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Confession. I know jack balls about personal branding.
I could research some popular top authors on branding like Dan Schawbel or Jacob Share but I’m doing just fine, no offense fellers. You see, in a relatively short period of time, I’ve gone from being personally bland, to having myself an increasingly growing personal brand. The best part about saying that is I’ve made it happen simply by being me.
Nine months ago I was gearing up for a shit ton of unemployed experiences, something I’ve coined FUNemployment. It began with a few trips to tropical islands, and then on July 11th, 2009, Corn On The Job was born. One of the first things I noticed about blogging was an abundance of buzzwords, including personal branding. Thank god I was directed to Penelope Trunk’s blog, she advised me to ignore those buzzwords and come back to them later. Thanks, Penelope!
What have I done right?
Blog Name – I’m quirky, kinda nerdy, maybe humorous, and my blog and blog name match that. I wanted my blogs name to make people smile, laugh, but mostly be something they couldn’t forget. I really don’t toot my own horn often, but c’mon, how cool of a name is Corn On The Job? People can easily assume that my blog presents the lighter side of career advice. I feel like they aren’t disappointed in their assumptions once they find themselves drifting through my posts.
I write what I know – I have heavy experience in recruiting, both in agency and corporate settings. I’ve worked in corporate HR, just about completed a Masters in Human Resources Development, and have felt the sting of an acquisition. Why write about anything else? Gary Vaynerchuk speaks a lot about how your passion should drive what you do, and this is my passion.
I make connections – For two years I worked in agency recruiting, selling people to clients on a daily basis. You must really love people and making connections to survive that business, and I certainly do have that passion. Whether people comment on the blog, reach out via social media, email, or meet me face to face, I always do my best to engage. Life is about connections. Life is about helping one another. Life is about learning and improving on previous experiences. I incorporate those things into my blog whenever possible, and it’s mostly done through connecting and engaging with people. Matt Cheuvront responds to each of his 500,000 commenters on his blog posts, and that is something that I try to emulate on Corn On The Job.
I’m very confident in saying that 99.9% of the people I interact with on Corn On The Job, My Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, and Brazen Careerist had no idea who I was just five months ago. Flash forward to present time, and via computer screen, you’ve welcome me into your office, family room, kitchen, local starbucks, and even your bed room. The connections I’ve made with all of you have been incredible, and it’s continuously the most rewarding benefit of running my blog.
Conclusions
Don’t try to create a personal brand. Lately, more than a couple people have mentioned that my personal brand is increasing. I’ll say it again, the best part about hearing that is I’ve done it all on my own, without research, and without changing who I am. I’ve taken who I am, what I know, and what I’m passionate about, and used that to create a name for myself. It’s been a lot of hard work, but work that I love doing. It all starts with passion.
What are you passionate about?
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Comments
01.20.10
The excitement you have for your brand is practically leaping off my computer screen. Being that I just stumbled across your post and was unfamiliar with your brand, I can see why your personal brand would be increasing. If others were as intrigued to continue reading what you had to say as I was- it's a no brainer. I commend you for staying true to yourself and what you know. It's definitely what is attracting people to your message. I am now a fan!
01.20.10
The best part of your personal brand is that it isn't a "personal brand." It's just you. No hype, no buzz, no social media tricks. Just you.
That's my biggest "issue" with personal branding. People write these books, create these sites, offer these "tips" to build your personal brand. But that's just silly. And frankly a little manipulative.
If you have to figure out a way to make yourself an icon of a brand, then you aren't being you. It gets old, it gets hard and really...it gets figured out pretty fast.
The best thing anyone could ever do for their own personal branding is to 100% be themselves. It's all we can ask, really.
01.20.10
@Blake - Thanks for the kind words. I am definitely excited and I love what I'm doing. That's all I think people should do - love what they write about and the rest should be simple.
@Elisa - I agree. Who wants to read about on how someone else built their brand? When people are fake, it is easy to tell. Thanks for your support from way back when. I promise to continue being me, and to continue to love every second!
01.21.10
"I know jack balls about personal branding."
Rich - I love it. You know how I feel about your writing. Keep up the great work!
Samuel Diener
01.21.10
Rich ---- actually - can I put this on Stuff For Success?
Sam Diener
01.30.10
Well done sir. We may have a lot in common so off I go to connect with you all over the place. I appreciate your comment -
"I’ve taken who I am, what I know, and what I’m passionate about, and used that to create a name for myself. It’s been a lot of hard work, but work that I love doing. It all starts with passion."
I respect the hard work admission. Being in the people business, I am sure you know you are lucky so far. You know how hard it is for people to simply be themselves, have a hop out of bed Monday morning passion and especially monetize the passion. Tough life. You are lucky, so am I and so is my wife. Have you ever met someone doing something different and is totally misunderstood until mainstream? Those people fire me up!
Here is where the personal brand comes in within a commodity of, lets pick career experts who blog as an example. How many sustain top of mind thoughts (and will as a legacy beyond their years) with experience others have including real dollars and real results while having control over price/salary/income. -> Few make a HUGE impact and are gutsy enough to innovate with a brand of leadership or brand of entrepreneurship that is remarkable ("worthy of remark" - Seth Godin). It is those who separate from the pack and need a team of on brand champions. I LOVE those people! They come up as unmistakable solutions to problems and futurists. You see, personal brand is not how you market yourself, it is how others market you based on price and results. Oh, and being themselves, that is given. I root for you and excited to have found you!
05.18.10
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