We’re all familiar with the story about the “pebble in my shoe”. It’s in there. Sometimes you notice it, sometimes you don’t. It doesn’t really bother you enough to make you stop and remove it.
I realized recently that I have a few “pebbles in my shoe” and have decided to blog about them. Pebbles currently residing in my shoe include, but are not limited to:
- “Personal branding”
- #FollowFriday
- Facebook – this could be a rock actually…
- *Some auto-follow DMs like “Let us show you how to get fame on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Digg, Youtube…” ~ yeah thanks
- TrueTwit Validation
Today I want to focus on #1, “personal branding“. I don’t know who started this or when, and I admit I’ve probably used the term myself at some point. But the truth is, personal brand should/could be an oxymoron.
Branding is for CPGs like Tide, Fruit Loops, Coke, Nike or Scope. For businesses like KPMG, IBM or StarBucks. You get the idea. If you’re Oprah, the Donald or Brett what’s his name (see it’s not working for him), then ok you might have a personal brand. Otherwise I say leave the “branding” for goods and services.
If you’re a person who wants to improve themselves, build your reputation, make a name for themselves, then do those things that are in the books, blogs and DVDs, but stop calling it personal branding. It’s too obvious. Brands are things (often cold, sterile and boring things) they are not people. Be you. Be the very best version of you.
Don’t strive to be something people will associate with a tag line or a jingle. Be a warm, authentic, funny, personal human being. People want to deal with people, not brands.
But then maybe I’m wrong. After all there are legions of books and blogs dedicated to the topic of personal branding. Chris Brogan even blogs about it and Tom Peters wrote an article in FAST Company, back in 1997.
Well if personal branding is so big and so important then there must be a list somewhere of most valuable personal brands or Top 10 Personal Brands, shouldn’t there? Ad Age and Fortune create lists of the most valuable brands that companies and their ad agencies salivate over getting in to.
I found a bunch of people who claim to be on the list of “Top 10 Personal Brands of 2010” (interesting as we’re only half way through 2010). But I could NOT find the actual Top 10 Personal Brands of 2010 list anywhere. If you know where it is please let me know.
There you have it – first pebble removed from shoe. I feel better already. How about you…?
Next week I’ll tackle #FollowFriday and no doubt attract some ire.
3 thoughts on “Pebbles in My Shoe”
Well said, I look forward to your insight on #Followfriday next week. Fun at first but the charm is starting to wear thin.
Spot on! Personal branding has always seemed to me to be a bit over-pretentious…
Good points, Chris, and a wise perspective. Like you, I think that ‘developing a personal brand’ is relevant if you are trying to market your identity as a commodity – as TV hosts are, or high $$ public speakers. For the rest of us, it should be about being a genuine person. Period.