All About Me(TM)

On my flight back from Knoxville, Tennessee, I came across this article in the AA magazine. The title: Achieve Success by Building Your Personal Brand. You can read the full article here.

Stand Out

With so much white noise out there, it’s imperative you stay at the top of people's minds. Website posts, newsletters, Twitter updates, press releases, stories freely swapped with trade journals in exchange for a published link or a personal bio -- they all make effective self-promotions. While there’s a fine line between annoyance and assertiveness, one can’t afford to be coy. Remember: The greater your visibility, the likelier you’ll be clients’ first port of call.

This is something that has really captured my attention for some time now. Coke, Nike and the likes of Michael Jordan all have tremendous brand, but what's the big deal with "Me" as a brand? Last year, David Armano shared a lot of insight on this topic, especially as it relates to social media and marketing yourself as a brand.
The basic points made in the article and in David Armono's slideshare deck is that "You" as an individual can build market share with your personal brand.

Know what makes you special and unique, and tap into those qualities as you build your personal brand online. Most people can spot a fake when they see one, so remember that being genuine is more important that presenting yourself in an artificially glossy manner. It used to be important for bloggers to "find their voice" -- now it's relevant to all of us.

This is so true. As I follow Tweets or bloggers, I can instantly tell the voice, content and even the image/profile pic across various social tools from folks who have carried their brand across various platforms. I think it's important to have a consistent brand; I also think it's more than a logo or profile pic, but that's a great place to start. Some of my favorite "You brands" I follow include: David Armano, Jeremiah Owyang, Chris Parillo, Guy Kawasaki, Wes Fryer, Steve Dembo, Bud the Teacher, David Warlick, Will Richards, Lucy Gray, Miguel Guhlin and way too many others to name.
See also: "What would you pay for a name, by Steve Demo."

Here's my personal brand. As much as I'd prefer to change the pic, it's something that has just stuck and what it conveys to me is technology, marketing, education, social media, current, fun and all around good guy.