Chris was criticized because they calculated that he would make like $17,000/day for his consulting if it was broken down. Ah hem…wouldn’t anyone want to be worth that much?

But he is a genuine thought leader, he has substance. And on that point, I don’t agree with you that Chris B has hurt his brand. Perhaps some people have a negative opinion. So what?

If there were 100 monkeys in the room and a banana was just out of reach, would the monkeys help one monkey reach the banana, or would they all conspire against one another to prevent anyone of them from reaching it?

Someone who is all marketing and no substance, who is aiming just for popularity makes a different kind of enemy. Not one of jealously, but one of disgust. I’d rather be a Gandhi then a Paris Hilton!

Chris was criticized because they calculated that he would make like $17,000/day for his consulting if it was broken down. Ah hem…wouldn’t anyone want to be worth that much?

But he is a genuine thought leader, he has substance. And on that point, I don’t agree with you that Chris B has hurt his brand. Perhaps some people have a negative opinion. So what?

If there were 100 monkeys in the room and a banana was just out of reach, would the monkeys help one monkey reach the banana, or would they all conspire against one another to prevent anyone of them from reaching it?

Someone who is all marketing and no substance, who is aiming just for popularity makes a different kind of enemy. Not one of jealously, but one of disgust. I’d rather be a Gandhi then a Paris Hilton!

“Demanding popularity will typically get you enemies. However, being authentic, honest and real gets you respect.’

IMO – If you are demanding to be popular you do the popular things. You write blog posts like everyone else is writing and send out tweets that everyone else is tweeting. Ultimately, you play it safe and never really get your hands dirty. Its easy to become popular on the web – you just act like everyone’s great and everythings fine and you’ll see the benefits.

On the other hand if you’re authentic and true to yourself you’ll definitely be considered a jerk by some people. Its a fact of life that 10% of the people we run into throughout our lives aren’t going to like us. Chris Brogan from New Marketing Labs, recently has been under scrutiny for how much he charges and some people have even said he was a sell out because he had sponsored blog posts. By Chris being Authentic and himself he has created tons of supporters but with that came a couple hundred ENEMIES.

Look at Martin Luther King and Gahandi – While Chris isn’t even close to being on the same level of these guys (sorry Chris) they all have enemies. What they did was authentic – they were themselves but still found enemies and people who did everything they could to hurt their “Personal Brand”.

“Demanding popularity will typically get you enemies. However, being authentic, honest and real gets you respect.’

IMO – If you are demanding to be popular you do the popular things. You write blog posts like everyone else is writing and send out tweets that everyone else is tweeting. Ultimately, you play it safe and never really get your hands dirty. Its easy to become popular on the web – you just act like everyone’s great and everythings fine and you’ll see the benefits.

On the other hand if you’re authentic and true to yourself you’ll definitely be considered a jerk by some people. Its a fact of life that 10% of the people we run into throughout our lives aren’t going to like us. Chris Brogan from New Marketing Labs, recently has been under scrutiny for how much he charges and some people have even said he was a sell out because he had sponsored blog posts. By Chris being Authentic and himself he has created tons of supporters but with that came a couple hundred ENEMIES.

Look at Martin Luther King and Gahandi – While Chris isn’t even close to being on the same level of these guys (sorry Chris) they all have enemies. What they did was authentic – they were themselves but still found enemies and people who did everything they could to hurt their “Personal Brand”.

Personal branding is important in every sense, I agree with you both on most points; however, I feel that there is a crucial lynch pin that you have both missed. Personal branding isn’t just something that you want people to remember you as by prompting positive thoughts or emotions with special colors, phrases and fonts, although it can include those elements too.

To me, personal branding is the advertisement of your best characteristics and traits so that people can immediately recognize how can bring them value. Steve Jobs has a personal brand that includes innovative, because he IS innovative, not because he has an innovative business cards and he can help your life because of his innovation. Paris Hilton has the personal brand of being a spoiled brat because she’s earned it; she’s probably not much use to us because she’s conceited. Tiger Woods has the personal brand of being a golf juggernaut because he’s earned it through hard work and won tournaments. Not because of his special T logo.

Now, we can do things that will help to publicize our personal brand, but if it is not based on something that is congruent with our true values or actions, we will eventually be ferreted out as hypocrites and eventually crash and burn. I’ll offer Mark McGwire (From bash brother to steroid loser), Jimmy Swaggart (I have sinned!) and half of the House of Representatives as examples of incongruous personal brands.

My advice for those budding personal marketers out there is the following: Make sure you know your values and live your life in alignment with them. Have them well defined as you go into your career search and use every chance to reinforce these values not only to others, but to yourself, through deliberate actions. Approach every potential relationship as an opportunity to add value to others through those actions. And don’t be afraid to use a little self promotion to get ahead. If you approach it with a “What can I do for you” attitude, you won’t be lumped in with those kids who are too cool for school.

For more insight, check out my blog post on deworken.com about how we should approach networking. “Ask not what your network can do for you…”

Personal branding is important in every sense, I agree with you both on most points; however, I feel that there is a crucial lynch pin that you have both missed. Personal branding isn’t just something that you want people to remember you as by prompting positive thoughts or emotions with special colors, phrases and fonts, although it can include those elements too.

To me, personal branding is the advertisement of your best characteristics and traits so that people can immediately recognize how can bring them value. Steve Jobs has a personal brand that includes innovative, because he IS innovative, not because he has an innovative business cards and he can help your life because of his innovation. Paris Hilton has the personal brand of being a spoiled brat because she’s earned it; she’s probably not much use to us because she’s conceited. Tiger Woods has the personal brand of being a golf juggernaut because he’s earned it through hard work and won tournaments. Not because of his special T logo.

Now, we can do things that will help to publicize our personal brand, but if it is not based on something that is congruent with our true values or actions, we will eventually be ferreted out as hypocrites and eventually crash and burn. I’ll offer Mark McGwire (From bash brother to steroid loser), Jimmy Swaggart (I have sinned!) and half of the House of Representatives as examples of incongruous personal brands.

My advice for those budding personal marketers out there is the following: Make sure you know your values and live your life in alignment with them. Have them well defined as you go into your career search and use every chance to reinforce these values not only to others, but to yourself, through deliberate actions. Approach every potential relationship as an opportunity to add value to others through those actions. And don’t be afraid to use a little self promotion to get ahead. If you approach it with a “What can I do for you” attitude, you won’t be lumped in with those kids who are too cool for school.

For more insight, check out my blog post on deworken.com about how we should approach networking. “Ask not what your network can do for you…”

I think this is really what bothers me. A brand is not really something you control. Some will say it’s splitting hairs, but we don’t call it personal imaging, we call it personal branding.

Also, there is such thing as brand equity which has some convoluted valuation. But brand image does not have this same valuation.

Because there are smarter people out there than me here is a great post that I read a while ago that to me defines some of this:
http://ittybiz.com/brand-vs-image-what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-anyway/

On emotions I agree 100% with you the emotional triggers (or what I call mental markers). The emotions someone feels when they are exposed to you play a huge role. I hope I didn’t portray that I disagreed with you there.

On Tiger, I bet he comes back stronger than before though providing one thing. He comes back and dominates golf once again (what he built his brand/image on). Which to me I think he will. He has a huge ‘Why’ and I think it is smart for Nike to stay with him. Just imagine in a year, Tiger breaks all records, Tiger dominates (yes he will always have this mark) but what will happen with Tigers image? How about any product used and endorsed by him? I think they will be enhanced, hey we love a comeback. As Nike I have to ask myself will my leverage will be greater now or then? Plus well… he did just do it.

I have always enjoyed Portland… I grew up in the Seattle area, so I miss the Pacific Northwest, a chat would be awesome. oh and beer!
.-= Scott Scanlon´s last blog ..Uh Oh… My Social Network is Offline… and Why That’s a Good Thing =-.

I think this is really what bothers me. A brand is not really something you control. Some will say it’s splitting hairs, but we don’t call it personal imaging, we call it personal branding.

Also, there is such thing as brand equity which has some convoluted valuation. But brand image does not have this same valuation.

Because there are smarter people out there than me here is a great post that I read a while ago that to me defines some of this:
http://ittybiz.com/brand-vs-image-what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-anyway/

On emotions I agree 100% with you the emotional triggers (or what I call mental markers). The emotions someone feels when they are exposed to you play a huge role. I hope I didn’t portray that I disagreed with you there.

On Tiger, I bet he comes back stronger than before though providing one thing. He comes back and dominates golf once again (what he built his brand/image on). Which to me I think he will. He has a huge ‘Why’ and I think it is smart for Nike to stay with him. Just imagine in a year, Tiger breaks all records, Tiger dominates (yes he will always have this mark) but what will happen with Tigers image? How about any product used and endorsed by him? I think they will be enhanced, hey we love a comeback. As Nike I have to ask myself will my leverage will be greater now or then? Plus well… he did just do it.

I have always enjoyed Portland… I grew up in the Seattle area, so I miss the Pacific Northwest, a chat would be awesome. oh and beer!
.-= Scott Scanlon´s last blog ..Uh Oh… My Social Network is Offline… and Why That’s a Good Thing =-.