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The Year in Review: Nine Personal Branding Predictions for 2009!

2009 Personal Branding Predictions

The year in review.  Let me know how well I did with my 2009 Personal Branding Predictions. This is the link to the original post: http://bit.ly/5qaNK4

It is 2009 and the Internet is buzzing with experts providing their predictions and trends for the year. I wanted to provide my thoughts on personal branding to help set the tone for an exciting year.

Predictions/Trendspotting

1. Creative Economy: Creativity will be to the information age what manufacturing was to the industrial age. Individuals dependence on being a company man working 30-years at one company or until death do you part will cease to exist. The integration of creativity into business ideas and career will become a necessity and not an option. As a personal brand you will need to think creatively in developing strategic partnerships and ways to stand out. After everybody has updated their Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter pages, established a blog, added followers, and followed all the same tips what is next? Creativity.

2. Purpose/Mission: People will start to seek opportunities or careers that give them greater satisfaction that they have a true passion for. This is primarily due to the instability in the economy and the reduction of jobs that were more lucrative in good economic times. High paying low education jobs are a thing of the past. People will now look at opportunities that align with how they are wired and what they were designed to do.

3. ‘Personal Branding’ Term Commoditized: The term ‘Personal Branding’ will become more commoditized and genericized. The term has significance and value when implemented, but I believe the term itself will be overused and misused.

4. Traditional Journalist Become Commodities: The voice and influence of bloggers and social media experts increase. Newspapers are losing money with traditional newspaper printing and are looking for ways to compete with the new media. Traditional journalist will have to integrate social media and effectively establish their personal brand.

5. Personal Branding Experts Commodization: With the increase of social media gurus the line between personal branding experts and social media experts is blurring. The personal branding industry will become oversaturated and the cream will rise to the top. Those of us in the personal branding industry will have to work harder to cut through the noise.

6. Establish ‘Blue Movement’: The need to develop the ‘Blue Movement is critical. ‘American Made’ needs to be established as the new luxury product. The ‘Green Movement’ has been very successful because big business have bought into it can the same be done with the ‘Blue Movement’?

7. Twitter Relevance Increases: Twitter will gain relevance as a search and primary news source. Business opportunities with strategist business models and usages will continue to be developed.

8. Personal Brands being Healthy: Being healthy is just as importance as your ranking in Google. You can have all the money and influence in the world but without good health you have nothing. Being fit spiritually, mentally, and physically is critical. Learn to have balance and think holistically because you are the sum total of all your parts.

9. Passion Becomes King: People doing what they love. Passion is the fuel that drives you to do what others are not willing to do. We all have the same 24-hours but passionate people find out how to get more out of their time and produce higher quality results.

I want to challenge and inspire you to shine in 2009. Have an awesome year and share your predictions for 2009 in the comments section of this blog post.

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Personal Branding: It’s Not What YOU Say.

There’s a lot of personal branding advice out there, much of it really good.  There are guides to SEO for your personal brand, The Brand YU Life, how to answer “What do you do?” to support your personal branding efforts, and how to brand yourself on LinkedIn.  All of these are focused on what you put out there — your marketing message.

But your marketing message is only one part of a cohesive personal branding effort.

Think of the last time you had a crappy experience with customer service — something you really got your panties in a wad over.  How do you feel about that company today?  Have you ever considered egging someone’s office?  Written a strongly worded letter?  Wanted someone fired?

Bet that perspective isn’t anywhere in their brand messaging.  But it’s definitely a part of the brand experience.

Your brand is more than a summary of your resume, a polished professional photo and a strong handshake.  It’s even more than well-crafted copy and a cohesive online presence.  It’s a feeling.  It’s a relationship. Where effective personal branding truly comes into play is when you can align what you say with what you are.  That’s when you have a strong,
integrated brand.

Do you know what other people think about you?  What they perceive as your talents and your weaknesses?  How they think you fit into the world?  Their estimation of your competitive value?

If you don’t, you’re not effectively managing your brand.  Understanding how you’re perceived can help you improve your value, and better understand the value you’re already delivering.

How do I know how others experience my personal brand?

  • Ask. Find a few trusted advisors who might be willing to give you some honest feedback and ask them what they think of you.  Try the following script:
“I was wondering if you might be willing to help me with my [business development, job search, etc.] by giving me some feedback.  Would you be open to that?”

(Get agreement.)

“Great.  It’s really important to me that you feel comfortable giving me completely honest information.  Please don’t worry about hurting my feelings.  The more direct and honest you can be for me, the more helpful it will be.  Just a couple simple questions.  First, what do you think of when you think about me?”

(Give space for reply.)

“Fantastic.  Thank you.  That’s very helpful.  One more question — is there anything that you think I can do to improve?”

(Give space for reply.)

The key to success here is to be relaxed, open and comfortable with the conversation.  The person you approach may be nervous.  So, the more you can convey that the information is both important to you, and also not a big deal, the more likely that you’ll get an open, honest assessment.

  • Listen. Even without asking straight out, there are clues delivered all the time.  In what contexts does your name come up?  What are peoples’ reactions when you ask them for or offer help?  Do people say the same things to you over and over?  (”I know you must be swamped” might indicate that you’re perceived as overworked or not open to participating in new projects.  “I know you’re the person to go to for X” may show your perceived expertise, or perceived willingness to help.)  Look for trends or themes.
  • Notice. What results are coming your way?  Are you often invited to participate in groups, or do you seem to be missed?  Are you getting new assignments?  Is training available to you?  Or do you feel like you’ve stagnated?  Seeing opportunity come your way is a positive indicator of your brand, and seeing it pass you by is a negative.  It’s up to you to determine exactly what part of your brand is bringing success and what is getting in your way.

Take an interest in how you’re perceived, and you’ll learn how to better market yourself.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach and creator of Career Adventure, a blog which helps professionals in the pursuit of their inspiring work.  To receive her free report, 51 Ordinary and Extraordinary Places to Find a Job, sign up for her free Career Kick Start newsletter.

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Introducing The Fresh Peel Marketing – Chris Wilson: Brand Camp U. Adjunct Lecturer

Chris Wilson_HeadshotBrand Camp University (BCU)  has actively recruited top-notch thinkers and practitioners to enrich its content on personal branding, social media, and life.  BCU is proud to add Chris Wilson as an adjunct Lecturer who is a fanatic of all things marketing and branding.

Chris is a Digital Brand Strategist at Hester Designs, where through creative problem solving, strategy and design, he develops brand strategies and then finds relevant ways to bring those strategies online. He makes sure that experiences online and offline are consistent with the brand.

He is also the Social Media Marketing Adviser to uVizz Media. An innovative thought leader in the industry, Chris is an active contributor in the social media space and shares his thoughts at his blog, The Marketing Fresh Peel.

Follow Chris Wilson on Twitter: @Freshpeel

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