Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

Starting this month, I will be capturing Personal Branding news from around the world and sharing it right here on my blog.

1. The Art of Branding your Newborn. Meghan Fitzgerald, in her Career’s by Choice blog, wrote about how The Wall Street Journal had mentioned that people are hiring baby naming consultants to help them choose names for their children. Parents are actually Googling possible names to asset how suitable they might be. These consultants are charging upwards of $500 for their services. The thought process is that hiring one of these consultants will give that child a head start.
2. Small Actions Build your Brand. Krishna De, in her Biz Growth News blog, describes how personal branding is not expressed in just one or two actions. For example, missing a meeting and taking but never giving back to your network. She ends her post with an action plan: consider the touch points with your colleagues and customers and to start changing your operating style, so you can manage all aspects of your brand.
3. How to Enhance Your Personal Brand. Jason Jacobsohn, in his Networking Insight blog, discusses the correlation between building relationships and your Personal Brand. The focus point for his post was on how significant credibility is and how everyone should invest time in educating others on your topic. He also mentions how writing articles, creating your website and speaking at events also help your brand.
4. Blogging Secrets. Jason Alba, in his Jibber Jobber blog, reveals some of his blogging secrets, such as identifying a title for yourself first before writing in a blog. He also made decisions not to compete with particular groups and focus on a specific audience. Also, he mentions that writing controversial posts is a way to attract attention and create a conversation between members of his audience.
5. Is Shock And Awe Publicity A Viable Branding Strategy. Kevin Levi, in his Small Business Branding blog, speaks of how a CEO in the late 90s did a web conference in his underwear, which attracted attention. The reputation of that company decreased over the long-term though. Creating an ad or marketing piece that will be remembered is equally as important to make sure the viewer’s recollection is one of your brand’s value. Company’s need to use communication vehicles that differentiate their services and clearly state there value.
   
   
6. There is Such a Thing as Bad PR. Neil Patel and his Quick Sprout blog, mentions that if you generate bad publicity, it will in fact sabotage your brand. He points out that you will not only lose money, but that people will remember the bad. On the upside, if you focus on pleasing and gaining respect from peers you will be more successful.
7. Video Resumes – stop or play?. Deb Dib of Career Hub, furthers the discussion of video resumes. She takes the side of not having a video resume, but rather using a traditional resume, blog, web page or LinkedIn. In her opinion, the real job of the video resume is to create a connection and interest. She says the only people that should do video resumes are those who can be bold and compelling.
8. Use blogs as a career tool for becoming super-connected. Penelope Trun of Brazen Careerist, explains that the best way to leap into your career is to blog. It allows you to create a high-quality network for yourself based on passing ideas around. Most of the time you spend blogging will be reading other peoples’ blogs and linking to them and writing your own commentary. Finally, she states how the most efficient way to build a brand name for yourself is through blogging.