Personal Branding: The Power of You

In 2001 when I was 29, young and foolish, I co-authored a 500-page book published by McGraw-Hill called “M-Commerce Security” along with Kapil Raina, who at the time was a leading security expert at Verisign. Post publication, I was invited by leading universities and companies nationwide to lecture, participate in discussions and share my knowledge. I had a great time and felt alive sharing my ideas. The book was discussed in college classrooms worldwide. I felt I was making a difference. I wish I had continued to remain foolish. As time passed, I became more and more passive, focusing on my career and started consuming canned content like everybody else reading copious amounts of leading publications online. With time, I realized how exhausted I had become from all the specious content that had consumed my life. Now I just do not know what is real online and what isn’t, so I have started to consume more content that reaches me directly from the writer without having to go through a traditional publishing editorial filter. I have also started to write and get back to communicating my thoughts in the form of blogs and articles.  

It wasn’t too long ago that everyday people built their reputation on respect, wisdom and fairness, by good old fashioned hard work, sweat and experience. Celebrity is grossly overstated in this new digital world. People with no real talent other than some odd fascination from consumers that keep retweeting their tweets, have ended up with large numbers of followers and a false sense of vanity. I call it fake celebrity and social media has helped amplify this deception.

In the modern world of Internet and smartphones, the need for personal branding that is authentic has never been greater. Thankfully, this latest trend is more than just another axiom. Personal branding done right can give an individual or small business the power to defeat a large corporation in a modern David vs. Goliath story. Personal branding is essentially about you and your personality, bringing a unique and authentic voice to this world. Large corporations are getting caught up in red tape and are slow to move forward. Replying to a simple tweet has become a major task and questions such as “Does this meet the new social media policy requirement?” have become the norm. Individuals and SMBs that are not restrained by these shackles are changing the digital landscape and leaving the more established companies at bay. Although ad agencies and PR firms are busy trying to shore up the brand equity of their client companies, it is individuals and people-run-SMBs that the masses are relating to in this new online world.

Reports that technology separates rather than unites us are significantly inflated and camouflage the real truth that audiences are buying into people rather than brands. For instance, Virgin as of July 27, 2015 has 198,000 followers on Twitter while Richard Branson has 6.24 million. This is a perfect example that illustrates how it is the person and personality that resonates with people than the brand.

In many ways, it feels like we have become our own PR managers who manage our online image to ensure it sends out the right message about us. The resulting image is usually an ideal diluted version of how we would like to be perceived since pretending to be something you are not is the worst mistake one could make.

Thankfully, the days of judging a person’s online influence from a number next to their profile is increasingly becoming irrelevant. Technology is helping the online community create digital tribes where people with similar interests also share experiences and learn from each other.

Hundreds of years ago tribes would migrate to different parts of the world and communities would evolve. It's fascinating to see how we have come full circle as a human race and how technology is enabling the same tribal behavior of our ancestors to break down barriers and build alliances through networks all over the world.

Our worldview has been built around what traditional media has presented to us since our childhood. However, we are now beginning to communicate and work with people from all over the world that challenges our thought process and begins to question stereotypes as we evolve through our own personal experience and understanding. We also do not need to be passively consuming all the re-tweeted and ricocheted commentary on social media from what it deems to be “popular” personalities amplified by social echo-mongers.

There is new hunger for original authentic content, a thirst for learning from those around us who may not be major celebrities or social media butterflies but whose lives make a difference and help change the world one day at a time. The collective total of such everyday people and their stories is what new media and journalism is about. Be authentic is what I say and do not make the mistake of creating a personal brand that is completely unrealistic or fake. As we mature, our interests and values will change as experiences shape us on this journey called life.

Both businesses and people need to stop being concerned about perceived self-image and celebrate how unique each and every one of us is and the value we bring by simply being ourselves. Content creators who are blogging, podcasting or even writing articles are all enjoying fantastic success by simply being themselves.

The big question is when are you going to start?

Anurag Harsh [other articles] is a founding exec of Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: JCOM), the world's largest tech & gaming digital corp. He graduated (MBA/MS) from Wharton & MIT, has performed two sold out solo concerts at Carnegie Hall and co-authored the McGraw-Hill bestseller “M-Commerce Security”. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter @anuragharsh