Schedule Change: We have moved this program to from Jan 30 to Friday, February 6 at 1:00 PM Central US, Social Media Throwdown will debut. It is a live audio program with an entertaining look at a single issue that has clear lines of division among social media thought leaders. Hosted by Albert Maruggi, the first episode will feature Geoff Livingston and Hajj Flemings. The topic, is there really a personal brand? Or is this just your reputation? We have two articulate social media leaders on opposite sides of the issue. Hajj Flemings, author of The Brand YU Life, is an advocate and leading personal brand consultant. His perspective is personal branding impacts every aspect of your life and requires on-line and offline management to be relevant.
Geoff Livingston comes at it from a more business approach, he is the author of Now is Gone, one of the most popular books on social media for business. His belief is a personal brand is easier said than done. More than likely people are using the term personal brand for a better way to market yourself for your next gig.
We’ll push the discussion on issues concerning a personal brand when working at a company. Can a personal brand be changed from one year to the next, and if so is that more about product brand. So do you have a personal brand? Do you need one?
Join us, Friday, February 6 at 1:00 pm Central Time US for Livingston and Flemings – The Personal Brand, on Social Media Throwdown. The live broadcast will be on Blog Talk Radio – get the URL to submit chat online The call in number is (646) 716-4882. We moved the date so Hajj can attend to the passing of a family member. We share our condolences and appreciate him joining us on Feb 6.
PS – I promised Geoff I’d make sure David Alston got the photo credit for his image, although I did crop it significantly.
Awesome first face-off for the throwdown. I will tune in!
Thanks Liz, call in too we’ll make sure to get you in the mix. I look at this as a chance to sharpen the issues and the reasons for or against a certain strategy.
A lot of effort goes into personal branding and I believe there is enough skepticism around the topic to have a lively conversation.
For or against, doesn’t matter just as long as you are there, I’ll look for you.
Looking forward to it. The personal brand does exist, but only for a few people. You don’t have a personal brand unless people want to smell like you. That is, a fragrance could be designed and marketed in your name. Briney, Tiger, Ringo by Ringo Starr…
Jeremy
Well, first thanks for the comment
second, I definitely what to meet the person that wants to smell like me(on second thought maybe I don’t)
third, a brand is a funny thing because its almost like something that you have whether you like it or not. For example, a national brand coffee shop Caribou opened across the street from an independent coffee shop in my neighborhood.
As I stood on that corner one day it dawned on me that in many respects the brand of the independent store was everything the other store wasn’t.
I felt like making a sign for the Indy store that said, Come here ’cause we are not them ——–>
look forward to hearing from you tomorow on the show.
All the best
Albert
Based on the couple of comments already logged, this should be an interesting show. If I may toss in my own pre-event two cents: Replace the word “brand” with “reputation” and it becomes obvious that everyone, whether they like it or not, has a personal brand. Furthermore, one’s personal brand/reputation is decided not by the individual, but by those who have firsthand experience with the individual.
I’m looking forward to the show.
I agree Albert. Branding is powerful even if you don’t think you are building one you are. The lack of focus on building your brand interestingly feeds into the building of your brand and it can be either negative or positive.
One thing is clear, your brand is not who you think you are. It is who they (those you work with and live with) say you are. I have learned the hard way that if I don’t focus on building my own brand and clearly articulate my value to others then someone else will do it for me and perhaps pigeon hole me with a label I don’t like.
Albert I’m not able to listen in at 1 pm today but I will listen to your BlogTalk recording later. I am looking forward to it.
Thanks for commenting Mark, looking forward to you listening at least, call in if you can (646) 716-4882.
I think you hit the frustrating part of the issue, isn’t your actions a reputation and regardless of what you say you are (brand) that’s what the perception is. Conversely, one can say, hey, if I establish a foundation, and expectation of what I am, then I can shape my reputation.
I think it is part of the issue.
Lethia touches on this in her comment as well, you essentially have a brand whether you do anything or not. I suspect if you do nothing you have a Do Nothing brand, but that’s a story for another time.
The issue is with the increase in Web 2.0 participation, from blogs, to LinkedIn, to Twitter and the increase in unemployment and job insecurity, more people believe they need to tell the world who they are and what they want. It’s almost a survival thing.
On the other hand the question is if I am a company, do I want my employees crafting their personal brand on either 1) company time or 2) company information.
And that’s why this is a great issue for Social Media Throwdown (read this last sentence with echo effect and deep radio voice)