DISQUS

Chris Brogan: Some Quick Branding Tips for Individuals

  • Seth E · 2 years ago
    I had a t-shirt made on CafePress...which maybe wasn't a *great* idea. Seriously though, you're right everyone is a brand now. But funny that only about a decade ago the term "personal branding" would mean little to most of us. Before the age of social media, it was called a "handle"(really just an identifier). But now your presence gets magnified so quickly that just about all of us need a store-front and a message (which we stick to) just to communicate & participate effectively. Having a blog, podcast, etc is cool, but having them without Twitter, Fbook, etc. is like having a Fbook profile without a picture; people won't trust you or even believe you exist.
  • Jim Spencer · 2 years ago
    My daughter has her own domain name and my son will too, once I register it. Buying your name ( and kid's names) makes sense. The kids will thank us in a few short years. I mean it won't require decades before they see the value.

    Your article lays out the consistency of approach and clarity of purpose. These are both critical success.

    I also feel that we need to be wary of succumbing to a culture of celebrity worship. Even if your idea of celebrity is having 20 RSS feed readers or 20 people following you on Twitter or 2,000.

    The medium is not the message, is it?
  • Jane Quigley · 2 years ago
    This is a great post - and branding myself is something I've really been working on lately. I've been exploring Ning (thanks) as my digital "hub" and am really outlining what I'm ready - that's key - to build as my personal brand. As someone who was once stalked - it's not easy to get over hiding things and making who you are private. It's only in the last few months that I feel ready to stop hiding behind a persona because it adds no value to myself and my company.

    These are great things to keep in mind as I put together my strategy!
  • Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago
    Oh and don't let your name domain name expire (i.e. don't register your name as a domain and let it expire) cause some squatters will grab it.

    That happened to me for benyoskovitz.com.

    Gggrr...
  • David LaPlante · 2 years ago
    Great points! I especially agree with "Consider your Message"! If anything, Web 2.0 has highlighted how BORING and lot of really cool people are!

    As far as baby names...

    In 1999 I nervously did a nslookup to be sure that the name we were about to pick within the next few hours for our first son was available. It was. My wife thought I was a freak using a dial-up modem in the hospital room.

    In 2002 I did the same thing, yet on a Handspring Visor w/ a OmniSky! She didn't notice.

    Both my boys have their own vanity domains, and I've gone on to snipe their gmail, yahoo, etc. AmI nuts!?

    My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I'm pretty sure my kids one day will think their Daddy was dope on that move.
  • Yianni · 2 years ago
    This is some great advice. When I first started working with social media I went around buying everything I could think of that was associated with my name and "social media guy". I was able to secure gmail accounts, domain names, social networks, and blogs. Unfortunately i couldn't get Twitter and MyBlogLog. MyBlogLog belongs to a crayon guy so i'm not even going to try that one but the Twitter person is completely inactive. He hasn't made one post! How can I get it?