Personal Branding: Be careful what you wish for
I really didn’t want to be part of this whole “personal branding” conversation because I just don’t believe in personal brands. But after a Twitter conversation last week, I feel compelled to say something. I am not going to dive into why I don’t believe in personal branding here today, but just know that after doing corporate branding for almost 15 years, I struggle with transferring those same concepts, trademarks, theories and applications to…people (other than JLo, Madonna, etc.)
Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe that marketing, PR and communications folks need to have an online presence/reputation especially when it comes to networking. I’ve known so many professionals that let their networks go because they are so busy with work, family, etc. and then when they want a new job or get laid off they struggle to establish or re-establish a network…and it’s usually too late because it can take years to establish and maintain a network of people who know and trust you. Valuable networks require time and nurturing…after all, we are talking about people here. And in this tough economy, it usually takes an established network to help you land a job or to open a door or two for you.
Should marketing, PR and communications professionals develop an online presence and manage their online reputations? Yes and yes. No argument there.
Should marketing, PR and communications professionals develop personal brands? I am not convinced. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Example One: MarketingProfs
As a marketer, I talk to a lot of offline marketers (offline = they don’t have Twitter & Facebook accounts). I often ask them “Do you know Ann Handley or Allen Weiss?” I get a blank stare. Then I ask “Do you know MarketingProfs?” The response I typically get is “I LOVE MarketingProfs, such great information…love their newsletter, etc.” I love MarketingProfs too and have been a member since 2000. And now that I know and have chatted with Ann and Allen both in person (I had the pleasure of meeting Ann at the Digital Marketing Mixer) and on Twitter, my commitment to being a Premium Member is cemented and they can be guaranteed of my ongoing renewal. Even though Ann has her own well-known blog, I get the impression, as a customer, that along with the folks that aren’t in the public eye, both Ann and Allen mainly focus on being MaketingProfs employees and brand stewards. (But I hope they’ll stop by and clarify that for us).
Point: The MarketingProfs brand is solidified by their employees’ passionate and authentic brand management work.
Example Two: Dan Schawbel
Let me just say even though I don’t believe in personal branding, I have a huge amount of respect for Dan Schawbel and his work in personal branding. He’s really done a great job with branding himself and becoming known as a top leader in the personal branding space. His work, I am sure, has helped lots of Generation Y folks get their online reputations in order. But I’ll ask this one question…do you know where Dan works? He works for EMC Corporation, a high-tech IT equipment manufacturer. Honestly, I know more about Dan’s work on personal branding than I know about Dan’s work for EMC. I’ve never met Dan or chatted with him on Twitter, but for the longest time I thought he was a personal branding consultant. So, how does EMC, his employer, benefit from his online “personal brand?” Is Dan utilizing his personal brand to talk with IT data center professionals about how an EMC Clariion solution might work for their data center and to promote the EMC brand?
(Dan, sorry to use you as an example but you are the king of all things personal branding! I hope you’ll stop by and let us know how things are working with your and EMC’s brands.)
Point: Whose brand is more important? The company’s or the employee’s?
Example Three: A personal experience
I was at a job interview over the summer for a job that I wasn’t really interested in, but wanted to see what the company had to offer. The hiring manager came into the interview with my resume in hand and started asking me the typical interview questions. All was going okay until he asked this one question: “Tell me what don’t you like about marketing?”
Even though arrogant, I couldn’t help it…I chuckled and said “Have you read my blog? Have you Googled me?” He said “no.” I answered with “Well, I can tell you there is nothing about marketing that I don’t like…” He said “that’s impossible.” I wanted to answer: “Well, I like everything about marketing except for people with marketing titles that ask silly questions like that of another marketer and especially of one with a blog called “The Harte of Marketing.” But, I didn’t say that aloud because that would have been totally rude and uncalled for. I let it go and didn’t debate it because there are lots of marketers who don’t like everything about marketing and he was just doing his due diligence. But what it showed me was that this particular company didn’t care about a potential candidate’s online savvy or the passion that was behind the blog. It just didn’t matter…at all. And it never would.
Point: Even when you have a so-called online “personal brand” (or reputation) some companies just don’t care.
Let’s face it…when you start talking about brands egos are involved. Are you willing to give up your personal brand for the brand of the company that pays your salary (whether it’s an employer or a client)? Or on the flip side, should a company be willing to give up their brand when an employee’s brand is stronger and holds more recognition and influence? Is this a situation ripe for a brand conflict? Or can there be a balance between personal and corporate brand (I am thinking Richard Branson/Virgin might be a good example here).
Where do you fall in this branding debate? What additional examples can you share?
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Very interesting post. I especially liked example #3.
Personally, when I interview people, I am at least as interested in what they are blogging and tweeting about as I am in what they’ve put on their resume.
I can’t even imagine not googling or live searching someone I’m going to meet up with.
@innovate
Braden Kelley’s last blog post..Twitter Search to Challenge Kumo and Google?
Great post Beth. A couple quick comments based on fairly recent experience:
1. During the interview process from my last job, the hiring manager let it slip that just prior to my coming into the office the whole team had passed around my blog and LinkedIn links. Several comments and questions during the interviews were directly drawn from posts I had made over the last few years. On the one hand it was gratifying to see they had the interest, savvy, and had done their homework. On the other hand it was eye opening for me – I hadn’t really expected the interviewers to be that familiar with my “personal brand” online.
2. In a recent job, we had an employee with a very strong (and positive) personal online brand developed independently of the company, but in a field and topic directly related to what we did. There was for a while a conscious effort on his part to dampen down his online brand, out of respect to playing an appropriate role within the company’s brand umbrella.
However I was a big advocate of him getting out there – and us supporting him via time off, travel flexibility for speaking, etc – and building his reputation independent of our company. Even if he never mentioned our brand, and presented on subjects only peripherally related to what we did, everyone knew he worked for our company. Our corporate brand got to BIRG (bask in his reflected glory) a bit, he got to increase his stature, etc. Did we risk that he would outgrow us and take advantage of his higher profile to leave the company? Yes. But I feel he was happier and in the end a better evangelist for us as a result of not trying to stifle his personal brand in favor of the company’s. Goodness all around, really.
I saw this same situation *many* times while at Microsoft as well (hello, Scoble).
Kevin Briody’s last blog post..The Joy of Facebook Rant Groups
This is a really great post. I’ve been thinking about this topic for months now and have some conclusions for you:
1) The success of a personal brand enhances a product or corporate brand. When attention is drawn to a person who represents a company it helps the company (esp if it’s positive). I’ve gotten EMC in Mashable and AdAge, as well as other sources.
2) Corporate brands need employees to participate in social media to touch the customer (audience) at a personal level.
3) Social networks and blogs are lists (# of followers/friends, etc). By me having a lot of those, I can promote EMC’s accounts that couldn’t have grown without that support.
If you want to see some of what we’re doing, we have:
5 twitter accounts
3 Facebook pages
1 Flickr account
1 Delicious account
1 FriendFeed account
3 YouTube channels
3 social media newsrooms
15 social media press releases
the list goes on…and at the end of the day, companies need to either move in this direction or cease to exist….
Dan Schawbel’s last blog post..Webinar: How to Use Social Media to Find a Job in This Recession
Beth,
I saw your conversation on Twitter and thought “Well, that’s an interesting topic and I definitely have something to say,” but I felt too constrained by the 140-character limit of Twitter. Thank you for moving the discussion to a place with a bit more elbow room.
Maybe I am misunderstanding your definition of “Personal Branding” with a capital P and a capital B that rhymes with T that stands for Trouble. I’m always open to learning new things.
Branding, to me, involves three items – facts, audience, and purposeful emotional connection. (By purposeful emotional connection, I mean you have a reason for establishing the connection and a specific “emotional message” you want to convey.)
As an analogy, let’s start in a kitchen, which is full of potential ingredients and utensils to make all sorts of meals. Those are my facts. I can do a lot of things with my ingredients, but they aren’t of much use to anybody unless I combine them together to create something new. Let’s say my audience is a child with a birthday coming up tomorrow. By taking my ingredients I can create a birthday cake that establishes a real emotional connection with my audience.
It really wouldn’t be the same experience if I were to plop all the ingredients for a cake down in front of my child, wish him a happy birthday, and expect him to make his own cake. It would certainly lack the emotional connection (it might create a negative emotional connection). And, if he were to bake his own cake, the cake wouldn’t be nearly as delicious as the one I could have baked for him.
Is this not “branding”? Am I not staking out an emotional position in the mind of my “customer” as someone who cares enough bake his favorite cake and make note of his special day?
Personal branding is taking ownership of the facts and actions in my life and recombining them in ways that tell a compelling story to someone I want to reach and motivate. Some people call that a resume.
In looking over your Examples, a couple of thoughts come to mind. First, it’s all about the audience. Are you in EMC’s target demographic? Are you making or influencing purchase decisions about EMC services? No? Then it is a waste of money and effort for EMC to connect with you on a personal level. You are, however, in the social media and marketing space, so it makes perfect sense for you to have the perception that Dan Schawbel has a strong personal brand. You are Dan Schawbel’s audience. You are not EMC’s audience.
Even in Example 3, you admit that you had no interest in the job. There wasn’t a strong emotional connection on either side of the interview, so “personal branding” really wasn’t a factor. I would even say that their lack of interest in your online reputation was an indication that this job and this employer was a poor match for you. The emotional side of branding helps us make decisions. You do have a personal brand, even if only to help you organize your own choices in life. (“Fan of beer, cowgirl boots, & brilliance.”)
I do understand your point that, as an employee, you must ensure that your online reputation and your personal brand do not interfere with the branding and reputation of your employer. That is called “Professionalism.”
Oliver Picher’s last blog post..This Week in Philadelphia (TWIP) for 2-22
This is a good example of how a blog is better than Twitter for any real discussion. The one-liners are too likely to generate heat rather than light. Thanks for switching to the longer form.
I’m convinced that the problem is one of arguing past one another. If “personal branding” had another name, it wouldn’t call up thoughts of “those same concepts, trademarks, theories and applications.” So on one level, the problem seems to be that the term offends the professional sensibilities of marketers. Fair enough, and not worth arguing.
I think the other miscommunication comes from looking at PB from the corporate perspective. In the second half of the Twitter exchange last week, Geoff Livingston said, “Personal branding is irrelevant strategy/conversation as a corporate/organizational marketer.” Not much to argument there, either, although the celebrity CEO is a possible counterexample.
http://twitter.com/GeoffLiving/statuses/1284437140
As I understand it, PB is a career enhancement thing, not a corporate marketing thing. The focus is on the individual. Would it generate heated arguments if it were kept in that context and given a name with no previous meaning? The objective, after all, is to help the low-visibility employee build a more sustainable career when employer A says goodbye.
BTW, according to his web site, Dan *is* a PB consultant, albeit one with a day job. Managing that tension is one risk of hiring someone with a strong personal, um, reputation. David Armano and Jeremiah Owyang have both covered that topic constructively:
http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=134800
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/12/09/the-challenges-of-personal-brands-in-corporations/
Nathan Gilliatt’s last blog post..links for 2009-01-16
We’re just at the beginning of this discussion. Even though you’re not into personal branding, I’d love for someone with your experience to explore the parallels between corporate and personal approaches. (It’s an idea I’ve had on my “to write” list forever.) Lots to be learned. I think.
Peter Kim’s last blog post..It’s Time To Transform
Beth –
I’ve think you’ve done an excellent job pointing out some of the inconsistencies with the “Personal Branding” message.
I feel that “Personal Branding” calls for keeping everything you say/publish professional, clean and sterile – or else someone will find it! Well, my reputation (thus far) isn’t as cut and dry really. I might piss someone off or post something a bit off-kilter, but that’s my character. I’m a real guy out here. And I’m also passionate about my work and communities!
Now, I do understand that Personal Branding is also about monitoring what’s being said about you. But like you said – not everyone is online. I strive to make sure I’m doing great work; engaging with my friends, followers, and peers in real life and online; and articulating my passions, interests and career goals.
Then again, maybe this is just about semantics. “Personal Branding” is easier to sell than Reputation.
PS – I do appreciate what Daniel Schwabel is doing. Most Gen Y’s don’t have a clue about building a reputation…I’m still learning!
PSS – I also understand the argument of extremes in Personal Branding…my comments might not apply to those individuals.
Chris Lugo’s last blog post..We Built This City (DogPark)!
This is a great discussion, thanks Beth.
The way I see it, there are a lot of ways to define “personal brand”. The way I’ve kind of viewed the concept of a personal brand is that everyone has one; It is simply the manner in, and extent to which you are recognized. Developing a strong personal brand can take a great deal of time and commitment, and can serve different purposes based on what you are trying to do.
For me, I am looking for a job, and so I aim to create a personal brand that will allow others to recognize me as an enthusiastic, insightful young professional. If I am recognized as such, it will help me accomplish my goal to get a job (hopefully).
The issue is that once I have a job, my goals change, and my personal brand is no longer as relevant to my success as much as the corporate brand of the company that I am working for.
Sometimes what is best for your personal brand may not be what is best for the brand of the company you work for. I know that I struggle enough just keeping my blog updated, let alone writing guest posts, staying in tough on twitter, and other activities that I consider important to the development of my personal brand online. If I am putting so much time and effort into my personal brand after I’ve been hired, I’m probably not devoting enough time to my job.
In Dan’s case, I’m sure his powerful personal brand does benefit his company, but is that why they hired him? Did they bring him in to get them on Mashable? Would his time and effort be more valuable if he focused on developing the brand of his company over his personal brand? Dan makes a great point that companies need their employees to participate in social media on a personal level which I completely agree with, but that shouldn’t necessarily be their MAIN focus.
There are a lot of different situations to consider, but in general I’d say that if you are working for a company, then you should be working to contribute to their brand more so than your own.
Dave
David Spinks’s last blog post..3 Steps to Help Starters Beat the Twitter Learning Curve
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Hi Beth,
I am not sure if this is Personal Branding in the truest sense, but here is where I am at with this, for me, for my company, and for our small business, I want to and am working hard on creating a Long Tail.
When you, our customer, our competitor or perhaps a potential employer or employee logs into http://www.searchme.com/ and enters our name, Urbane Apartments, or Google’s us, I want a long, rich and diversified amount of information to surface.
I am proud of what come up for now, various articles, various blog posts, web sites and all sorts of stuff, and we have only been at it for a few years, but give it 10 to 15 years and you have yourself something. It then isn’t what I say I am or my company is, take a look for yourself.
I think that the folks that invest the time, and hard work in, well building a brand, be it personal or not will reap the fruits of their toils.
I reflect on the label “Personal Brand” and do think it is fitting. If not you, who is building it, if you don’t call it a personal brand, what is it?
And, if done right, it sure seems it will yield significant dividends as you create the Long Tail!
Eric Brown’s last blog post..The Big, Bad List of Pre-SEO Campaign Questions You Need to Answer, Part II
I don’t necessarily agree branding comes down to “an ego thing”. Personal branding, especially, I feel would soon suffer if there was too much of an ego involved.
I agree it can maybe be more of a gray area for an employee of a company. At the end of the day, they pay your salary so you have to abide by certain rules of engagement.
Yet does that stop you from building your brand outwith that company? Say John Smith is a PR guy at Apple. But in his free time, he’s an expert blogger on remote control miniature helicopters. He builds a huge readership of fellow enthusiasts and they ask for advice on everything to do with that product. Hasn’t he just branded himself as “the go to guy for miniature helicopters”, which have nothing to do with Apple PR?
On the flip side, if you’re an independent consultant or business owner, much of your success can come down to how you conduct your business with other people.
Visitors to both my blog and website use a mix of my name and my company name. That tells me that both are interlinked with each other. So if my company brand is known for a product or service and people are finding me by using my personal name, then again I’d say that’s personal branding coming through.
With more and more businesses preferring to “do business with people” as opposed to a blind admin name or number, I feel personal branding will have an increasingly important part to play.
Danny Brown’s last blog post..Personal Superheroes
Great post! This is something that I’ve been mulling recently. Everyone is talking about personal branding and all I can think about is that it’s great if you are job seeking or building a personal consultancy/franchise. I just can’t figure out how it really helps when you are a marketer and your product and company are the value, not you. It is not to say that personal branding doesn’t have it’s benefits in helping you define your career path and focus on your passion, but it seems that it can also get in the way (your point on ego). Particularly as I explore social media for building customer relationships in B2B, the underlying point is it is about the customer, not you. Personal branding certainly gets in the way in this realm. Company brand, solution brand, personal brand, it gets pretty crowded after awhile. In the end, I think Collins had it right in Good to Great when he showed that the best leaders and managers were those whose egos were right fit to the company. CEOs who were confident, highly capable, and could empower others succeeded company wise above others that put their personal brand first. Positive personal brand will follow if you do your job and do it well. A little self promotion can go a long way. It just shouldn’t get in the way of the objective.
Michele’s last blog post..Can Social Media Communicate Your Passion?
@KevinBriody, thanks for the additional examples! Regarding #2, that’s the chance you take when you hire someone with a “personal brand.” Todd Defren (SHIFT) wrote a great post about this: “Got Some Personal Branding I Could Borrow?” (http://is.gd/mH0w). In an agency setting, I could see why you’d want to hire top, known, reputable talent…but I still struggle with this from a B2B perspective. Scoble…LOL!
@DanSchawbel, thanks for stopping by and not minding the example.
Since you are in the B2B space, my question for you is how has your personal brand helped EMC brand itself to IT folks (data center managers and the like)? Mashable & AdAge aren’t really read by those folks. I’ve seen your Flickr account, but will check out your YouTube channels. Just to clarify, I come from this space (15 years), so I know it well. Kyle Flaherty and I have had conversations around social media, B2B and the high-tech space…so it’s just a personal interest to me as we all work through how social media can be used in the B2B space. One additional question…does HR tap into you when hiring Gen Y folks? I would think your insights would be invaluable to them (as they might not get the use of the tools and how they are used by this generation)!
@OliverPicher, I think part of it is that I am having a hard time transferring marketing/business branding concepts (logos, taglines, messaging, colors, etc.) to people (everyday, ordinary people vs. Madonna, etc.). I think what you are referring to, if I understand the analogy, is brand experience.
To answer your question, yes, I was EMC’s target demographic …I know the space well and that’s why I used it as an example. And the fact is, IT folks in that space talk to product developers, managers, customer service, and sales. And what helps most is if those people have a great reputation (doing what it takes for the customer) versus if they are “known” on the Internet. And actually, I am not in Dan’s target audience…unfortunately, I am too old.
As for my example, they had no idea that I wasn’t interested in the job…but it was clear they weren’t interested in me…meaning, they didn’t go out of their way to find out more than what was on my resume. They didn’t even look at my LinkedIn recommendations. And I think if I told them that I liked beer that would not have gone over too well… LOL!
@NathanGilliatt, last time I checked branding fell under marketing…let’s not change the definition or its placement. That said, it’s the responsibility of all employees to help enhance the brand and manage the brand experience for prospects, customers, shareholders, donators, etc.
@PeterKim, agreed, it’s only the beginning. I agree with Dan here…I think corporations need to wake up to the power of the individual, but it’s going to take some time. There are so many facets and questions here. What happens to the people who don’t have a clue about personal branding (say HR, engineering, manufacturing workers, etc.)? Do they make less money because they don’t bring a personal brand to the table?
@ChrisLugo, character and passion are what make for good employees and there is a balance between online/offline work, relationships, etc. For me, you are describing personal reputation, not brand. See, I knew Dan would be a great example here…he is doing a great job!
@DavidSpinks, just playing devil’s advocate here, but what if those companies don’t appreciate your online personal brand? Will you pass on the job and keep looking or let your personal brand go? Would you be willing to stop blogging, tweeting, etc. if it was not accepted by the company? Too many situations to consider here. To be honest, if a company told me no blogging, tweeting, etc., I’d have to pass.
@EricBrown, I think what you’re building there is a very strong brand for Urbane Apartments…and the benefit is that customers know the people behind the brand too (that’s the social part of the media). But what if you leave Urbane? Will someone be able to fill your shoes? Will your next employer say “I want that guy on my team; he did a tremendous job with building up Urbane’s reputation, market and revenues.” [He might though be wondering what your secret sauce is though! LOL!
] In that regard, is it your brand or your reputation? Regardless, I’m telling you, you’re going to be a case study one day!
@DannyBrown, fascinating! An element that I didn’t even think about… Can someone have more than one personal brand? Could we say that John Smith has three personal brands? PB #1: PR Expert; PB #2: PR Expert who brands Apple; PB #3, mini helicopter expert. Is that possible? Or, is it that he’s just John Smith, passionate PR guy who works for Apple and avid mini helicopter enthusiast in his free time?
I think this is why people refer to you as Danny and your company name…because social media has broken down those walls. My question for you is which one do you prefer? Or doesn’t it matter as long as they call?
@Michele, I have had the same thoughts. I’ve tried to think about it from the angle of B2B and B2C, but at the end of the day, it’s like you said when the “product and company are the value, not you.” But, that said I think the person talking to prospects/customers/donators/shareholders/etc. about the brand it can and does enhance the brand experience (both positively & negatively). That’s why great sales people tend to generate 80% of revenues.
@Everyone, thanks for all of your insights/examples, this has been a great conversation and I’ve appreciated seeing all sides to the personal branding debate. Like Peter Kim said, we are only at the beginning!
Very thought-provoking post, Beth! Interesting points for both sides of the fence.
I think another good example is Radian6. When I think of the company name I think of David Alston and Amber Naslund, specifically. They’re helping build up and cultivate the brand name through their own personal brands. The @radian6 account gets love of course too but how much is lost if David and Amber’s personal brands move on to their next venture? It does become a tough sell when so much time and effort is built upon a brand through a personal account but then has the possibility to be taken away.
On the flip if Ann happens to move on (which the former and latter I hope doesn’t happen), her @marketingprofs brand that she’s built on Twitter, by her interaction and ppl’s love for her personal and professional style, is taken away – no? Where’s that leave her and similar people? To start over?
I’ll be honest – with that much effort to build and nurture relationships with thousands of people, I’d be reluctant to build my own brand along with the company’s brand under the same name. I’m all for personal brands, as well as having a face for the corporate brand – but intertwining the two would be a tough sell for me with the latter example given.
Egos play a huge role in personal branding and I think that’s important to leave behind. When people get too wrapped up in the “what’s in it for me?” they lose sight of the larger picture.
However, I do think that personal branding will become more and more important and social media evolves. I am surprised that the gentleman giving you the interview hadn’t tried Google-ing your name or looking you up in any way. Personal branding will and should play a large role in finding and landing the next job. Personal branding has been around for a long time and boils down to who you know and how much you try to put yourself out there. Very important characteristics for any company.
Jessica Dennis’s last blog post..How tackling dirty dishes relates to getting started in social media
RE: Example one:
i also love MP, and i know Ann works the account–but even i, up until now, wasn’t aware that Allen worked on it. but that’s the trouble, i suppose, when you group-brand. MP, by nature of its plurality, includes more than one person. it is hard to have a personal brand then, without becoming more like a company, and losing some of that in the transference. the brand IS solidified through the passionate and authentic management, yes; but since it isn’t singular, it may be possible for that to slip through the cracks. then again, i don’t believe MP’s goal in life, so to speak, is a personal brand. another reason is bias, though; i mainly follow through their twitter, which Ann handles.
RE: Example two:
his name is his brand, ie, he is his brand; he’s not doing a Zappos or similar. he isn’t repping EMC with a side of personality. he’s himself, and he also HAPPENS to work at EMC, and when that fits in and is relevant to his content or his audience, then that reveals itself. like any other aspect of a person’s personality. i think it’s asking a bit much to treat a personal branding account as purely a business representation. even @scottmonty, while repping Ford, brings himself to the table primarily. he does land a little right of center in the spectrum, but it is the same idea. so as to the question–whose brand is more important? both and neither. depends on the brand, as evidenced by the name, the presentation, and the person.
RE: Example three:
“it never would.” infinitives are difficult to throw around. i have gone into interviews where it is one of the main questions as to whether or not you have an online presence. it depends largely on where you’re interviewing, with whom, and for what. if you go into a digital boutique, if you aren’t walking your talk, it’s over. but like anything else–it’s not the be-all, end-all, to be sure. it’s another tool for the arsenal; all arsenals should be well-stocked. why not have it? (and i think you do have a fair amount of personal branding, though you knock it.)
i agree with a lot of what Oliver said, and in your response to him, i have to ask out of my own curiosity: why and how do you have a hard time transferring marketing/business branding concepts to people?
the girl Riot’s last blog post..youtube, copyrights, & music sucking life.
Hey Beth,
Great topic, as usual.
Here’s the thing for me, in a nutshell. There’s a difference between being human and personal, and building a “personal brand”. Some of it isn’t within your control – people develop associations and insights about you based on their experiences. In the purest form this isn’t a “brand” per se, but does it matter that the person identifying with you doesn’t know the pure definition of the word? To them, you may just be a “brand” after all.
But as for me, I’ve spent a good deal of effort building my reputation, but that’s because I care about being professional, helpful, approachable. It’s not for the sake of building a “brand”.
Now that I’m part of Radian6, my *reputation* is associated with them. But the goal is not to make me synonymous with Radian6, the goal is to build the *brand’s* reputation as a company that fosters connections and relationships with people above all else. That’s why we have so many people out there connecting with customers. It’s about a company culture of community that will hopefully transcend any of the individual people that are part of that brand.
Personal Branding to me, in the proper noun sense, feels deliberate and calculated (and in my view not necessarily sustainable, but that for another time). But building and cultivating a reputation for being accomplished or smart or helpful or what have you is in the hands of the people that do business with you, and that’s something I think everyone should strive for.
Great discussion. I’ll hush now, lest I end up droning on for ages..
Amber Naslund’s last blog post..@DavidAlston – Get Your (Johnny) Cache On!
Interesting discussion – for some of us this is pretty much a moot point – my real name is Richard Simmons and try as I might to brand Rick there is another a bit more online than I. However being aware of ones personal brand and managing it is an important element of who you are – no different than what you would do for the company you work for.
Are people saying negative things about you? Are there questions out there about you – at the very least knowing what is out there and addressing them is important.
The question as to the amount of time put forth for this effort versus branding of the company, in my eyes might not be the right question. The question might better be put as would a brand for Rick Simmons really help Dinkum Interactive – well probably not however when people think of the company most think of me since i am the public face of the brand – not the same though. Awareness and marketing are not the same.
Rick Simmons’s last blog post..Blogging strictly for SEO purposes
As usual, Riot and Amber hit it on the head. Those who proactively go into each interaction with people attempting to “build their personal brand” usually come across as somehow trying to ‘game’ this system of ours, which has found a core value in transparent and honest human communication.
I feel very strongly (for better or for worse) that any kind of ‘personal brand’ is the result of activity, not activity itself. Be awesome, share your thoughts, keep your profiles up to date with what you’re up to and interested in, all those things result in a ‘personal brand’
It is analogous to having a conversation with someone about ‘the need to create a viral asset’. Viral is a RESULT, not a CREATIVE STRATEGY. In this same way, the trail of awesomeness you leave online (made easily trackable through tools like BackType) are what ends up being, collectively, your personal brand. Most conscious efforts to ‘build’ one for yourself ring false and an attempt to ‘game the system’.
Jeremy Meyers’s last blog post..What do you mean, I actually have to do my job?: Why the media industries need to STFU and GBTW.
Hi Beth,
I guess what works is whatever that person/company is known for/as. Maybe John Smith could be all three – he’s turning into a regular crimefighter-by-night guy – I think I like him!
And I’m happy to wear both my company and personal hat. As you say, it’s the fact anyone’s contacting me that’s the most important thing and one I’m grateful for.
Danny Brown’s last blog post..Personal Superheroes
Beth,
Have followed your convos on this topic on Twitter, and must say I’ve changed some of my own thoughts after reading yours and seeing others respond. I think Amber nailed it… Personal Branding does feel calculated to me, and really offers only an illusion of control. When we set out to brand a company, idea, place, space or product, we are choosing to put forth a deliberate set of string-pullers. Information, emotional connection points, experiences promised and delivered. If we’ve done well, and branded appropriately, and delivered the goods… the response from the target marketplace will be what we set out to cultivate.
In this personal sense, I’ve learned that I •cannot• and •should not• attempt to shape the strong opinions of others. I can, and should, choose to offer & share what I think are valuable, worthwhile, interesting or otherwise relevant experiences, data and information. People are people… some will like it, some won’t. And what they like today may not be what they like tomorrow. Does that mean I “branded” myself poorly? Shouldn’t… means that day we didn’t connect. But if it’s my reputation you’re following/interested in, hopefully you’ll forgive me because you know me in an authentic way. If it’s just my created brand you like, and I disappoint, perhaps you’ll just move on to the next rock star. Thanks for sharing.
Mandy Vavrinak’s last blog post..mvavrinak: Why Social Media’s Gee-Whiz Factor Must Die http://tinyurl.com/btbanu by @chrisbrogan
Why is it that every time I see a Tweet hawking “personal branding” I feel the need to take a shower? While it might work for some, the entire genre has an aura of an Acai Berry juice MLM.
Or, I could be wrong.
Damn — ! How did I miss this conversation yesterday?
First, let me say this is a fabulous post and really great comments. Thanks for offering the forum, Beth.
Second, let me clear up any confusion, which some folks asked me about yesterday (maybe because of this post? Not sure): Only I am @marketingprofs on Twitter — it’s my account. Allen Weiss is also on Twitter, but on a separate account, as @allenweiss
And finally, a comment: The whole notion of personal branding feels a little to0 managed and massaged for me… again, *for me*. I get what Dan does, and respect it enormously, just as I respect William Arruda, who also has spoken about personal branding for years.
But it seems more about managing your reputation online, learning how to shift the focus to the highest and best bits of yourself, rather than actually “branding” yourself.
Like Amber, I focus on building a reputation as a professional and as an ambassador for the MarketingProfs brand. I can do both easily and simultaneously, because one feeds the other.
How does that play out if things change…meaning, I leave MarketingProfs? Well, MarketingProfs still gets to keep the good cred I’ve built for them, and I still have my reputation. And as Amber points out, above, a bonus is if the company fosters connection and community to include others — Allen Weiss or @shelleyryan, or @ssicilian, or @kathybushman — in the case of MarketingProfs.
The bottom line: I don’t know how to do it any other way. Both MP and I both assume some risk with any visible person at my level, but that’s true whether I’m @marketingprofs on Twitter or not. But if I focus on reptutation vs. brand, and if MarketingProfs consistently delivers value, we’ll recover.
(And anyway, according to Beth’s intelligence, no one really knows who the hell I am! (ha!!))
p.s. So do I link to MarketingProfs or AnnHandley.com? Hmm. (Answer: The latter, because I post shows up when I do.)
Ann Handley’s last blog post..A Journey to ‘25 Random Things’
I am curious to see if any of these EMC impressions added up to a sale or a tangible marketing result. They don’t come up in a top ten Google search. Personal branding or strategy. I prefer strategy.
Geoff Livingston’s last blog post..Top 25 Ways to Stop Wigging Out
Beth,
Thanks for providing the platform for a great discussion. Both Ann and Amber (and many others) made some great points.
For companies who are trying to pursue a “human” approach in the social realm I think it’s about building a reputation their customers want to engage with. Providing valuable information and taking the walls down a bit.
I, as well, agree that when people talk about “Personal Branding” I get a kind of ick factor – that they’ve lost the thread and forgotten it’s not ALL ABOUT THEM, and are more focused on manipulating the community for their own gains. Those are the people you stay away from at cocktail parties
Then again, that same argument could be applied to companies who haven’t yet learned how to have a “conversation” without pushing an agenda. If so, that kind of stance shows up in most everything they do, not just “social media.”
Ardath Albee’s last blog post..Podcasts for Sales Enablement
Great topic and conversation! I only wish this had happened about two weeks ago.
I’ve been in a bunch of conversations recently with folks that are more concerned with crafting a personal brand than with being real – or maybe in making sure that you calculate every thing that you say or do.
I think that if you try too hard to craft an image that someone is going to eventually see through it for what it is – a charade.
I’d also hope that people would want to talk to me because of who I am all of the time. It seems like it would be too much work to maintain a personal brand instead of just being you.
I have created a “corporate” identity for a couple of my projects (though calling them corporate is a bit of a stretch for me) so that they could have a life of their own. I’d hope that my personality would be reflected in what happens in those projects and that I wouldn’t change because of them. I guess I’m banking on a good reputation (or at least one where people know what they’re getting) instead of actively cultivating a spit-polished brand. It makes it easier to sleep at night, that’s for sure!
Andre Natta’s last blog post..Main Streets Blogging 101 Crash Course slides
I’m late to the party Beth, but great post and obviously a topic the two of us have discussed in the past. Many folks have made some terrific points in the comments, so I’m not going to repeat what they’ve said or pontificate more on my personal distaste for “personal brands”. I’ll just ask this question to the folks who believe that there is a such thing as “personal branding”:
“What is the difference between reputation and brand?”
I believe that this is where I fundamentally disagree with people who claim such a thing as a personal brand.
/kff
Kyle Flaherty’s last blog post..The Inevitable Fall of Twitter…Not What You Think
[...] Personal Branding: Be careful what you wish for – Beth Harte weighs in with a thoughtful post on personal branding. Beth’s been in the marketing and communications business for close to 15 years and lectures as an adjunct professor in addition to running her own firm, so I’d say her opinion is definitely worth considering. [...]
“Have you read my blog? Have you Googled me?” He said “no.”
Wow, just wow. 1999 called, they want their hiring manager back.
@ Kyle. I’d say your reputation *is* your brand. People brand you by what you do and say – so a personal brand is definable.
Danny Brown’s last blog post..Melrose Jewelers, Rolex and Owen Wilson – The Sequel
And here I GOT a new job in part BECAUSE they’d read my blog! You’re right – their interest and knowledge of me prior to the interview was very important.
I wrote a story about the experience…for MarketingProfs. (It’ll be published later this month.) Why them? Well, they asked. And because I trust Ann and their brand.
Talk about a win-win-win for everyone. But only possible because of the positive elements you mention.
Great post, Beth!
DJ Francis’s last blog post..Avoid 3 Copywriting Mistakes That Make You Look Stupid
I think the great thing about the web, or one great thing, is it allows us to move beyond brand and build personal idenities instead – which are much more powerful and flexible than a brand can ever be.
One of these days I’ll sit down and write how useful my online identity is to me, and how much I can do with it, how it’s much more valuable than the brand the journalism students I sometimes talk to are either already obsessed with building or being told to build.
As a journalist my online identity is immensly valuable to me: my blog and my Twitter profile are my faces online if you like, and I get a lot more tips via my blog than via my work email – which is probably explained by the difference btwn being a person an institution: most people find a person much more reliable.
I think some of the comments here, very interesting discussion, like those of Amber Naslund and Jeremy Meyers thouched on a similar approach to branding vs reputation, which my friend Adriana Lukas is much better at verbalising than me, e.g. in this post the following quote is taken from:
“The web has created, unwittingly for most part, an alternative to building what in industry circles counts for a ‘brand’. It resurrected the ‘old ways’, warts and all, of creating reputation by behaviour. There is one major difference between the old times and the web times – before my identity was determined by others and my behaviour was often judged out of context or in a context that was hostile to the individual.” http://www.mediainfluencer.net/2009/01/brand-as-identity-and-branding-as-behaviour/
Kristine Lowe’s last blog post..How to give value even to the expert reader when rehashing an old story
HI Beth
Nice post. I think the term “brand” can conjure up a lot of different perceptions and understandings based on your past experience. I think in the context of social media and the networked mass digital information sharing environment that we all live and operate in “Branding” principles must be applied to your own personal online “persona”.
The very notion of understanding that what you say, where you say it, how you say it is creating an experience and a perception (justified or not) around your online persona. Those that adopt brand management principles will do better in managing their online perceptions than those that do not in my view.
Most people over the age of 40 do not really understand that digital content can now be associated with your name forever. Yet those same people when interviewing someone else will first “google” them. The power of “Google” brings new responsibilities to how you manage your online life.
I think what folks Like Dan Schawbel are trying to say is that you need to really understand that in many regards you have a online persona that has many of the characteristics of a brand. Most of us will never have a true “personal” brand like JLO or Madonna, and most of us will not even approach your level of awareness as a marketing digerati, but all of us must understand the responsibility we now need to have in managing our online persona more like a brand.
You’ve worked hard to build a level of awareness through great insights and content, but I would imagine that you are managing your online persona carefully. How you say things, how you respond, where you post, what you post, because inherently you have an intrinsic understanding of two areas that most people do not have: Branding principles, and social-online knowledge and understanding. Most people do not have both.
So for example the young college kids who get social media may not get brand management around their personas and post or do things online that they will pay for later. Remember there is no delete key in Google, only rankings.
So to this end I think we all need to manage ourselves in accordance with branding principles.
The more people understand the nature of digital content associated with their name and the principles of brand management the better off they will be, even though as you point out they are not true brands.
ED
ed’s last blog post..Has Online Social Media Failed Starbucks?
Hi Beth,
Thanks for the opportunity to extend the conversation; sorry we did not have the chance to visit, one to one, during your trip to Austin at SXSWi. And on behalf of our fair city, I am sorry about your miserable service experience at Stubb’s. ([The Royal] We have hung the General Manager in effigy.)
As a caveat, please keep in mind said perspective is driven from my in the world experience in the Austin microcosm and what little I know about you.
First things first, [connotative] definition of brand. “Brand” is the associated values, mission, concepts, story, song, voicecommitments, promises, methodology, product and service offerings, reputation and institutional memory, of an entity, commonly represented by one or more people.
Perhaps your own experience runs contrary to your own beliefs on personal brand.?
For your own part, Beth, when you trekked out on your own and launched your business, you went through the naming convention process like most of us, no doubt around a table of friends, open bottles of wine and vittles. You probably considered a litany of names, compiled a list and chose Harte Marketing and Communications because of the equity you had established and the corresponding attributes associated with your birth name-Beth Harte. Your name is and was your calling card, and the most easily identifiable “concept” when you entered the market place of ideas and idea diffusion. People knew what to expect when working with Beth Harte, could easily identify the differentiators when working with you. Your personal brand and professional identity was, and to some degree still is, the kelson of all the associated values, mission, concepts, story, song, voice, commitments, promises, methodology, product and service offerings, reputation and institutional memory of your business. Now that you have enjoyed both traction and velocity, your personal brand has submitted to your business brand because the latter has assumed and/or transferred the energy of countless others and become something greater than you. Nevertheless, as wave flow into waves, all of the histories, experiences, people, education, trials and tribulations that make you who you are, were the well spring for what Harte Marketing and Communications is today, because without you, there would be nothing to codify the interest moving forward.
On a grander scale, think about Michael Dell. Eschewing the cynicism that often accompanies any allusion to Dell, the man has built a formidable brand empire on two primary promises: hardware customization and direct sales–the same promises he maintained when building computers in his dorm room at The University of Texas. Now, these promises have taken on a life of their own so that Dell (in most circles) is no longer associated with with a middle-aged man living with wife and kids in Austin, Texas. And when Michael Dell inevitably dies, his personal brand, and the footprint his life work impressed upon the world will live on, indefinitely, for the life of the company. Michael Dell was the vehicle and engine of Dell, and now those roles have reversed.
The two examples cited above maintain at least one common element: the name of the person and the name of the company are the same. But what about the instance where the personal brand is not the name on the door of the company? This is the real crux of the issue. In Austin, three examples immediately come to mind. I reached each of these “examples” by phone to disclose my purpose when responding here, and each politely asked that I not publish my thoughts; out of respect and deference to my friends and colleagues, I will not.
The reason? In detailing the situation, one or more of the brands (personal or otherwise) would be compromised. This statement more than any other points to the fact that as market mechanisms and the decentralization phenomenon (whether voluntary or involuntary) in this economic climate continue to escalate, personal brands will continue to elevate to unprecedented levels. Corporate brands are dying, but the people that drive the core competencies and action of the business live on. Consequently, we’re witness to the Entrepreneurial Age where the traditional brand takes a backseat to the corporate brand.
In closing, remember the destiny of the 17th Chinese Destiny: Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
[...] waters while they are suppose to be doing work for the company. Beth Harte addresses the idea of Personal Branding very well and as background information to this post, I highly recommend taking a moment or two to [...]
[...] on this post – Beth had written a previous post. I just realized that Dan was used as an example in that post. (Dan & I have been friends for [...]
Hi Beth,
Great blog posting! Your last point about the company brand vs the employee brand; I do think there can be a danger (maybe in certain industries) of a personal brand becoming so big that a company brand gets damaged. A good example is Tom Ford at Gucci. When Rob Polet took over as CEO he took a bold call in stating that, ‘the brand is king and designers serve the brand’ http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/robert-polet-on-managing-creative-minds-2.html
A bold move perhaps but Gucci group has been doing quite well – and maybe his experiences date back to his days at Unilever when he managed the ice cream brands – good humor in the US, but I’ve traveled to over 30 countries and the logo is consistent everywhere and I always associate it to great tasting ice cream.
http://www.icecreamusa.com/good_humor/
I currently work in a consultancy and we’re looking for ways to brand ourselves where our company brand can take front and centre and not just the personal brand and networks of the partners who own the firm. Of course we have to leverage the benefits of using their personal brands and networks, but I believe the company will only live on beyond the initial partners who started the firm by establishing a strong and consistent company wide brand.
And I do agree with your point of how can an employee’s online presence bring benefits to the company. I had an example of this in my own work when a friend and former colleague read a blog posting and invited me to come to a conference she’s organizing on the topic. From that conversation we got our bosses to meet and my boss will be speaking at the conference, and we’ve identified a book project that our organizations can work on together. The fact of being online and being aware of what types of conversations you want to stimulate via what you post online can be hugely beneficial, whether you’re looking for a future career or if you want to find opportunities to add more value to your company.
Beth
As usual, great post. I think there are +/- of Personal Branding from a corp perspective. It is far easier to lose a high value employee if they can make it on their own due to the value of their “brand” in the marketplace.
But on the flip side — in industries like Marketing, personal brands can be powerful. Clients hire people. If a marketer for instance has a high profile, personal brand, that can lead to clients wanting to hire/him her and thus, to get that person they hire the company. Think Steve Rubel for instance.
Thus, as an ad agency, if I had 10 people with strong personal brands, plus the strong agency brand, that’s 11 brands possible clients might want to connect to versus just one agency brand.
Further, because each person can add their personal dimension to the brand, it gives our agency brand more breadth and thus, opens us up to larger audiences that may like our agency brand but love one of our staffers personal brands.
Make sense?
@TomMartin
Tom Martin’s last blog post..For every rule there is the exception