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Build your personal brand (or at least win a free book trying)
NOTE: Instructions on how to win a free copy of the book mentioned in this blog post can be found near the end of the post.
I talk a lot on my blog about social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube but I never really get into how people can use these sites to effectively build a personal brand.
What is a personal brand, you ask? Well, the short answer is it is defining who you are as a person to the rest of the world. It’s the kind of thing that makes someone immediately think of you at the exact right moment for the exact right opportunity.
Sounds easy to do but it isn’t. Thankfully, a couple of close friends of mine, Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy, have poured hundreds of hours into the idea which resulted in a book titled Branding Yourself, How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself.
If you’ve ever wondered why people use social media and what possible good could come of it, you need this book. The book is littered with examples of how people used social media to create new opportunities (think jobs, speaking opportunities, book authoring and more) for themselves. And the neat thing is they don’t stop with just social media. They also cover “social” topics like how to blog on your website or how to get out and network face-to-face.
They’re also a couple of funny guys
All the great information and insight aside, my truly favorite part of Branding Yourself is the witty banter that Erik and Kyle spread throughout the chapters. Like this little side-note when talking about uploading a professional profile photo:
@edeckers: Ooh, I hate the “standing on the beach” photos. Not only are they too small, they’re backlit, and I can’t see who they are.
@kyleplacy: What about the photo of people standing in the mountains?
@edeckers: Those too. They try to show the entire mountainscape, but the person is the size of a gnat in the photo.
Win a copy of Branding Yourself
So there are two ways you can get yourself a copy of Branding Yourself. The first is to go out and buy a copy (highly recommended if you never win anything or just can’t wait). The second is to win a copy from me.
That’s right, I have one brand-new copy of the book that I am giving away to one lucky reader of this blog post. To try your luck at winning it, all you need to do is follow the simple instructions below:
TO ENTER, LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
- What personal brand are you trying to create for yourself?
- What opportunities are you looking for?
- How do you think the book Branding Yourself will help you achieve your goal?
All comments must be received by 11:59 pm EST on Tuesday, Feb. 12th. After that time, I will hand-select my favorite entry and send the lucky winner a copy of the book.
Good luck!
Pleased seeing mention of Erik and Kyle’s book…they along with you and Douglas Karr are people I have found both informative and quite knowledgable of many usable topics for us less skilled than you.
Even more interesting to me is your poll regarding Windows 8.
Interestingly is seeing 5 possible answers and the results being almost an even 20% for each!
And, yes, I am in that marginally prevailing group of “if I buy a new computer and i comes with Windows 8 I’ll give it a try.” I am one who tired long ago of Microsoft and many others throwing “new and improved” products that only marginally improve anything most of the time. It’s like seeing a commercial for a new vehicle that is “totally redeigned etc.”…so doesn’t that make those who plunked down $40,000 for the previous year’s model fell like their vehicle somehow became obsolete in just one year’s time???
Sorry Microsoft but I am just fine with my Windows 7 Professional…like the proverbial old pair of house slippers.
The personal brand I have tried to create for myself and my site is one of quality for a fair price. When the economy began to tank for many people, I lowered my low fee to a lower fee. Yet, the folks who work on my site are not as busy as those who charge more. This could be a marketing issue instead of a branding issue.
The opportunities are abundant and I’m looking for opportunities that benefit my site and the folks who log on to my site for psychic readings or spiritual healings.
I believe the book ‘Branding Yourself’ may help me achieve my product awareness goal, which will then allow the psychics who log onto my site, to do what they do best, from home and pay their bills. Any tip that you book may offer that I have not tried yet might be the opportunity that puts my website on the map and therefore a lot of folks to benefit.
Personal Branding is a new concept for me and sounds exciting.
The personal brand I need to create is that of “End Poverty Through Systemic Change”.
I want opportunities to bring others on board with this idea and to enlist allies in this adventure.
This book can help me to understand how to build and use a personal brand.
Congratulations Rosa! I have selected your comment as my favorite. Your copy of Branding Yourself is on its way.
I am so excited!!! Thank you!
Be Blessed in Wealth and Health,
Rosa Pearl
Patric,
This weekend I will begin reading BRANDING YOURSELF. After looking at the index, I know this will be extremely helpful to me. While your blog is more techy than I consider myself, I am very thankful that Psychic Kimberly Ann recommended it to me.
Thank you for pulling together the techy information for us non-techies.
Be Blessed in Wealth and Health,
Rosa Pearl
Rosa, thank you for your nice words. Enjoy the book!