Experimental

My Personal Brand

When I was born I had no brand, no identity. Along the way through my early years I became aware of the world, but lacked awareness as to who I am. That went along through my twenties when I explored all facets of life from 16-months in combat to experiencing the birth of two of my children, a couple of great jobs that imploded and haphazard relationships with my family and friends.

Along the way I became who I am today. I learned that working smart does pay off and being diligent and anticipating the next technological change is somewhat rare. I continued to geek-up and learned the art of persuasion – I learned to sell. I tuned my creative site and discovered the land of analytics. I founded principles and established methods and in the sea of words to describe me I realized that my personal brand was in the present – the now.

During a branding experience that I was recently involved in I heard someone say,”A new brand is like a newborn child. It is fresh and new, but lacks any attributes beyond the surface. But, when you dress it up and live with it a while, it becomes whole; it has definable attributes – some good, some bad.”

The last paragraph was insightful and important, so read it again if you must.

A Mega-Brand

How does one create a brand of one’s self? Super stars do this, arguably the most famous is Oprah, but how does one who is not famous and lacks desire to be famous become a mega-brand?

Most of the time when thinking through a challenge I tend to tactically execute on it learning as I go. So I did what I do best. I updated my profile on LinkedIn. Then I began aggressively seeking out old contacts to build my network and gain recommendations.

I began aggressively seeking out like-minded people on Pownce and creating connections where before there were none.

And I, just last night, began working through the opportunity UStream presents. Look for my regularly schedule broadcast coming soon!

These are some of the details (there are many more) that will be explored in future postings as I seek to answer one simple question:

In the age of contemporary media, rapidly increasing population, and where information is both pervasive and accessible, how can one set themselves apart through the creation of a personal mega-brand?