Guest Post by Megan K Green
Branding. An important part of every company, product and celebrity. At first it seems a daunting task, but, once started, it's actually a fun and creative challenge. Anyone who has ever had to brand anything from the ground up knows that it takes a lot of time, effort, creativity and attention to details.
Wikipedia says that branding is a name used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service or business. But, it's not simply a name; it's a logo, picture, font type, color, ethnicity, style, or anything else that makes a business a business (yes, even the chair the business sits in contributes to its brand).
Recently, I've embarked on a branding project of my own. Not for a company or service or anything like that, but for myself - my Brand. The Megan K Green Brand (no period on the 'K' please).
Think about it - we all are perceived as a certain type of person with a certain amount of knowledge, and guess what? That's your brand. Whether you are perpetually whiney, happy, talkative, colorful or smart, that is how you will be perceived - and I want to make sure my brand (ME) is how I want to be seen to potential employers, event coordinators looking for a speaker, and overall, the people I collaborate with. I'm knowledgeable on public relations, social media and branding and I want to make sure they know that.
According to a white paper written by the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, their "…research shows, [that] companies with strong brands have shareholder returns of 1.9 points more than their industries' average…A process that once took decades now gets done in a few years, as shown by 13-year old Starbucks creation of greater brand strength than 108-year old Maxwell House! …These young brands have generated their strength by creating and consistently delivering distinctive performance benefits with compelling emotional benefits found in the brands personality."
Now, replace the word "company" with "me" and you get the picture. In layman's terms, branding can do so much for a company, and it's about time you did it for yourself.
If you're looking for a job, or looking to place yourself as an expert in your field, you must brand yourself. Use social mediums like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a web site, all with the same picture, voice, mission, and goals. Maintain who you want to be on all facets, whether you want to simply be a funny blogger, or a knowledgeable knitter. These all transfer to your blog, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, web site, etc.
I have a few friends who have branding themselves down to an art: people such as Lauren Fernandez (otherwise known as "LAF"), Matt Chevy (Life Without Pants) and Colin Alsheimer to name a few.
The amount of traffic they receive and the amount of acknowledgement as being experts in their fields boils down to marketing themselves through their brand.
“A brand name is more than a word. It is the beginning of a conversation.” - Lexicon
Megan Green is an advertising and PR professional specializing in social media and writing. Megan is a regular contributor to TalentZoo.com's Beyond Madison Avenue Blog.
Join her @megankgreen on Twitter, and on her personal blog at www.megankgreen.com
