Focus on your expertise.
But make sure it’s based on your experience.
The concept of personal branding is sound, but I think the way some people practice it feels a little bit icky to some. And for good reason. Think about the typical ‘follow your dreams’ inspirational quote posting guru-wannabe on any of the popular social media channels out there. Or the dude flaunting his late-model testosterone-fueled roadster. And what about the ‘ten ways to MILLIONS’ beach house-owning twenty-something that got it all by following ‘these AMAZING hacks that’ll get you fat stacks of cash fast!’ The worst of all? The ‘fake it ’til you make it’ perms-smiler who is just ripping off other people’s ideas, and presenting them as their own.
Fact is, all of the above aren’t personal brands, they’re good ol’ American carnival barkers and snake oil salesmen. While some may attain some level of fame and name recognition, in reality, they are no better than ‘fly by night’ flim flam artists. They give personal branding a bad image and an even worse name.
How can you be sure you’ll never be one of them?
By being something they can never be: yourself.
There’s just so much repetitive and redundant conventional wisdom floating around social media that actually finding anything of value is like digging through a pile or dirt (or worse) looking for the occasional grain of gold. My social media feeds are full of the same people slinging so much of the same slush back and forth that when I do run across someone who has a well-considered opinion that’s backed by data, and reinforced by links to other smart people, I literally cherish the poster, and add them to my list of trusted and preferred human beings. They provided value. They came off as human. And they created a distinct image in my mind, earning a spot in my life.
Such people are rare and precious, prized and passed onto others that appreciate the finer thing online. These are the personal brands I’m writing about, and the personal brand I want you to discover, craft and communicate for yourself.
…and there’s much more to come.
BOOKWARD BOUND / Daily Build is just what it says: the writing I did today in order to get my book a little bit closer to its publication. Posted the next day, it is presented here exactly as written and complete with all the misspellings and grammatical errors you’d expect of a rough draft. Don’t worry, it’ll be edited later. The above was written during a livestream video of BOOKWARD BOUND that you can find on my YouTube BOOKWARD BOUND playlist any time you’d like. – DP Knudten
@2020 DP Knudten LLC – all rights reserved.
