Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

I’ve written 267 posts on personal branding in just over a year and today I have yet another reason not to stop (don’t worry this blog will last till I die). I’ve started to get more and more emails telling me how my advice has helped others succeed. Bob Tarne emailed me last week to tell me that my advice has helped him get a new job, after being laid off. Realize that some, if not all, of your readers are incorporating your advice in their own lives. Stories like this, make me proud to be investing my soul in personal branding. If anyone has a similar story and would like to share it with me, please email me at dan.schawbel@gmail.com.

Who is Bob Tarne?

Bob is a consultant, writer, and speaker focusing on helping clients improve their business performance. He works for Lombardi software. He is also a certified project manager (PMP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), and Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB). [Note: I'm a certified Six Sigma Greenbelt and know how hard it is to become a black belt]. He has always worked in the technology field. Outside of work, he enjoys travel and meeting people from different cultures. He has even climbed Mt Fuji, completed an Ironman Triathlon and about a dozen marathons.

Bob Tarne’s Story

“I’ve been blogging for about 2 years now, but at first I wasn’t very consistent. After reading Dan Schawbel’s blog, I started to make the effort to post at least once/week since the start of the this year. I am also consistent in my profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn, Gantthead (an IT PM site) and on my blog, including the same picture. I have also made more of an effort to write for other project management sites, including Projects at Work and The Center for Business Practices. My message across all of these sites focuses on less traditional ideas in project management, such as combining project management and six sigma etc. My next article for Projects at Work (to be published this month) is about using virtual reality tools like Second Life in project management. I also Google myself to make sure I know what’s out there about me.

The company I had worked for was not getting any new business and so I started looking around for a new job at the start of the year. I really ramped up my search in April when I was put on temporary layoff. I landed my job with Lombardi software at the end of the month and started my new job this week. During my search, a number of companies I interviewed with indicated they had read my blog. I also know they looked at my profile in LinkedIn. Lombardi indicated that as they were considering candidates, the content of my blog was one of the things they considered when they decided to hire me.

My advice to anyone would be to start working on your brand now, before you need it. If you find yourself looking for a job, it’s too late to build your brand (Note: it’s never too late, but it will just be more challenging). It’s the same with networking; promote your brand now so people know who you are in case you need their help later.

On a related note, I used tools like Google and LinkedIn to research people I was interviewing with, so that I knew something about them and could ask some questions that showed I did my research. I think this also impressed folks. It seems like an obvious step, but not everyone is doing it.”