This Tuesday, so this post is on personal impact.
A solid personal brand is an important part of personal impact. William Arruda is a well known personal branding consultant. An article on his website Authenticity, Authenticity, Authenticity makes a great point about discovering your brand.
William Arruda on Discovering Your Personal Brand
“Perhaps the biggest misconception about personal branding is the belief that it means ‘creating’ an image. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. All successful branding is based in authenticity - that is - what’s true and genuine and unique about you. Brands are uncovered, not fabricated. The myth that branding is about spin or packaging and image management needs to be replaced by the truth that ‘you can’t be someone you are not.’”I had been working with a journalist on a story for Forbes Magazine which I just read yesterday. I was surprised, to see phrases like ‘image doctor,’ ‘personality correction’ and ‘pretty up the picture of yourself’ used throughout the article. Although I feel that I use the word ‘authentic’ a lot more than the average Joe (it appears on 62 pages on the Reach web site, perhaps I am not clearly communicating the fact that authenticity is foundational to personal branding.
“So, for the record: The most important element in successful personal branding (in fact, branding in general) is AUTHENTICITY. Please spread the word!”
This is some great common sense advice from a master personal branding expert. I agree. Authenticity is key. People can spot a phony a mile away. That’s why I spent a lot of time asking people how they think of me as I was developing my personal brand. I ended up as The Common Sense Guy because most of the people I trust told me that they associate me with applied common sense.
So I became The Common Sense Guy. When people ask me who I am and what I do, I tell them “I’m
That’s my brand – and it’s who I am. What’s your brand? Who are you?
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com.TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
Bud,
In response to your blog highlighting "authenticity," it is easier and more natural to authenically project one's self. Of course, if through the process of identifying my personal brand, I identify a trait that is less than desired, it is more difficult to change and make that change "stick" as the new authentic.
Posted by: Glenn Cantor | March 21, 2007 9:55 AM | Permalink to Comment