A Personal Brand is...
A simple Web presence that tells the world who you are and why you are unique. It's not a Facebook or LinkedIn page.
A personal brand can help make you MORE resilient. It allows you to rise above your job, your employer, your profession, etc. It makes it possible for YOU to connect with people all over the world. It helps you find opportunity. It helps you do what you WANT to do (even if that doesn't include money). All of this means that personal brands are going to be very useful to YOU (particularly, as the economy as we knew it continues to implode). They can ease the transition to new opportunity.
Here's a great example. Patrick is a smart guy. Obviously not opposed to getting his hands dirty. Further, he has developed his skills and experience to a level that makes him very valuable to the emerging, resilient economy: he's very skilled at growing food you can eat. Unfortunately, Patrick doesn't have a personal brand. If you look for Patrick on Google, he's nearly impossible to find. In fact, the only place I can find him is on somebody else's site.
This is a problem for Patrick. Why? His online brand isn't helping him achieve his interests. It's not providing him with the connectivity he needs to do what he wants to do. It's not going to provide him with unique opportunities, some of which he doesn't even know exist.
Patrick's Brand
Let's put together some ideas for Patrick. Something that helps him achieve what he wants to do. First, what is Patrick interested in doing? He wants to:
- Find a resilient community North Carolina when he moves there next year.
- Start a seed cooperative.
Very simple and achievable goals. He can achieve these goals faster and with a higher degree of success by building a personal brand. Here are some suggestions for doing that:
- Start a site/blog that provides details on who you are and what you have done. Link to places/projects you have worked. Provide references on your work from former colleagues/bosses. Put up pictures that document the experience. Show the world that you are a) real and b) you have done stuff.
- Document your passions. That can either be in the form of a blog or a series of pages (most blog systems let you build stand-alone pages). Patrick has a passion for seeds.
- Tell the world what you are intersted in doing by posting it on the site. I want to do this. Ask people in the online network that forms around your site if they have any advice. They will help you.
Anyway, that's a small portion of what Patrick can do to become more personally resilient. More later.
As always, you can find me on Twitter for more discussion of this.