Wow! Social Media had allowed us to be brands quite easily. The boom is big and is growing. Earlier it was about websites – then it was about blogs and now just your profile, portfolio and fan strength. Boom! You are creating a brand. Your personal brand talking about you as an individual, showing your portfolio, sharing your thoughts with the world and guess what – few or several but you have followers. This sounds like Magic.
Even the word resume would sound obsolete very soon. The recruiters will check your credential on your network profiles. Will read up the recommendations, will scan your posts & updates and then would consider your profile. Your Personal brand is very much there for the world’s disposal.
While the rules of Branding are slightly different and sound complicated, the easy features of social network sites like Facebook actually make you work on your brand, on discovering yourself. They work like wizards and in between leave you to think and explore your personal brand. Most of the start-ups, self-employed people from designers to emcee’s have their personal brand pages on these sites but what matters is – the matter of the brand.
So while you create your brand, make sure that you are,
a. Presentable
b. Appealing & Approachable
c. Communicating without confusions
Warning: Social media has made it very easy to brand oneself, remember there is an influx; as everybody present there is creating a brand of him/her. You need to be careful about certain things:
1. Differentiate:
Keep note, that like you everybody is hooked to social networks and has a public page, blog, a catch line etc. So what matters is How Different you seem then others?
2. Consistency:
The idea to magic is consistency; the web is full of dead, obsolete pages. People create and forget passwords, they switch from one network to other and leaving the former profile go stale and hence unnoticed. So you need to work hard to be consistent so that your followers, friends or anyone else who is searching something relevant gets on to the right page.
3. Growth Plan:
Unlike product brands or individual brands, a personal brand can grow all the way through. So every person who is doing Personal Branding must have a growth plan. Sharing & Experience will come with evolvement of the personal brand. But one should always grow on the lines of value creation. That would make it more worthwhile.
So are you a Brand yet?
4 comments:
Hi Jigyasa, first let me congratulate you on choosing the title. A great effort putted on defining prerequisite qualities one should have for personal brand building.
It's true that social media has allowed oneself to change the dynamics of one's personality. It is also true that personal branding on social media has become a catchphrase not only for those who are socially active but reticent people has also found a place to express themselves.
Your thought provoking blog is really ponderable and raises concern over the impact of this mode of branding on society we are living in. The change in media of brand building reminds me Aristotle and his famous quote "Man is by nature a social animal".
I found the word Social media becoming HYPOCRITICAL in the current scenario as it lacks concern with external surroundings.. Though it allows oneself to get concerned with their personal identity on social media; it makes oneself aloof with their external environment both personally as well as socially.
Some days back I read the news that a mother got so indulged in social networking sites that she forgot to feed her new born baby and the baby died because her mother was busy in building her image on networking sites.
No denying that social media is a wonderful platform to get connected with others, personally as well as professionally, it is making our life more mechanised and that is why I found Aristotle quote getting relevance.
To the last but definitely not the least, I would like to define the extent to which social medias are allowed to build one's personal image.....Thanks & Regards Ashish
Jigyasa,
New way to look at blogging I do. Am I a BRAND now? But what you say seems facts.
Take care
@ Ashish
Thanks for your review. What you have mentioned about Social media limiting to oneself, I would say it depends on the individual.
But when I say, Personal Branding I am trying to convey the impact & availability of media where we can create & grow our brands to create some moolah!
Keep visiting!
@ Uncle J
Yes among your bloggers you are a brand- who is very much socially aware & concerned. And who believes that Sharing is Caring.
But yes, we can always take it to next level..:)
Keep Smiling. Keep visiting.
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