The Inauthentic Potential of Personal Branding

October 19, 2009 by Ben Yoskovitz 29 Comments

finger pointing

I’m a fervent believer in the value of cultivating and promoting one’s personal brand. I’ve put a fair amount of thought and effort into my own personal brand and reaped considerable benefits. If you want to advance your career in some way (whether it’s move up the proverbial ladder, get a new job, break away and go freelance, change careers, etc.) you should be investing in the cultivation and promotion of your personal brand as well.

But not everyone gets it. And as such, there are risks.

The main risk is that it (both your personal brand and your efforts at promoting it) is seen as inauthentic.

This is critical to understand. Your personal brand can’t be a fabrication. You’re not attempting to develop a false persona for yourself, even if the Internet gives you the ability to do so from behind a computer screen.

Here are 4 things to remember:

You can be brazen. The Internet does afford you the opportunity to be bolder and braver; a lot of people have developed online personalities that are much more adventurous and outgoing than how they act in-person.
But don’t lie. Lying to people and to yourself will never work. You might be stretching boundaries online, but if your in-person efforts and reality don’t closely mirror how you project yourself online, you won’t find the same level of real success. You’ll come off as inauthentic.
Marketing is OK. Marketing isn’t a dirty word. Marketing yourself is OK. In fact, I recommend it. But a lot of people do consider “marketing” to be a dirty word; they think about irritating commercials online, or advertising that interrupts their day. They think “fake”. All the more reason your personal branding efforts need to be authentic and real.
You don’t have to make excuses. If you want something, go get it. That’s pretty much how things work. So you shouldn’t feel bad or ashamed for trying to move forward and succeed.
Personal branding isn’t cheesy. I’ll admit that when I say “personal brand” out loud a few times in a conversation it does sound a bit cheesy, but the principles behind developing and cultivating your brand do work. So get past the cheesiness of it.

Recently someone asked me, “Isn’t your personal brand just your reputation? And personal brand is just a new, silly buzzword?”

Not quite. I see your personal brand as an extension of your reputation. And I see you having more influence over your personal brand than over your reputation, in terms of how you promote and cultivate it.

But remember, there is potential to come across as inauthentic, and that can do serious damage.

For some great lessons and information on personal branding check out the book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success by Dan Schawbel.

photo from a2gemma

Mohammed Al-Taee

Hi Ben,

What a coincidence? I just tweet: “The most exhausting thing you can do is to be inauthentic. ” Anne Lindberg

I think personal brand = Being YOU + Reputation (Online + Offline) + Actions

heeem, may be reputation is an extension of your personal brand not the opposite, what you say?

Great Post!
mattstone1916

Nice post!

Authenticity is actually the lazy person's way of doing business…. you don't have to worry about always covering your a…..
Jessica

What I find disconcerting about the term “personal brand” is that it suggests that we, as people, should portray ourselves as products and think primarily in terms of whether we are marketable or not.

It seems that a lot of “personal brand” advice recommends behaviour that would otherwise be defined as being a “decent human being”. Things like returning people's phone calls/emails, or listening to what others want and following up on it.

I would guess that a lot of the personal branding gurus out there are so busy trying to land speaking gigs and book deals that they don't come close to practising what they preach.

The term “personal brand” attaches a business/profit motivation to being a decent human being. Whereas being a decent human being may offer no public recognition. It just is what it is.
Benjamin Yoskovitz

Jessica – Thank you for the comment.

This reminds me of the saying, “Common sense isn't all that common…”

I don't think of a personal brand as a reflecting of being a “decent human being” although there could be some relationship. But I've also seen people deliberately promote and cultivate a personal brand that's antagonistic, opinionated and unfriendly. So they don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.

I think the term “personal brand” attaches a business/profit motivation to your own success. If you're not striving for increased career success (as I defined above – getting a new job, moving up the ladder, starting something new, etc.) then a focus on your personal brand will have less relevance. And that's OK – not everyone is striving for those things.

Also think of your personal brand as how you position your expertise (which has nothing to do with being a good person). What do you know that's valuable to others? How can you expand on that / promote that / provide that to others? How can you be recognized clearly for your talents, skills and accomplishments?
Benjamin Yoskovitz

As an aside, I just read this: http://www.terrystarbucker.com/2009/10/18/all-g…

It's an interview with Brian Clark from Copyblogger and the first bit is about “nice people who try and please everyone” … tied to personal branding.
Dan Schawbel

Ben, thanks for the shout out and good angle on personal branding.
Benjamin Yoskovitz

Dan – Thanks for stopping by. I'm certainly not the first to say “it's important to be authentic” but some things bear repeating. And I do think as people push the envelope of personal branding, the potential for coming off as inauthentic increases.
miriamsalpeter

Ben – Thanks for the ping! I agree that “personal branding” is easily misrepresented. I like to think of it as an opportunity, that, if seized, can really propel the talented person ahead of the crowd! Getting past the cheesy is key!
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life coach

Good Post!! In the past few years personal branding has been discussed exhaustively throughout the Net. The difference between today and over ten years ago when it was first mentioned by Tom Peters, is the rise of social technologies that have made branding not only more personal, but within reach.
Benjamin Yoskovitz

Agreed, it is an opportunity, but not one everyone is ready or interested in taking. And that's fine. But I do think people need to get over the impression that personal branding is cheesy, over done, or inappropriate. There's no harm in marketing yourself, just like there's no harm in a business marketing itself, if done correctly.
M.Bamieh

I can't remember the TED talk but it was a wine entrepreneur talking about “how now the best investment anyone can do is invest into their own personal brand. And they have no excuses not to because its absolutely free. All they have to do is wake up a couple of hours early and network on facebook or update a blog”
So in that spirit its true, but the effect of this mantra is that a lot of people who have nothing to say are just saying a lot of nothing which is just adding to the noise on the internet.
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Web 2.0

This is my first time @ this blog and I really enjoyed your articles, great job..
José Carrilho

Hi,

Most people don't know that marketing is about helping others to choose better.
Is it ?
Tattoosfx

I can't brand myself i always feel better pushing a product or idea,this new thing where the people are the company e.g. seth godin and all the tribes just feels so fake. like everybody will be laughing at it in ten years
aakbudi

i have 1 branding is http://citago.net salam kenal dari blogger cah tulungagung
elitesouth

I agree. Personal branding is NOT cheesy, in fact, it is incredibly important.
Gizaz

thanks for sharing the info, keep up the good work going….

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Benjamin Yoskovitz

I don't think people will be laughing at it. The reality is that people have been brands for a long time. Think about sports figures and movie stars. They're brands all by themselves.

The difference (and key) now is that the ability to become a “star” has been democratized. You don't need to be a movie star to have a strong brand / presence / and recognition in your sphere of influence and meaning.
Benjamin Yoskovitz

It was most likely Gary Vee.

Thanks for the comment. Much appreciated.
Cortney

I agree that it is worthless to be inauthentic. Also, as stated, marketing is not fake. It is simply promoting your best attributes to meet the needs of a potential customer. For example, on a resume you try to promote the attributes that will give you the best chance of meeting the needs of a potential employer. A resume can be a starting point to building a personal brand. I feel that a the reputation of a person is what backs up your personal brand.
romandsfgfdg

Thanks!
ridgid power tools

Hi all….

Building a brand takes a loyal and energetic following. Sometimes it takes years and sometimes months….no one can really say for sure. Its easy to write about it after the hype, but I've learned from past experience that know for sure who is going to succeed and fail is really difficult to determine…take for instance the stock market over the last 5-10 years….look at some of the major players that are now gone….countrywide, Saturn etc…
Curtis Chambers

The idea of being authentic also applies to blogging. One of the primary characteristics of the best (and most popular blogs) is that they are very honest and personal – in a word, authentic.
Benjamin Yoskovitz

Curtis – Absolutely. Your blog is an extension of your personal brand, so the same principles apply.
Brian Wong

Great advice. It helps when you have a unique name like “Ben Yoskovitz”. You are totally dominating the SERP on Goolgle for your name. With a name like mine “Brian Wong”, it's a lot tougher. Given that there are probably no less than 100,000 Brian Wong's out there.

Any advice for people with “common” names?
Benjamin Yoskovitz

Curtis – Absolutely. Your blog is an extension of your personal brand, so the same principles apply.
Brian Wong

Great advice. It helps when you have a unique name like “Ben Yoskovitz”. You are totally dominating the SERP on Goolgle for your name. With a name like mine “Brian Wong”, it's a lot tougher. Given that there are probably no less than 100,000 Brian Wong's out there.

Any advice for people with “common” names?

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