Personal Branding is Bragging

Most people dont like to brag - but its a necessity for personal branding. Perhaps "Bragging" is not the best word - maybe "Boasting" would be better - I dont know. For the most part I have found that "bragging" is easy - we just dont like to call it that. We would rather "toot our own horn" - how quaint. We need strong powerful credible words to describe our accomplishments. As Tom Peters suggests in his classic book "The Brand You 50" - we must purposefully seek out "braggable" projects. The point is not about the negative connotations of the word "bragging" - but about doing things that provide value and that are things that you are proud of.


Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Personal Branding is Repetition

Should I say it again? Personal Branding is the effective use of repetition. A curious thing about our brains is that after hearing something over and over - we begin to believe it. So when we set out to get "mind share" one technique is to repeat the message over and over. Let me amend my last statement and say that it is a necessary technique. Hey and guess what happens when you repeat something boring over and over? Your brand (if you call it that at this point) is boring. What you say is as important as the repetition. If you tell everyone you are an expert at something over and over and over - in person, on the phone, on your business card, in your email signature - then after a while people will peg you as an expert.


Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Personal Branding is like Buddhism

One of the reason so much branding fails is that people arent aware enough of their circumstances - personally and in the marketplace. While I dont profess to be a Buddhist, I have benefited from some meditation and slowing down of my crazed monkey brain - thereby starting to notice a bit more nuance in my life. Personal branding is about personal awareness. We could learn a lot from the Buddha.


Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Personal Branding - Others will Brand You

My friend Rosalind the "Brand Whisperer", mentioned that she has a difficult time articulating her own brand - and in fact she goes on to say - companies have the same problem. The branding description ends up like a functional specification. I think this is often true - self reflection is impossible without feedback from others. Its the "Others" that help you become un-lost in your branding narrative. Rosalind, in fact, has given me some of the best feedback and guidance on how to describe myself. Without me really being conscious of it - I placed an brand impression in her brain. She just related it back to me. That was valuable. So in order to develop your brand - you must apply the "Rosalind Rule" and ask for impressions from others.


Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Personal Branding - Expertise vs Expert

I have found that when we talk about ourselves we might say that we have some particular expertise in something and only rarely do we say "I am an expert". This is a personal branding mistake. For example, I might say that I have expertise in Java Software Architecture. But it would be better expressed as saying "I am a Java Software Architecture Expert". And another thing, the more you repeat this phrase - the more people with believe it and refer to you as the "Expert". Saying that you have "expertise" is a commodity statement that is cast away from consciousness faster than you can finish the sentence. When branding yourself - you must refer to yourself directly.

Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Whats in a Personal Brand Tagline?

Taglines aren't just for companies - they are for individuals. A tagline is a very short expression that conveys meaning to your audience. When developing a career we can use these short expressions in conversation or on our business cards to quickly help others understand who and what we are. A good tagline starts a conversation and provides context for everything that follows. Without any further preamble (Just do it), I am going to list some qualities of a good tagline.

Simple - A tagline should be very short - no more than 9 words.
Succinct - A tagline is to the point and not long winded.
Clear - A tagline is immediately understood.
Original - A tagline is not a stale reused expression.
Authentic - A tagline is genuine and conveys real values about you.
Positive - A tagline is best when expressed highlighting the good
Memorable - A tagline is useless if its forgetable.
Believeable - A tagline is credible.

Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com

Internal and External Brand Mantras

We have all heard about taglines sometimes called "brand" taglines. A tagline is really an external mantra for your customers to resonate with. Its also important when developing a personal career brand to have an internal mantra. Just like the word "OM" - which is chanted to bring inner calm - we need an internal mantra to guide our career and to give it meaning.

Finding an internal mantra that "fits" is not an easy task. It relies on some deep reflection of your core values and then simplifying them into a single statement. I have found it helpful to catalog my values formally on a piece of paper. It should be an expression that helps you find your way along your career path. For me its about using a combination of skills in my career. I have always felt that I work best when bridging ideas, selling ideas, and uncovering deeper meaning and understanding of things.

Living at the Nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism @ JeffreyBlake.com