October 31, 2007 | By Rebecca Thorman
What could be called the bible of personal branding is coming out tomorrow, Thursday, November 1. It’s the Personal Branding Magazine and you should go purchase it now. I worked with founder and personal branding expert Dan Schawbel to proof and edit the first half of the magazine, which was worth it just to get a sneak peek of the articles from the thirty-seven different authors. The length makes it encyclopedic at times, but every article has value.
If you’ve been following Dan’s progress on the internet, you know that he’s one of the hardest workers around. His efforts to bring personal branding experts together in the magazine are unparalleled. And the profits from the magazine are benefiting the American Cancer Society. So far, he’s raised more than $1,000 for the cause.
I know, you want me to stop talking and let you know how to buy. It’s just $12.95 for 4 issues/year. And did I mention that I contributed an article to the magazine as well? Go check it out.
Branding bible.
August 30, 2007 | By Rebecca Thorman
I don’t openly discuss the fact that I’m a tree hugger because it makes people uncomfortable. See, Mother Nature reminds us a lot of our own mother; we believe they’ll always be there for us no matter what. So I don’t talk about being an environmentalist. It would be like reminding the other person that they haven’t called their mom for two weeks. And no one wants to be reminded of their mother during happy hour.
That’s a mistake, however, because I get miffed when others claim to be environmentally concerned, and are blatantly not. Like the people who shop at Whole Foods, and think that gets them a golden ticket to the garden of earthly delights, even though they have a SUV parked in the lot. You may be one of those people. That’s okay. Just stop saying you care about the environment. Because you don’t.
Don’t act like somebody you’re not. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. People will see through it, and you will have no credibility. The most powerful brands don’t have to broadcast themselves. They are simply true by example.
Besides, it makes your life harder to keep up an image that’s not authentic. You spend a lot of time doing a lot of things to convince a lot of people that you’re something, something big, something that you’re not. That’s depressing.
You may recycle every water bottle or take an entire morning to replace all of your light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Worthy steps, sure. But they’re high-input and low-value. Like, none of those steps will land you in bed with Leonardo DiCaprio.
If you’re going to define yourself a certain way, then go for it. Use meaningful action. Don’t waste your time on little things that provide little value according to your goal. Set priorities to create the most impact, and avoid getting mired in the insignificant.
Environmental products often cost more in the beginning, but pay off in the long run. That’s how life is. It’s going to be hard in the beginning to take the first big step after years of baby steps. Your legs won’t seem long enough. But you have to stretch yourself beyond your limits. It’s worth it. Anything less isn’t authentic.
I’m an environmentalist because I don’t own a car. I don’t waste time worrying about recycling every single piece of junk mail. I don’t feel guilty for not going to the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning. I’ve already done the biggest thing you can do for the environment. I don’t own a car. The positive impact of that decision is so huge, that while I do the small stuff, I don’t sweat it. I’ve got my golden ticket.
Small steps are a good start, but when you’re ready to play with the big kids, you just have to commit. Going any slower would be painful. Sometimes you just have to rip off the band-aid.
Make it hurt.
August 1, 2007 | By Rebecca Thorman
I recently asked Dan Schawbel, personal branding guru, how he gets everything done: “I don’t know how I do it at this point, but I’m passionate about what I do so I make it happen. Is that a fair answer?”
Not only is that a fair answer, but it’s the best time-management advice. Ever.
Dan, just 23 years old, has launched his Personal Branding magazine today. I strongly recommend you head on over to his website to download the PDF for $12.95. All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. I’ve downloaded my copy which is chock-full of valuable information from an interview with Donald Trump, to a slew of guest articles that tell you how to reach your full branding potential.
Trust me, you’ll want advice from this “personal branding force of nature.” Go on. Go see for yourself.
Brand passion.
July 20, 2007 | By Rebecca Thorman
I’ve worked hard over the past two years to change my image. I used to dumb myself down, play my looks up. It was easier that way. I didn’t have to buy any drinks in college, for instance. That was my brand, an image that wasn’t who I was or wanted to be. But it worked, so I kept on.
Until my boyfriend told me I wasn’t interesting enough. Until I came home from a meeting one day, furious for not speaking my mind. Until I had one scary frickin’ visit to the ER. Yeah, those life-threatening events, they’ll get you every time.
I sat down to think about who I really was, proceeded to have a quarter-life crisis, and made some tough decisions. They weren’t decisions that were visible. I didn’t quit my job, or become celibate, or move across the country to pursue reality television. But I did slowly, painfully, change and start to brand myself differently.
Personal branding is your personality, who you are as an individual and “the sum of other brands that you either own, work for or touch in some distinct way.” It’s about being you, and marketing the heck out of it.
You, who is reliably manipulative, can’t make a commitment if your life depended on it, and won’t go to bed until you clear the next level in your video game. You, who is only working until you have a baby, hopefully two, so you can stay at home and take care of your family. You, who works eighty hours a week and must separate your jelly beans into color-respective piles before eating.
Branding is marketing those very gems of your personality. That’s not hard to do. Just be yourself. If you’re acting like someone you’re not, then it will come back to haunt you, like when the infatuation wears off in a relationship, and it is at that moment your girlfriend finds your box of hair-regeneration pills in your underwear drawer. Whoever you are, it’s really hard to change, so you win by just being you from the start.
And sometimes, inevitably, you lose. Like this guy.
Branding is inextricably linked to accountability. If you do a good enough job of marketing yourself a certain way, people will start to believe you. So much so that when you mess up, or step out of your brand, it will make others uncomfortable.
I wouldn’t worry too much about this. Instead, focus on how you define accountability and your own comfort level with your actions.
Our lives are out in the open for all to see. Who you are at your job is who you are at the bar is who you are at the gym is who you are during sex is who you are at the company picnic is who you are at, well, you get the idea. Politicians do cheat on their wives. CEOs are bad parents. Artists are erratic friends. So, what? They’re good at their passions, and at the end of the day, we’re all doing the best we can in the circumstances given.
Your image reflects on your company, friends, and family. You, however, need to be accountable to yourself first. If you’re dancing on the tables at the bar, and worried about getting caught, either you have something personally wrong, or you need to find a different job that accepts your lack of inhibition. If your Facebook photos might get you in trouble, take them down, or decide you want to work at a place where they don’t care about that sort of thing.
The lines between work and play are increasingly blurring, and if you’re one person during the day and a different one at night you have to be proud enough to market the heck out of it. If you’re not comfortable, you need to learn more about who you are. You are in control of your brand.
My mother used to tell me, “Remember who you are,” whenever I left the house. People with integrity and confidence don’t worry about “getting caught,” because they know who they are. They know that dancing on tables is acceptable to them, or that their Facebook pictures show another layer of their onion. And if it’s not okay to them, they act accordingly.
In summary, to rock the branding/accountability boat:
1. Know yourself.
2. Be yourself.
3. Love it.
4. Repeat.
By the way, I still enjoy receiving free drinks, because I’ve realized I’m okay with using my looks… Sometimes.
Be yourself, or perish, yo.
