Personal Branding: As Important As Having a Business Card or a Bio

The 60’s Rock Era group the Who, who have been brought back into current day with their hits that are being used on popular TV series, once said “Who are you… who who…. who who????” This song is being used on the popular TV show CSI. In that show they refer to the discovery of who the identity of that episodes dead person is and everything about Who they really are. In real life, that song is still relevant. Who are you… Who Who… Who Who??

That is what people are asking when they want to know more about you by using Google, Yahoo and other search engines. They somehow have received your name and need to know more about you. You might have been at a networking event or party and someone asked about what you do and you hand them a business card. What does that REALLY tell them about you and how good you are at what you do? Maybe your are a Yacht Captain, like myself or anyone in the Boating or Yachting Industry. Maybe you are a professional that has offered services to others. You could also be a politician or someone that has a point of view that you want to share with the world. You might be an up and coming artist, musician, singer, songwriter, author. You might be an expert in any field. You might want to become an Expert in your chosen field. You might be a family member that wants to share your life with others. You could be a celebrity or athlete. You may be one of thousands of types of people that want to be recognized as being someone that wants to share their knowledge.

You may also be a person that is busy and doesn’t have time to figure out this whole Social Media thing… How to Facebook, Tweet, Post, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc… and utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization), key words and generally get to the point that when someone searches your name you come up at the top of the list or your ability to broadcast out to everyone you know. Personal Identity and Personal Branding have become very important in this day of technology and information overload. Whether you like it or not, people who meet you want to know about you. They want to know what you do, are you who you say you are, what do you really know and are you the expert that they believe that you are. The answer is as simple or as difficult as you want to make it. The options are out there, depending on how much time you have and how much you want to spend. Time and Money. That’s all it takes.

When both of those are tight but you need to get your name on the web, you have to look at the needs and alternatives. What are the needs? The main need is Branding. Branding your name and yourself. Becoming the McDonalds, IBM, Robin Williams, Beatles, Eistein. The name that is known. The name that comes up when your name is searched. Your are your own Brand. Personal branding has become so important that the powers that be in the Internet world have created the.me extension. For example, instead of DebbieRussell.com, you would go to DebbieRussell.me. It is to the point that to make sure that children have their own name that parents are creating their URL’s (web address) when they are born using the.me extension.

I just had a friend who even before his son was born, bought his name. He has started posting his sons pictures on the site. Why is Personal Branding important in business? Lets say you are an Insurance Salesperson, Yacht Broker (Like myself), Marketing person, Accountant, Lawyer, Doctor, or anyone that has a service to offer that there are a large amount of other professionals trying to attract the same clients. What becomes the difference is that even though you are all offering the same service, you, as a personally branded person, can give them your link to learn more about you and why you are a head above the rest. What will they see? They will see articles, videos and other information about you that you have created to show them that you are an expert in your field.

People tend to believe more about a person when they see what you have written or presented rather than just what you have on your business card. We believe more about what we see in a documentary, on the news or a video than we do when just listening to someone.

So now you have decided that you need to Brand your name. Now what do you do with it? It is important to get your articles out there for those that you won’t meet face to face but are searching for answers to their questions which you have that answer.

There are services out there to help you with getting your name to the top of the search engines. To help you get your name and brand in front of people so that you can monetize your efforts. You may not have the time to do it all yourself so utilize the service that best meets your needs and pocketbook.

What if you are not the best article writer or don’t have the time to write articles yet you have the expertise you want to share. Be sure your system offers you an Article Generation system where you type in key words and the system goes out to the internet and finds articles that you can use in your own articles and just by acknowledging the original author and adding your own content, you add to your list. That part about acknowledging the original author is not only important but a legal point. You cannot use their content as your own. You can add comments and create a new article around theirs so you still show your expertise. At this point you need to become very involved in the Social Media world. The secret to your success here is to utilize technology to broadcast YOU out there. Find a system that automatically sends your comments and articles and videos to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and all the other social media outlets. Have a system that will help you set up your key words, those words that people type in when searching for information. Be sure that the system will utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to help you get to the top of the search engines.

You want to be the expert in your field, not in Social Media. Be sure that you utilize a service out there that gives you all this capability without taking you away from what you do best. Creating large amounts of content, having it disbursed over the internet automatically and communicating with those that show interest in You and your Expertise, you will find that you will be come more successful.