Are You Shamelessly Self Promoting?

There is a lot of buzz about personal branding and its value to your professional and personal life. Overall, I think it’s great, since it raises awareness and encourages people to focus on what makes them unique. It’s clear that people get the importance of branding for success. Yet, it’s also clear, however, that many simply do not totally "get it.” Consider:

• Dan Schwabel, at his  Personal Branding Blog, dispels the myth that personal branding is all about you. He notes that it is a matter of delivering value for others, and underscores this with a great quote from Dan Pink’s new book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: “You’re here to serve, not to self-actualize.” 
• Luke Harvey Palmer, at  The Chief Brand Officer…, discusses integrity as an element of one’s personal brand. He says: “This element of your Personal Brand is influenced by what you say about others, your honesty and sincerity, the other people you associate with, and the things you are willing to do to service a clients needs or support a colleague.”
• Anita Bruzzese, at 45 Things, raises the question: “Does Your Personal Brand Taste Like Burned Toast?” She makes this point: “Your personal brand has got to be palatable. Too much self promotion, too little focus on bringing something valuable to the table, and you could find yourself getting discarded [like burnt toast].”

I’m sure you get the message: In communicating your brand, you do need to say what makes you unique, but you need make sure to consistently, clearly, and constantly communicate the value you deliver in a way that is vibrant and compelling for the people you want to reach.

Cross-poasted at The Personal Branding Blog

Comments

[Lief Larson]

Think elevator pitch. Personal branding is about selling your value proposition, regardless of whether you're blue collar, white collar. If you knew someone was performing due diligence on you, what would you want them to know.

- Lief

[Walter Akana]

Hi Lief! Yes, I think that selling/communicating your value proposition is critical; and to do that well, you need to have an effective elevator pitch. In fact, I just read Miriam Salpeter’s recent blog post on elevator pitches at http://snipurl.com/2abbo. She ties together elements that make a strong communication of value. Nonetheless, I think that people pitch way more than they listen! The information obtained in listening can make the difference in communicating value or sounding shamelessly self-promotional.