There’s been quite a bit of discussion now that social media has exploded and been made popular around the world, about just how critical it is to have a strong personal brand. After all, anyone can Google your name now – and if they find something either positive or negative, they begin to associate it with you, and treat you accordingly.
Knowing that, it’s critical that you understand how a personal brand, or branding yourself is one of the best investments you can make in time. Alternative investments, like financial ones, are things that you can track every day to see if you’re making money and growing your portfolio. Interestingly, though, a personal brand is also an investment you can track every day, only in a different way; through customers, network size, influencer ability, and the bottom line – respect and numbers in social media and real life!
The Investment that Keeps on Giving
Like portfolio financial investments, personal brand investments keep on accruing value over time. The value isn’t in concrete dollars you can take out of an account and spend – but it is in the form of dollars that you can redeem over the course of your career. A strong personal brand allows you to gain new customers, find new markets, and obtain new respect leading to higher dividends in any career or industry you may find yourself.
Carries With you Wherever You Go
Branding yourself is a smart idea for several reasons, but one of them is that no matter what happens to you – or the world around you – it will still hold value in the future. If you change jobs or careers, or if the economy tanks (as it has recently!), you can still rely on using your personal brand and the influence and respect you’ve gained to earn more business and convert more followers regardless of a tough economy or a difficult external situation. You can make yourself recession-proof with a host of potential employers queuing up for your services regardless of the economic situation.
High Value for High Personal Brands
Donald Trump and others who have successfully branded themselves have a high value and worth of the brand – and there’s no reason you can’t, too. Take Trump; he got a network television show simply because of the personality and brand he had built through his own work, and due to it, he was able to build even more millions on his empire. While you may not be able to rely on a television show coming through in your case, you can still brand yourself investments and create a high ‘personal’ net worth just like Trump and others around the business world.
Look at the Long Term Benefit
Personal brands and investments both rely on one thing – the long-term bottom line. In the short run, it’s difficult to build both investments, and personal brands. They take time to nurture, grow, and develop. Coca-Cola’s brand took over 100 years to build. Even if you took away all the cash, equipment and property owned by the company, the Coca-Cola brand alone is worth a staggering US$53 billion! It’s a legacy that will provide value to its shareholders for many decades to come.
Similarly if you can take a long view on building a personal brand, and grow it person by person, network by network, you can see a major benefit in the brand and leave a lasting legacy of people who recognize and respect you for your work, views, and outreach. Yes even if you met with financial disaster and lost everything, your personal brand can still be worth millions as it can mean faster promotions, more customers and more profits. No one can take that away from you.
That’s why branding yourself is the best investment you can possibly make!
