Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

While at work (yes I do have another full-time job at EMC as their social media expert), I overheard an employee say “busy is no longer a differentiator.” Despite his emotional stress, work exhaustion, deliverable overload and the fast pace of technology, there is a parallel we can make to social media and our brands. Social media has exploded, as there are over 70 million blogs and as many as 4 people are added each minute to LinkedIn. There are actually so many social networks, media devices, RSS feeds we subscribe to and content to digest that being busy is no longer a differentiator. This media keeps us busy and for long periods of time, so complaining that we have too much work, too much to read and too much email won’t go over well with fellow employees.

Tip: Don’t complain to your boss or co-worker that you are busy, especially one whom is active in social media.

Our personal brands are always busy, soaking in new knowledge and networking with like-minded individuals virtually and physically. Either way, we are all busy and cannot differentiate our brands based on this anymore. We join countless social networks, such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube and have to keep updated with the latest blog postings through RSS feeds. This is only a small fragment of our total work, as we have either full-time or part-time jobs or are students attending colleges. By adding additional work through branding ourselves using these services, we become (inadvertently) busy. Imagine what Robert Scoble, Mike Arrington, Jeremiah Owyang, Om Malik and others go through by posting between 2 and 10 times per day, running multiple websites, podcasting, dealing with the press and then paying homage to their families.

Tip: Escape the clutter and focus on valuable content that will help you build your personal brand.

One issue I’ve seen recently, is gen-x’ers explaining how they already have enough work to do. “Why should we use social media, we are busy enough”? Social media is obviously an advantage for a gen-y’er who wants to develop a reputable brand early in his or her career to see more results later on. I run into situations, where even when presenting the value of personal branding and social media, gen-x’ers pass on the opportunity due to multiple obligations. This leads me to believe that personal branding isn’t for everyone. Some are content with where they are in life and want to be incognito, while others already have an established brand name. Those that invest in their brands will reap the benefits and those that do not, will lose opportunities they would have had.

Tip: Personal branding and social media is not for everyone. It is geared to those who want to advance and become known in their niche.