Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

After dealing with ageism, I wanted to talk about social classes and how they are perceived by what they wear or what product brands they are attached to.  James Bond drives an Aston Martin in many of his films, which includes the DB5 classic car and the Vanguish. You can’t tell me that those wouldn’t profile him as a rich, successful and attractive person to females and business associates. The products we touch, the people we go out with and the companies that hire us all impact our personal brand perception. A lot of people are giving advice such as “fake it until you make it,” but that isn’t authentic.

What I’ve posted about so far:

• #1 – Tall people are basketball players
• #2 – Glasses make you look smart
• #3 – Men who wear pink are homosexual
• #4 – The hippie phenomenon
• #5 – Only punks wear mohawks
• #6 – Ageism puts Gen-Y in danger

Today, I’d like to go over what I believe to be a very interesting topic and one that many salesmen take advantage of. The question I pose is “Does driving a nice car mean your successful.” I’ve spoken with a few financial advisers and salesmen who invest money in their cars in order to seems like they are successful to clients. The root in all of this lies in a theory that I want to discuss here. I believe that people only want to take advice from those more successful than they are. One way to demonstrate to others that you are more successful is purchasing a luxury car such as a BMW or Mercedes.

More analysis

Picture this: You’re a saleswoman and meet a prospect at their house in a very rich area. You come with your handy Ford Taurus and show up at the steps. You notice in the driveway that they own a BMW 750I and a Lexus SC430 (I’m a huge car buff). You walk into their house with low confidence because you put them on a pedestal and you start to give your pitch. The prospect walks away thinking “do I really want someone handling my money that isn’t as wealthy as me“?

When you attend a conference, do you really want to hear a keynote from a waitress at TGI Friday’s? When you attend a class, do you really want a janitor giving you lessons on self-improvement or personal branding? When you go to work, would you even listen to a manager who doesn’t know how to use Microsoft Word or Excel? I think you get the point with these exaggerated questions. The fact of the matter is that we only want to deal with people who are more successful in these situations because that’s how we learn and professionally network. When you cling to those who are more successful or intelligent than you are, you will be more motivated and learn more. Again, the people you surround yourself with will directly affect your success and how people perceive you.