Last Monday evening, I attended an area networking event where I had the good fortune to hear Dan Schawbel as the keynote speaker and his expertise on personal branding. What is this “personal branding” you ask? Well, it’s something any job seeker, or success seeker for that matter, should be aware of. It mostly applies to folks well attuned to the social media world, but can be used for almost any field. As he put it, it is the way in which you market yourself to others. It greatly increases your chances of standing out in a crowd and bringing in new opportunities, whatever those may be.
For those who are job searching: personal branding, when done correctly, will keep you consistent and creative, help you stand out and hopefully the hiring managers will already have heard your name around from your blog or twitter. These seem to be the keys! Network yourself and keep yourself consistent so people get to know you!
As I said earlier, it applies very strongly to those in the blogosphere who will most likely be on twitter and other social media sites. If you have a blog, keep the design and the content consistent. Put links everywhere so people can find you no matter which site they are on. AND most importantly, decide which avenue your strengths belong to and play up to them. If you’re a writer, start a blog, if you are a photographer, snap away and post them on flicker. Get people to know you!
Dan Schawbel’s website contains a ton of great resources and he even has a book out on the subject. All this and he’s in his twenties! Good for this twenty something that’s showing everyone that you can become anyone you want, and personal branding can definitely help you along the way. Check him out!
Friday, March 20, 2009
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3 comments:
This is an interesting idea. I've tried to consolidate color schemes across blogs and use pictures where I look similar, so that I'm easily recognizable. The thing is, I don't really know what I'm marketing myself for. I think that is my biggest barrier to personal branding: apart from a consistent color scheme, I don't know what my brand is about. Just another thing to add to my to do list. :)
I am facinated with this fairly new, fresh way to market yourself. I am going to try to transition my blog and a website for my brand. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for the reference! I am sort of job searching now, since I graduate in May, and I can use all of the tips I can get. However, my blog now is anonymous and I would like to keep it that way. Should I start a separate blog for personal branding purposes? If so, what should this blog focus on - topic wise?
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