13/03/2024
Is Personal Branding the Same as Marketing or Corporate Branding?
People are literally copying and pasting the concepts of marketing and corporate branding, mistaking them for personal branding, and selling themselves on social media everywhere. Everyone is busy marketing themselves; some people are doing it directly, and some are doing it indirectly. However, no matter how you're doing it, we can sense that you're trying to sell us something.
Personal Branding doesn’t work this way in this era. It might have been the way 7-10 years back, but not now. By doing this, you're not building your personal brand at all; in fact, you're devaluing yourself.
Neither Marketing nor Corporate Branding is Personal Branding; in fact, it is the opposite of what you think it is.
Personal Branding is about forming an emotional and irrational bond with people. "You become a brand when people prefer what you do; if not, you're just a commodity." A commodity can be easily replaced, while a brand is irreplaceable.
How to develop an emotional and irrational connection with people?
By being vulnerable and authentic.
Personal branding revolves around embracing vulnerability, authenticity, and unveiling aspects of yourself that you've kept hidden. It's about showcasing your imperfections, revealing your flaws and weaknesses, sharing your darkest moments, and recounting your struggles. It's about narrating your genuine journey, highlighting the lessons learned from hardships, disclosing your origins, and portraying the reality beyond the facade of success, beyond just material wealth.
When you do this, people connect with you, wanting to be part of your “TRIBE”. That's how you create a meaningful connection and deep bond with your audience. When many share the same positive feeling about you, that's when you truly become a brand.
We don’t want to buy, we wan’t to join tribes.
- Marty Neumeier
