Personal Branding is Bullshit

Let me rephrase: “personal brand” is a made-up term for “person.”

A company needs a brand, an identity. A company is paperwork filed with the government. A logo, a slogan, a design style, an advertising or marketing campaign — these things help create a personality for the company.

Personal Branding This week at SES San Francisco, several of the folks who stopped by the Raven Internet Marketing Tools booth asked, “Why a Raven?” If all teams of people had literal-to-the-industry names, we would start getting excited about the Men Who Play With Pigskins instead of the Vikings or the Colts. So why not a Raven? Ravens are the smartest of birds (this company is intelligent). Ravens are unusually social (this company cares about people). Ravens look cool on a T-shirt (this company has cool T-shirts).

A person doesn’t need a brand. A person is a person whether or not there is paperwork filed with the government. A child doesn’t create a personality, she has one.

That’s why “personal branding” smacks of insincerity, in the gentle way that Volvo smacks crash-test dummies during vehicle safety tests.

A recent Fortune article asserted that “successful employees working at large companies desperately need to create a ‘brand within a brand,’ a professional passport that travels with them from place to place.” Really? If you want to travel between companies, you don’t need a personal brand, you need skills and character and friends.

Fortune‘s story later quoted organizational psychologist Lucia Erwin: “If someone wants to use their personal brand to move up in their company, then they need to ensure the values align.” Delete the “personal brand” jargon, and the message is still clear: “If someone wants to move up in their company, then they need to ensure the values align.” (Okay, clear-ish. I would have said, “If you want to move up in a company, make sure you value what the company values.”)

Anyway, the difference between Arienne Holland and Random Stranger is that Arienne Holland is Arienne Holland and Random Stranger is Random Stranger. When Arienne Holland and Random Stranger meet, they’ll form opinions based on first impressions. It doesn’t matter whether that happens on Twitter, at lunch or during a five-minute product demo at a conference. Over time, as the professional relationship develops, they get to know each other.

No personal brands necessary. Just the persons.

Personal Branding

Get to know me (the above-referenced Arienne Holland), Raven’s new communications director, at arienne@raventools.com or on Twitter: @RavenArienne.

Get results. Get paid. Get with Raven. Free 30-day trial.

Arienne Holland is the communications director at Raven Internet Marketing Tools. She divides her time between outreach, email marketing, writing and understanding developers. Before Raven, Arienne spent more than a decade as an editor and graphic designer for Gannett. She was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for team breaking news journalism. She likes bread, books and bourbon.

More about Arienne Holland | @RavenArienne

Tell us what you think

Tim Staines

I guess I look at the term “Personal Brand” a bit differently. To me, a personal brand is everything a person does to create a presence for, or increase exposure to his personality. All of those things (social media accounts, campaign signs, etc.) are put in place to highlight the personality.

I see your point, I just look at it a bit differently.
http://FragosTech.com George Fragos

What you say makes sense except when you’re a freelance. Then you are the brand and using a personal brand in that case is both appropriate and a sign of confidence. Who’d be so insecure that they had to pretend they were only an employee. I compete with large organizations based on my personal brand and the fact that I’m the one doing the work. What’s truly bullshit is demeaning freelances because they sell themselves instead of a company.
http://www.slmkt.com Nicolette Beard

Love a strong opinion. Couldn’t agree more. Back in the day, the question to ask was “What’s your company culture?” No one told me that “companies” lie. You really don’t know someone until you live with them (or in the business setting, spend time together.) And don’t get me started on “team player.”
http://tomaplomb.blogspot.com Tom

I agree with Tim. I think personal branding is about exposure and the opportunities that social media provide for an individual to create an authentic presence, separate from where he or she works. We used to be defined not only by what we did, but by where we did it – an IBM guy. Now, we have the tools to define ourselves as we wish.
http://webmarketing-coach.com Charles Herbert Brown

If you are an artist, you bring samples of your work to a meeting. If you are a designer or a photographer, you bring a portfolio.

A personal brand is simply examples of your work.

Try going back to mass mailing resumes to hundreds of possible (but unlikely) employers. Try going back to cold calling for business. Then you will see why a personal brand is so important. A personal brand causes the employer/client to initiate contact with you.

How is this done? Start a blog to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Focus on bringing solutions to the problems that vex your targeted employer or client. Demonstrate that you ARE a solution to these problems.

A personal brand is not fluff, not hype, not buzz words, not a slogan.

A personal brand is a way to demonstrate that you are a solution to someone’s problems, that you can bring about positive changes.

Charles Herbert Brown
http://www.mikehernalsteen.com Mike

It’s true, you guys do have cool t-shirts.

Nice post.
Arienne Holland

Tim, I see your point. But while some people *highlight* their personalities, some people *create* them for those platforms. That’s a strategy at least as old as the first election; personal branding is just today’s buzzword.
Arienne Holland

Tom, I understand your observation about being an individual separate from where you work. But help me understand something else. How can you “create an authentic presence” AND “define yourself as you wish”?
Tim Staines

And it’s branding either way. Do you think company brands are all just *highlighting* their corporate cultures and not *creating* the picture they want the public to remember them by? I don’t think you want to go there.

“Personal Branding” may be a buzz word, but what marketing term wasn’t at what point or another?
Jon Henshaw

A little over a week ago, we had an excellent post by Joe Hall about leveraging a personal brand. While personal brand may be a buzz word at the moment, I think it really just means recognition. Based on what Joe stated, you can gain recognition through guest blogging, shaking hands, exposure, access to the media, and links through affiliation. And to his point, you can get business or jobs through that. It’s smart self-marketing.

However, there’s a flip-side to that, and it really depends what your goals are, and the types of services you’re trying to do. Very few people have been able to truly leverage themselves as a personal brand. Off the top of my head, I can think of one person who has done it well – at least in our industry – and that would be Bruce Clay. He’s built a company around his name, and has done so successfully.

Personally, my preferred way of marketing myself, is through participation marketing. For me, participation marketing is not far off from what Joe was trying to say. However, it also respects the service brand over the personal brand, which I think is what Arienne was trying to communicate. There’s more power in a team of like-minded people who are unified behind a product or service, versus someone who is really only interested in marketing themselves, regardless of who their employer is.

There are also inherent risks in the idea of marketing your personal brand. Individuals are difficult to scale, and the more (personal) brand awareness a person gets, the more they become dehumanized. And as most people know, it becomes much easier to criticize and attack a person when they’ve become dehumanized – when they turn into an entity and brand, instead of a person.
http://www.mediastrut.com J Danielle

I think the problem is less that you have an issue with personal branding, but more that you take issue with the fact that a set of normal recommended professional behaviors has been given an annoying name.
Wil Reynolds

I couldn’t agree more with you on this one…I don’t have time to think about my personal brand, or to be honest my company’s brand. I just try to be really good at what i do, be good to people, and share what i know. If that has created some kind of personal brand, then great, either way I’m happy.
http://smallbiztrends.com Anita Campbell

You’ve sparked a really good debate, Arienne, but I agree more with Tim and Charles and J Danielle on this one. Seems to me you may be reacting to a buzzword that sounds less than authentic to your ears — and not so much the need to develop a recognizable reputation for what you stand for as a professional.

After all, that’s what a personal brand really is — a recognizable reputation about who you are, what you know, what you find interesting, and what you want others to remember about you.

But you also have reminded us of something very important: not to forget about being authentic … real … and not to get caught up in creating a false marketing image.

- Anita
Arienne Holland

Anita, I agree, reputation is a much better word. And I’m glad you caught the subtext: be who you are.
http://www.vunkyblog.net Vunky

I agree with Tim,

Especially with online Personal Branding it is all about letting people know what you stand for.

If you have to choose between two persons with the same sort of skills and pricing, you most likely end up with the one you think you know best. (who branded himself )
GT

I am sorry, I can not disagree with you more.
No matter what the title is, It is important to have yourself presentable for your potential employers. Sure we are not Pepsi or a bag of chips but they do not know you as a person just yet, they do not know your personality. Therefore their first impression is what they see online. That’s why having your “personal brand” ” reputation” is important. Nowadays employers are most likely to look you up on the internet first. If your personal brand isn’t looking good, forget about the interview and forget about them getting to know you and your personality. However if you have polished yourself, you will spark an interest and be on your way faster.
http://www.villanovau.com Kristen Riley

Great piece, wonderfully put.

Buzzword or not (from the discussion in the comments) it’s really about putting yourself out there – or at least the parts you want others to see. Still you’re not creating a new entity, just embellishing a bit.
Josefina Agüello

In my opinion, Instead of people really digging deep, opening up and living passionately, we’re moving ever-closer to the point where most individuals are expressing their personal brands in ways that make them look more like sterile and plastic TV news anchors than original thinkers. It’s not everyone… but there is an ever-growing group of those who come off as fake, insincere, and simply out for their own personal gain. In short, they seem and feel like plastic and taste like vanilla.

Josefina Argüello
http://www.themishpozish.com Rodney Mishler

Nicely written, but I somewhat disagree. In a competitive job market, businesses need to find the best candidates by the most efficient means. A personal brand, be it Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, a blog, or a combination of some sort, allows employers to learn more about a person before they meet. It might not work for every person or in every line of business. But if you are looking for a job and can adapt to the changing market, a personal brand can make ALL the difference. Face to face communication is still gold, but if they can’t find you in the first place, it doesn’t much matter. Granted, loads of people take this to the extreme and it definitely can come across as fake.
http://zaccus.com Zach Dexter

There’s who you are when no one is looking — that’s your character.

Then there’s who you are within your community — that’s your persona. AKA your personal brand.

Authenticity is important with any kind of branding, because you want customers to know exactly why they’re doing business with you. When you make promises you have to back them up. Branding based on inauthenticity or false promises is simply bad branding.

Your personality is always going to be bigger and more complex than your brand (as well as always in a state of invention and refinement, nothing wrong with that). Your brand is that part of your personality you want people to pay you for. It’s like the difference between a resume and a memoir. It’s not bullshit.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/internetmarketingnickstamoulis Nick Stamoulis

I must agree with Tim here too, the term personal branding, is a term that is used to describe how someone markets their personal brand (self) online.
http://allaboutfocus.com Patrick Allmond

Danielle hit it on the head with “I think the problem is less that you have an issue with personal branding, but more that you take issue with the fact that a set of normal recommended professional behaviors has been given an annoying name.”

I agree 100% with you. Whether it is “Social Media” “Reputation Management”, “Personal Branding” or any of many other terms that are out right now. They are rehashing and making cool things that people and companies should (and were) doing a long time ago.
http://fleshbook.com/ buy books

I can’ t but agree.I always wanted to write in my site something like that but I guess you’ r faster.