Web Presence: The Importance of Building Your Personal Brand

March 17, 2010 - By Dieter Schweiss

March 17, 2010 – Whether you’re a long-time resident of the virtual world, or a relative new-comer, one thing is certain:  you have a presence on the Internet.  The question is, “Does your virtual self accurately represent your real life self?”

Unlike that can of soda from the vending machine down the hall that you purchased for your lunch break, you are not a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market; however, your skills and knowledge are.  And just like there are multiple manufacturers of soda, there are plenty of people out there who have the same skills and knowledge that you do.

Branding

In the marketing world, manufacturers determine what makes their soda unique, and they build on that uniqueness to differentiate themselves from one another.  This is known as branding.  For example, what makes Pepsi different from Coke?  What do you think of when you hear the names Pepsi and Coke?  Do you prefer one over the other?  Why?  Is it due to the flavor?  What makes one product better than the other?  Often, the difference between one product and another is due to the strength of its brand–the characteristics of that product as perceived by the public.

Whether you are building it intentionally, or you haven’t been paying attention to it at all, you have a brand, too–a personal brand.  This is the perception that other people have of you, and you must constantly monitor your personal brand to make sure that people think what you want them to think about you.  If you were the brand manager for Coke or Pepsi, would you do your best to make everyone think that your product was the best, or would you do nothing?

Personal Branding

Before your start building your personal brand, you need to determine what it is that makes you unique.  What are your talents?  What are you really passionate about?  If you could do one thing that really makes you happy for a living, what would it be?  In a nutshell, who are you and why should somebody hire you?

The next step in building your personal brand is making sure that people notice you.  For example, you may be the best software programmer in the world, but if people aren’t aware of you and your amazing skills, are they going to hire you?  Several ways to build your reputation are to become an expert in your field, to share that knowledge by blogging, and to read and comment on other blogs in your field.  This all takes time, but it pays dividends when people begin to recognize you as someone worth listening to.  Another thing to do is become more social, both online and in real life.  Join groups in your area of expertise, contribute your time and knowledge, and network with the gurus in your field.

Equally important for your personal brand is safe-guarding your reputation.  Like it or not, more and more employers are looking at their prospective employee’s virtual footprints to see if they’ve been walking down paths best left untrodden.  People have a tendency to be more aware of their actions in the real world because that’s where you physically exist.  You’ve lived in it your whole life, so you know how to behave within polite society.  On the other hand, in the virtual world it is all too easy to behave less discreetly and to portray yourself as someone very different from the real you.  One wrong decision online can sink your virtual and real life reputations in one fell swoop.  Think carefully before posting anything online.  Does it fit with your personal brand?  Does it portray the real you?

A Cautionary Tale

If after all this, you’re still thinking that your personal brand isn’t that important, consider this:  Unless you have a unique name, there may be other people who share your name, or have a name similar enough to yours to confuse potential employers when they look for information about you online.  Not only do you have to watch out for what you say and do online, you have to make sure that no one confuses you for someone else.

For example, in the article Brand or BE Branded: Are You Willing to Risk It? by J.T. O’Donnell, the author tells of a young woman who had great skills, but who wasn’t having any luck landing a job.  This woman’s only online presence was a neglected Facebook profile that did nothing for her personal brand.  Even worse, a quick search of the woman’s name revealed another person with a similar name who had a not-safe-for-the-workplace blog.  This woman’s reputation was being inadvertently tarnished by someone she didn’t even know.

Remember:  If you don’t build your personal brand, someone else might build it for you.  Take control of your personal brand and live the life you were meant to live.

This is the first of what Geek Shui Living hopes will be many articles from:

Dieter Andrew Schweiss – An avid amateur blogger and social media enthusiast, Dieter has a lengthy resume that includes degrees in Chemical Engineering and German, data acquisition hardware & software support, travel to Japan, content management experience, a brief stint as a high school science teacher, and electronic medical record support. He splits his free time between his family, his computer (gaming and programming), and his love of all things geeky. You can follow him on Twitter via @QuietRumbling.

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