding in three conversations:
1) internal conversation
2) one-to-one conversation
3) one-to-many conversation.
What's the purpose of these conversations?
We say a lot without saying a lot. You should know your story the same way PR folks are taught to know your brand messaging. When you're out there communicating that story to others, you need to listen more than you talk--think of the difference between advertising and [good] PR, one way versus two way communication. You need connections and community to gauge your brand--your personal brand is more than you, it's how you're perceived.
Six Degrees of Separation?
1) establish yourself as an expert
2) be seen and known as a leader
3) be known as an innovator
4) separate yourself from the competition
5) gain professional stature
6) build your image
Build your brand by investing in yourself and community. It all sounds like self help, but I keep wondering how much of this I would say, slightly differently to a client.
But returning to me--Mitch got me thinking about the huge differences between how I define me and how other people in my life define me.
How do you define you? Just you? Is there one thing you can point to as the most important thing?
Lots to think about!
2 comments:
Great post! Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad it provoked you to think about your message, who you are and how you connect to others!
I hope we get to connect again soon :)
Have a great day!
How do you define you? I'm intensely curious. Why else would I subscribe to the sandbox?
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