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The term ‘personal branding’ has always intrigued me. A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by Brand-Yourself.com and one of the questions I was asked was “What’s the difference between personal branding and social branding?”. Here’s the answer I gave:
People have different definitions for it, but when I hear the term personal branding I think of individuality and self-improvement. While self-promotion is an important aspect of branding/packaging one’s image, I like the idea of a social brand better.
If you have a social brand, you have a network of friends that become a part of your personal brand, and you can build healthy relationships with like-minded people in your field. If the idea is to get noticed, I would consider growing a community over a personal brand any day.
Since then, I’ve been giving this question a lot of thought. While thinking about it, I’ve come to realize that I’ve never really considered what I do to be personal branding. I came up with the term ‘social branding’ because it always felt like a more direct way of portraying what I’m all about.
To further illustrate the point I’m trying to make, view these definitions of the words ‘personal’ and ‘social’ from Dictionary.com:
Notice any differences between these two words?
I believe in transparency.
When I think of personal branding, I think of a method of branding one’s self image the way he/she would want to be perceived by others. You’re essentially telling others who you are, rather than showing them.
If you go about building your brand socially–through engagement, content creation, and consistency–your “personal” brand will be defined by the relationships you make with people. In my opinion, this is a more effective way of building your brand because it allows you to be yourself and others to form their own opinions of you. Let your actions define who you are. Be transparent.
What do you think about personal branding? Do you have anything to add to the discussion? If so, leave a comment below!
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Comments
08.11.10
Steven, this is an interesting piece and a good question. Nice breakdown with the definitions.
I do believe any kind of branding, regardless of the adjective that preceeds it, is about both telling and showing. This is a recent article I did for FoxBuisness.com on "personal branding"
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2010/07/26/create-strong-per...
Let me know what you think.
Woody
08.11.10
Excellent piece. The use of the term "social branding" is right on the mark. Ultimately, why do we brand ourselves - so someone will what to engage with us ... whether in business or socially. If this relationship is to develop the way you hope for then the "cards need to be on the table" in the first place. Transparency is the way to do that.
Also, when in the business world - prospects and customers don't really have relationships with companies. They have relationship the people in those companies. However you present yourself, i.e. brand yourself, will determine the success of your tenure with that company. I wrote a blog posting talking about this point and virtues of presenting the various sides of you in one presentation/brand, "What do want to be when you grow up." http://bit.ly/aYvM3T
08.11.10
Woody,
Very nice article. I especially like the part about keeping the promise. I do agree with the whole branding from a marketer's perspective, because in the end we're all our own publicists, no matter what you call it.
Clay,
Thanks, I'm glad you liked the article. While personal branding seems to be tied in closely with getting a job, I believe that as the web is evolving it is important that we all maintain our brand identities. I'll definitely check out your article.
08.12.10
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