Personal Branding is Not a Fad, and Why You Need to Read This Book

Tom Peters first wrote about The Brand Called You in a 1997 issue of Fast Company. Slowly but surely, in the 12 years since, Personal Branding has gone mainstream. Nearly everyone in the social media/web 2.0 world is aware that what we do, both online and off, defines our personal brands. College students get it too. At a University of Wisconsin panel last week, we polled the audience and more than 75% people had heard of personal branding.

Despite this, many college students and young professionals aren't exactly sure how to effectively build a brand. Lucky for them, my buddy Dan Schawbel's new book, "Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand To Achieve Career Success" will teach you exactly how to do it. Anyone who wants to give themselves the best chance to succeed in this new, hyper-connected world, needs to check it out.

If you're still not convinced, here are a couple reasons why I know that personal branding is not a fad, and why you should buy Dan's book, or at least read his blog

Everyone's an entrepreneur
The average stay at a job for Generation Y is about 18 months. Job hopping is the norm these days, and even the recession isn't going to change this fact. So, if you're changing jobs every couple of years, you need to think of yourself like an entrepreneur. Reid Hoffman, the CEO of Linkedin says, "Every individual is now an entrepreneur, whether they recognize it or not. Because it used to be that you got a job at one company and you were there 20, 30, 40, years. That's been dead for decades. That's even dying in Japan. The salary man no longer even exists in Japan."

Entrepreneurs start companies, and the smart ones spend a lot of time branding those companies and branding themselves. If every individual is an entrepreneur then it makes sense that you start managing your personal brand too.

Google is Branding You Right Now
It's true. You have a personal brand and someone can find it on Google. If it takes hours of searching to find some information about you online, then you're probably doing a poor job of creating your personal brand. If the first thing someone finds is your Facebook page with pictures of you beer bonging in college, then you're doing a poor job of managing your personal brand. Regardless, Google is branding you as a party animal, or a music lover, or a blogger or completely out of touch. First impressions are important, and increasingly first impressions are happening on Google. You may as well make a good one.

Personal branding lets you learn about you
I have to admit, when I first heard the term personal branding, I thought it was kind of lame. But as I've progressed in my career and in my life, I see the importance of defining who I am to the world and more importantly, I see the importance in defining who I am to me. Entrepreneurs deal with this all the time. I often find myself in meeting asking the question, "What is Brazen Careerist? What are our values? What's our mission?" When you figure out those questions, you can accurately define your company's brand. Well, it seems pretty important to ask the same questions of an individual. What do you stand for? What are your goals? Where do you want to end up in life?

Creating a personal brand allows you to look at where you are right now, and think about where you want to be and then you get to project that self knowledge to the world. That's pretty powerful stuff.

So, what are you waiting for? Buy the book. Build your brand.

Why You Can't Afford to Ignore Your Audience

Brazen is officially one-year-old this month. We actually launched the site on March 1, 2008, so I'm a couple of weeks late with this announcement, but better late than never.

If you were with us the first day we launched you'll remember the photo on the front page was of a woman in a tank-top shirt showing her stomach and flashing a handful of $100 bills for everyone to see.

It was obnoxious, a little risqué, and quite frankly, a poor representation of our brand. We really figured this out about a month after we launched. Ryan Paugh and I were driving down the road in Madison and we saw a billboard. As we crept closer, we couldn't believe our eyes, the woman from the homepage was on the billboard, staring us in the face, flashing $100 bills and telling us to go to Ho-Chunk casino!

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Brazen Careerist and Ho-Chunk casino should not be using the same stock photos. And in this case, Ho-Chunk got it right. We made a branding mistake. But that's cool; we've made a ton of mistakes in the past 18 months. Luckily, we've learned from every mistake we've made, and I'd like to think we're a better company, and better community because of it.

Now we're taking a step back and trying to figure out what to do next at Brazen. We have a million ideas. In fact, our tiny development team could probably spend the next two years building the ideas we've already thrown around. But we want to make sure that the next thing we do really benefits the community.

So we're asking for feedback from Brazen Careerist members, readers or potential members who are just waiting for us to do something really cool before they join. If there was one feature or addition that you would like to see on Brazen Careerist, what would it be? Feel free to leave a suggestion below, or join the conversation on the official Team Brazen blog where I lay out a couple of our ideas.

The biggest lesson we've learned at Brazen and a lesson that can be applied to every company is that the audience is ALWAYS right. The people you are trying to reach ultimately decide what is appropriate for your brand and what isn't.

For example, if you're a recruiter trying to fill an entry level position, it doesn't matter how cool you think your company is, or how lucky you think someone would be if they get the job that you are trying to fill, you really have no idea what recruits will think until you ask.

In this case, I would ask your newest employees. Find out what attracted them to the company and what things you should highlight when you're branding your company as a great place to work. Then try a few things out and determine which are the most successful. After a few interviews, you can even ask the recruits directly what attracted them to the company.

Even if you don't get the response you're looking for, when you ask your audience exactly what they want and you listen to them, you won't have to guess about what may work and what may not.

A surefire way to be successful is to have an army of people who find your company, product or service useful AND truly believe in what you are doing. But for people to care about what you're doing, you first have to care about what they want.

From here on out, we'll be asking for as much input as possible from our community before starting a new project. I would highly recommend your company do the same.

(And don't forget to leave us some feedback here or on the Brazen blog!)

I'll be Working on Vacation – What's Your Idea of Work/Life Balance?

My father turned 60 last month. The plan was always to bring him to Ireland for his 60th birthday. Unfortunately, the recession hit and I'm a little short on cash, so we're scrapping the plan until his 61st, and going on a short family vacation to West Palm Beach.

It's been a long time since I went on a real vacation. Since starting Brazen Careerist, I haven't really taken any time off. Work is always on my mind, and I've found some way to work every single day for the past 18 months. In a lot of ways it doesn't seem right to drop everything and take a real vacation. We just took in some funding, we're gaining new users and readers faster than ever, and I'm full of ideas for where the site should go in the next six to twelve months. The truth is, shutting off for four days doesn't even sound like fun.

So, Ive decided that I will be working on vacation. I won't be sitting in front of a computer all day, but I will be running new ideas past my brother and Rebecca. I'll be discussing our latest financing round and other issues with my parents. And I'll probably put together a PowerPoint presentation for our March board meeting on the plane and at the airports.

I have allowed work to completely, totally, consume my life, and I couldn't be happier. After years of discussing what work life balance really means I've realized that to me, at this point in time, working on vacation is my perfect work/life balance.

What's yours?

For more thoughts on working on vacation, check out the post I wrote from Napa Valley, California (my last real vacation)

When Working on Vacation Isn't Really Work

10 More Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workplace

Last May, I wrote a post titled 10 Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workplace. It received a lot of attention and more importantly a lot of conversation. The gist of the post was not to say that Generation Y is great and we will make everything better. Rather, it was a testament to what I witnessed during trips to different companies and what I heard from my peers in the workforce.

Nine months later, the economy has collapsed and the workplace is changing before our eyes. This next year or two will be a defining time for our generation, and I believe it will shape our world view and work view in many ways. Based on this, I've come up with 10 more ways Generation Y will change the workplace. Hopefully it will strike up just as much conversation and maybe even some action, so things can start changing for the better.

1. We'll reduce executive compensation for underperforming companies
It's already happening. Obama put a $500,000 cap on executive pay at the banks that were bailed out. In 2007, the average CEO salary at the largest companies was more than $11 Million. It's hard to justify paying anyone that much. In some cases, these executives probably do provide more $11 million in value to their respective companies. And when that happens, they should be compensated for it. But having a CEO expect $11 million regardless of performance is just bad business. The Obama administration is setting the precedent, and as Gen Y takes power we will follow through and reduce executive compensation for underperforming companies.

2. Discussing salaries will be completely normal
Transparency is king. You hear it everywhere these days. Social media is forcing companies to open up their doors and show the world what's really going on. Obama has promised budget transparency to the American public. And the vast majority of the world's under-30 population are living their entire lives online. Transparency is no longer an option. Websites like Glassdoor and Payscale let you compare your salary with others in the industry. My company, Brazen Careerist practices complete transparency. Even financial gurus like Suzie Orman say it's great for business. As Gen Y continues to work our way up the ladder, it will just be a matter of time before companies of all sizes have transparent salaries.

3. Employees will be more loyal than ever before
Transparency does not just mean that everyone knows what everyone else in a company makes. It means that the company must educate their employees on everything that is going on. When Pepsi was ready to release their new "Gen Y Friendly" logo to the world, they wanted to make sure that their employees weren't surprised when they found it in the grocery store. So they invited their staff to a party and introduced the product. The employees were excited and they felt like the company actually cared about them. When employees feel like they matter and the company thinks about them first, they feel a sense of pride and true loyalty to a company. Expect to see this trend continue as Gen Y comes of age.

4. There will be less mass layoffs, but more pay cuts
When someone feels a true sense of pride and loyalty to their company, they're more likely to figure out a way for everyone to pull through when times are tough. We watched our parents and our friend's parents being laid off when we were young and we're going through it now. We know the hardship that comes with it. Don't be surprised to see across-the-board pay-cuts instead of mass layoffs when times get tough. Start ups do it all the time – my company did it without thinking twice. And it's already happening at large corporations; HP just instituted a 5% or more across-the-board pay-cut rather than laying off hundreds. When you're part of a team, you want that team to succeed, and you'll do what's necessary to survive. And as we all know, Generation Y is the ultimate team player generation.

5. We'll truly get over the "punch clock" mentality
It's easy to say you have a progressive workplace and that you don't care what hours people are actually working at the office or what they do outside of work. But the truth is, companies care and people care. At the typical company, everyone notices what time someone leaves the office and what time people get in. We're still stuck in a workplace that was designed around producing widgets on an assembly line. As life moves more and more online, and new technologies are invented that allow traditional offices to be truly optional, the punch clock mentality will slowly disappear. By the time Gen Y is ready to retire, people won't even know what a punch clock is, and maybe then we will finally be working in the environment that knowledge workers are meant to work in.

6. Independent contractors will become part of the team
Nearly every company hires independent contractors to work for them. Contractors are great. They don't require health insurance and you don't have to pay the extra taxes. But they're often treated very differently than traditional employees. As more people develop skills that allow them to be effective independent contractors, and some form of universal healthcare is finally adopted, companies will begin to think of their contractors as their employees. When Brazen had a big budget, we worked with a ton of contractors. When people asked how many employees we had, I would always mention that our team felt much larger because of all the freelancers. As the number of independent contractors increases, they will become a vital part of the team.

7. Corporate branding will work in conjunction with personal branding
Companies spend a lot of money on branding. They throw huge budgets at PR firms and superbowl ads. It usually results in a ton of brand recognition. But brand recognition is no longer enough. Consumers want transparency, conversation and experience. Generation Y doesn't want a company to talk AT us, we want to talk WITH a company. The only way for a company to talk with a person is to give employees the freedom to interact. It's already happening as people like Sharpie Susan are branding themselves as social media players and helping their companies in the process. Who knows exactly how this will play out, but as Gen Y invents new technologies and new marketing strategies, corporate branding will never look the same.

8. Leadership will be a team effort
Jack Welch was a larger than life CEO. Everyone knew who he was and his personal brand may have been just as big as GE's brand. In Good to Great, Jim Collins determined that dominant CEOs like Jack Welch actually have a lower than average ROI during their tenure. This is because CEOs need to be respected and admired by their employees, and they need to be selfless and always thinking about the organization. As a team-oriented group, Generation Y will not stand by and watch one person insert his will on the company. We will figure out a new form of leadership, where one person is the decision maker, but leading is a team effort. With all the new social technologies, there will always be a place for people with huge personal brands and huge personal egos. They will make a lot of money and still be well-known, but they won't be the ones running large organizations.

9. We will really know people before we hire them
I can't tell you exactly how they will look, but sooner than later, resumes will be extremely different. It's not because a hard copy piece of paper is outdated, it's because people are becoming more and more complex. Resumes were created when people went to school, graduated, got a job and maybe another job. But today people blog, job-hop and have multiple hobbies outside of work. We live our lives online. It's too limiting to judge someone based on one sheet of paper. Social technologies give employers a window into people's souls. As Gen Y become responsible for hiring decisions, you can bet we will know almost everything we possibly can about someone before we give them an offer.

10. Entry level employees will be students and teachers
In the old days, entry-level employees had to pay dues before they moved up. This makes sense, it's impossible to know how a job or an industry works when you've never been there before. Young people had everything to learn and nothing to teach. Things are different now. For the first time in history, the youngest people in the workplace have the most knowledge about a very important topic – technology. And get this; we want to teach our bosses and managers how to use these technologies. This trend will continue. Young people will stay on top of the newest useful technologies. As Gen Y grows up, cross-mentor programs will be instituted. Old will teach young and young will teach old. Sounds like a great environment to me.

We Launched the Team Brazen Blog Today

Be sure to check out the official Team Brazen Careerist blog, we just launched it today. Here's a quick taste of what the blog will be all about.

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally launched the official Team Brazen Blog. After a year of telling companies how important it is for them to blog, we figured we would drink the Kool-aid and start one too.

Most of the team has a unique online identity. And as Dan Schawbel would tell you, that's great for personal branding. But we also need a collective voice from the company. People want to know what's new at Brazen headquarters, where we're headed in the future and why we're doing what we're doing. So this will be the place to find all the latest Brazen gossip.

At Brazen, everyone has a unique job (in most cases, multiple jobs) and a unique personality.

Ryan Paugh, our Community Manager/Editor/Fill in Designer, loves talking to people. In fact, Ryan genuinely wants to be friends with every single person on our network. I often wonder how he'll do this when we have a million users, but I wouldn't be surprised if he finds a way. Ryan is determined to showcase as many community members as humanly possible through his community member Q&A's. I'm sure he'll also write about life as an online Community Manager – the coolest new job around……

Read the rest at the official Team Brazen Blog