The Branding of Me
It seemed like a good title for the website. After reading Tom Peters many years ago stating that we were all branded, I must admit that I was a bit sceptical. But the “digital age” has clearly now shifted to that of just “the age”, he really couldn’t have been more right. I’ll give you an example to explain; the branding of “me”.
I had over ten years of marketing and sales experience under my belt. My peers knew me and knew what I could do, there was no need to worry, my reputation was intact. There I was happily working away on what I loved. Being creative, resourceful and ever so driven. But like so many others, this came crashing down like that acorn on chicken licken’s head. The sky was falling. Otherwise known as the recession. Businesses changed their business practices because of the downturn, hence sales dropped and the inevitable came, the unemployment line. Employment for a middle level manager in marketing at that time, was just basically not existent (unless you were a fresh graduate). So after years of searching with the same ways I knew from my college days, it was time for a change.
I had already used social media (Twitter and Facebook) to connect with my family overseas and old friends. As someone who has always been social, I loved social media. I began to teach myself how to use these methods of connecting with others and learn how the online world developed over time. So without actually realising it, I was developing my own online personal brand with my posts, tweets, retweets, how I networked and connected. It is important to remember that everything you do or say online, is and always will be reflection of who you are, in essence the branding of yourself.
I know people think of brands as products or services but rarely see themselves as such. We are human with emotions and opinions so how can we relate to a brand? Branding is a way of creating an identity that others can relate to. So the way we post or tweet is a reflection on your identity, who we are. It is so important to keep your brand authentic and real. I have learned that by conducting a self-audit every month is great way to manage your brand. During one of my workshops in UCC, participants were surprised that personal branding is more than just setting up accounts and retweeting here or there. It is more than that. I read (on a Twitter post) that 80%-90% of people on social media “say” nothing. So how can you grow connections or even make connections if you say nothing? Be social, say hi.
So because I said hi and became social, here I am with a personal brand I am proud of….The Branding of Me.
