Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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The Problem with Personal Brand

The Problem with Personal Brand

The Problem With Personal Brand TTR — Geis /. J. L. FLETCHER A Different Slant

The Personal Brand Page of BrandBrainTrust.com (one of my websites) opens with these words:

“In today's world you will need to ‘reinvent yourself multiple times.’ If you are career oriented each new position is cause to rebrand in order to assure that people know you for what you are now and what you can be. Sometimes overcoming past behaviors that have been preserved on the internet can prove difficult.

More of an entrepreneur? Your task is no easier.  As you go forward you will encounter the requirement to be singular yet authoritative, friendly but calculating. You can't be all things to all people.

Careful attendance to how you ‘Brand You’ is essential to getting ahead.”

Jerry Fletcher

That is the conventional view.

According to Wikipedia we can thank Napoleon Hill, Positioning Poobahs Jack Trout & Al Ries as well as Tom Peters for putting it into the common lexicon. More recently, Dorie Clark has written extensively on the subject.

beBee, according to Wikipedia is:

  • a Personal Branding Platform founded by serial-entrepreneurs Javier Cámara and Juan Imaz. The network was created to allow people to showcase and share their personal brand and market themselves to employers, clients, customers, vendors and media in their respective industries. beBee allows users to network with each other through common personal and professional interests, uniting their personal and professional lives in one place.

    Wikipedia

Therein lies the problem.

There is literally only one social media platform established with that objective. When I happened upon it I was filled with anticipation. At last. Nirvana. Well maybe not so much. The problem is not the platform but rather human nature compounded by blind spots.

What do you do?

That is the single most asked question in North America. For some reason we equate one’s job with the identity of the person. It is not a new idea. Since colonial days in the United States a person’s business was appended to their name. Men were identified as Mr. X the ships chandler or with a title like Captain for a Whaler. George Washington early on was identified as a surveyor.

Are you what you do?

Around the world people are identified more by their jobs than their personal differences. Are there exceptions? Yes. People with occult capabilities seem to be identified with that. Healers are known for that even though they may have a title like Doctor or Nurse or Acupuncturist. The latest category is celebrities. Sports stars. Entertainers. And don't overlook the YouTube producers that have become household names in some quarters. 

The problem is that brand is a perception, not a process.

You will have a brand whether you want one or not. That is one of the conclusions I come to in this video ( https://vimeo.com/185534580 ) Others that may interest you:

  • You cannot control what people feel, think and believe about you.
  • You can take actions to get to mutual trust.
  • Trust is the single most important measure of brand

You can’t fill the tank and forget it.

Brand requires thinking through your vision, your mission and how you will face the world in everything you do. Yes, it includes that part of your life when you are not engaged in your job but you can’t be two different people. You can have interests well beyond what you are doing to pay the bills today and you may have friends that know you only for that interest. It is no wonder that people keep buying the idea that personal brand is completely malleable and completely in your control.

But, you say, “I’m not the person I was before” or “I know I’ll change over time. Every one does.” And as far as that goes, it is true. People do change. But more often they stay the same. They may get a better position or move up in the ranks but few change their basic approach That takes development of their emotional quotient. It is not easy to accomplish. Too often our perceptions of ourselves are blind spots.

The idea of controlling your personal brand is a blind spot.

That is especially true when it comes to social media. It is all out there. It is not going to go away. People are going to be able to access every opinion you loaded up, every comment you made on a blog. The diatribe you wrote is going to live longer than you might. There is no erase or reset button. And there never was.

Before the internet age it was easier to shift opinions. You could redeem yourself for errors in judgement, even some addictions. But there was always someone, somewhere that knew. Today it is just easier to find the evidence.

What you can do.

1. Recognize that your job will have an enormous influence on your personal brand. New organizations, new customers, new friends, and new locations will jostle you. That will force you to “reinvent yourself” time and time again.

2. Look hard at your personal values and do everything you can to assure that they stay aligned and are measured by the trust they build. You are an original. Try to be remembered for positive behaviors.

3. Be singular. Be all of yourself. You will never be able to completely separate personal and professional brand.

Jerry Fletcher

f857928d.jpgJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com


#Personal Brand #Jerry Fletcher #Wikipedia #Problem #Brand
Comments

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #44

#51
Andrew, Clothing can make a difference in the perceptions of those who ultimately brand us. Fo some it is as simple as hat. Others I've heard resort to colors of striking hues. Personally, I never liked ties. Yes, I'd worn them for years in corporate America and as s CEO. Then somewhere around 1990 I said, I will never again wear a tie. I've spoken in some of the most conservative business environments you can imagine and even had one meeting planner tell me I could not go on without a tie. I handed her back the check for the engagement before she backed down. The CEO overheard the altercation and told me later that he wold have intervened if she hadn't backed off. He asked if I would truly have walked out. My answer was yes. Authenticity is sticking to your guns.

stephan metral 🐝 Innovative Brand Ambassador

6 years ago #43

#48
Good, there has been 74 sign up today, I will personally welcome you and prep' the interview together.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #42

#44
Great tomes have been written about man's inhumanity to man. Brand or Persona or Personal Marque is not one of them. We humans automatically build shorthand references to every person we meet. The sum of those short hand references becomes how you are perceived. You can;'t control the process. at best what you can do is to be consistent in your basic values because in today's world your expertise may be shifted or expanded and require that you let people know how it has changed.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #41

#42
Stephan, Signed up this morning.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #40

#41
John, I couldn't agree more. With clients I describe all the components jointly as a Persona. But, the public refers to this approach as branding. That implies it is a controllable process. If i must use the b word I prefer Brand--a noun not a verb.

John Rylance

6 years ago #39

If someone disagrees with something as I do re the use made in your and others recent posts on Personal Brands, while not disagreeing with the overall content, then I should provide an alternative which I am comfortable with and reflects what is being said. My offering would be to term it having your own Personal Marque. ( a synonym for brand). #30

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #38

#7
Dear Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee it is always a very limited perspective when we are sitting within any cage or man-made prison. If everyone is already labelled as a personal brand, they should make a little effort to being a human being. I don't care if everyone has a personal brand, I do care that not everyone is the being that we define as "human being". Branded property, social prejudice or limited perspective are judgments for the value judgement that is personal branding. I much prefer the value of feeling human rather than the imposition of being personally branded. 7 Billion people with a personal brand, there is a certain level of inhumanity in just that, if we care to see that there is a certain inhumanity in all personal branding.

stephan metral 🐝 Innovative Brand Ambassador

6 years ago #37

#27
Hi Jerry You have been invited with your email to join the 400+ VIP hosts & Guest with MybeBeeTV Facebook live interview group. Check out your email, or sometimes it caught in spamboxes...

John Rylance

6 years ago #36

All very true Jerry, I just don't like the terminology of brand and branding ( what you do to cattle to prove ownership). We are human beings not marketable commodities. #30

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #35

#23
Yes, Jerry, the loss of brand loyalty by Sears is one of the all-time prime examples of corporate devolution into idiocy. The fact is that Sears catalog mail-order operation was a prototype for Amazon, which thrived at a time before internet and overnight delivery. And the thick book produced bi-annually was great bathroom reading. Cheers!

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #34

#36
Nathaniel, I've always found that to be true as have my successful clients. Thanks for your Comments.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #33

#29
Javier. I await further developments with bated breath.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #32

#21
Graham, That is the one thing some of the old timers forget. We no longer get one job with one company and stick with it for years. Current expectations of the number of jobs a person will hold before age 35 is 8 to 10 according to friend in HR. Over a life time it may go as high as 25 to 30!

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #31

#20
You're welcome Solomon.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #30

#19
Franci, You do have a way with words. I'm going to steal this idea of many hats, one head and turn it into a speech.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #29

#17
Don, Thank you for backing em up. Your comment to David Greenburg suggest s you should read the latest post by Solomon Jones.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #28

#16
Nathaniel, IN my view, the professional aspect must grow and change over time but the personal principles remain constant or become more trustworthy over time.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #27

#15
Harvey, Astute as always. When I speak about positioning, sooner or later i say, "You can't be all things to everybody." Individuals that try that as professionals or personally always pay the price. Consistency is a critical element. One mus be consistent on both levels. Research shows that the path to hiring a consultant follows these steps: See a problem, ask friends and advisors for advice and referrals, Review web site(s) of referrals, Interview candidates, interview testimonial sources, hire professional. That is the general journey. Not all steps are included every time except for Advice, Web Site Review and Interview. Over time individuals may add capabilities and become more adept. This is particularly true in the times we live in. For instance, I'm a marketing guy who has focused on business development for the last 25+ years but I've been identified as the Networking Ninja, Contact Relationship Magician and a Brand Poobah. These days, when I'm introduced it is as a Master of Trust-based Business Development on and off-line. The rubric changed but the underlying capabilities and point of view have remained consistent..

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #26

#14
John, Most people are not comfortable promoting themselves. But most do want to make friends and influence people. To be a friend, you have to give of yourself. And the friend, in turn, must do the same. You can't do that without Trust. To get to trust you must be singular. Your attitudes and viewpoints don't change willy-nilly. That is on the personal level. It is the same on the professional side. The difference is in the fact that you know those potential buyers are going to come to a conclusions about you whether you like it or not. YOU can't control their conclusion but you can infleunce it. Finding ways to make it easy for them to see you as a solution to their problem is many times the difference between business success and failure. Celebrities that don't deliver on their promises start losing at the box office. Regardless of the brand, people still vote with thieir wallets.

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #25

#26
Jerry Fletcher you will love the platform we are working on! Thanks

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #24

#12
Pascal, That is the wonder of beBee. You can quickly come to a better understanding of those you interact with because you get to see both personal and professional aspects.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #23

#13
Stephan, I'm game. Easiest way to contact me is Jerry@Z-axisMarketing.com

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #22

#11
Javier, you and Juan and beBee will be what you decide to be. But just like any other brand, you will be the sum of perceptions about the organization. I'm a fan. This is the first social network that allows me to present professional ideas and to indulge my personal interests as well. That's why I've intentionally developed two different identities to post under on beBee: A Different Slant and A Personal Note. These posts, blogs or articles are not published elsewhere. That's how much I trust in this organization.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #21

#8
Thanks Lisa.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #20

#7
Ali, I've spoken on Trust for business development on three continents. You are perceptive as usual in identifying constituent elements. I will either do a short video or a post that provides my viewpoint on how one builds trust.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #19

#6
Phil, Most of the tools in my toolbox are Craftsman. Dad taught me the difference as a teenager. Sears, unfortunately has lost the dedication. The lost me as a customer whn I limped my car into a service center and asked to have a Diehard battery installed. The "manager" told me I would have to make an appointment even though I could see three open bays. The friend that had jumped my car and followed me agreed to continue following to a local TBA shop. When we arrived a technician ran to my car, popped the hood and said, "it is one of ours and I think it is still in warranty. Do you have the paperwork? I didn't but he checked the records and then discounted the new battery by about third. I was in and out in ten minutes. I've never gone anywhere else for tires and batteries since. The moral of the story is "Trust is built or lost one act at a time."

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #18

#4
David, Relational Networkers all agree that business may be the beginning reason for a relationship but that as we seek out individuals to refer us we come across people that we connect with. They may or may not add to our business but we remain in a relationship with them and a friendship develops. Then, too, we may do business with some and as we do we share our personal information, background, etc and discover common interests. Many times what begins as a business relationship becomes a friendship that continues well beyond the business relationship.IN simple terms, Personal relationships can enhance business connections.

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #17

Thanks for the post Jerry Fletcher... I really like that you started it with this line — “In today's world you will need to ‘reinvent yourself multiple times.’ Something so very important for everyone to realize!.

don kerr

6 years ago #16

#4
You write "However, I would reiterate one of beBee's main concepts and promotional points: shared personal interests and passions can (and do) result in stronger business relationships." I wonder if that is true. beBee proponents continue to suggest this to be the case but is there any genuine quantitative data that suggest that beBee's 12,000,000 members are in fact experiencing incremental business growth as a result of their membership on this platform? Given the dearth of business content on the site it would surprise me. I don't argue at all that shared personal interests can bolster a business relationship but it would surprise me greatly if business relationships grow out of a shared interest in vintage car photos on beBee. I would love to be shown how very wrong I am.

don kerr

6 years ago #15

Jerry Fletcher You've hit on the critical point with your very last item - one cannot present a separate persona. You can wear various masks, you can attempt to present yourself in different guises but it's all going to eventually come back to what is real and a failure to understand that is what gives rise to such cynicism and scepticism about the whole notion of brand - personal or otherwise.

Harvey Lloyd

6 years ago #14

Personal brands seem to be a contradiction as you have stated. By enlisting this process you naturally include and exclude various people. Especially when so many of these paradigms exist. I would think that within a person who seeks a service or product they first look at the personal brand and determine what can you do for me. Through this analysts there is the technical fulfillment of need but i think it might go deeper. They are looking for the brands grit and commitment to values. You stated this and i believe that if a personal brand is built genuinely around your values/belief system and, this is the big and, you are committed to their absolute value it will show in your branding. The worst of personal branding is the constant change in brand/value system to meet someone’s specific needs. This shows through and i would suggest tells the buyer you will fall apart when the relationship gets tested. You share my values and trust as long as it meets some criteria of success. beBee gives the platform to develop this aspect of your brand, but one would have to be courageous to stake an absolute in this very crazy world.

John Rylance

6 years ago #13

While accepting all you say about building a perception of oneself to others which will further one's career etc., I have problems with it being a personal brand. To me when talking about branding I think of Baked Beans, and which brand I prefer, or Marmite which is a brand one either hates or loves. In the UK version of The Apprentice candidates are often held up to ridicule for describing themselves as a brand or particularly The Brand. I like to think I have an image, but would feel pretentious if I was to say it was a Brand Image. Finally Human Brand Images, are often celebrities paid to endorse products that they neither produce or rarely know anything about (Paul Newman, George Forman etc.)

stephan metral 🐝 Innovative Brand Ambassador

6 years ago #12

Wonderful to have that level of insights drinking a morning coffee. You made my day Jerry Fletcher, I would love to have you for a digital interview with guests of your choice on MybeBeeTV live shows on Facebook live.

Pascal Derrien

6 years ago #11

Branding is a filtering process, perception is also a filter, in the end we control what we are broadcasting it is more about personal responsibility, actually in beBee it is probably more about what you stand for than what you do for a living at least for the people I tend to follow.....

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #10

You will never be able to completely separate personal and professional brand I fully agree. We are humans and we create business relations through personal interests or human connections and vice versa.

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #9

Jerry Fletcher wikipedia can say anything but beBee is beBee and anyone uses beBee as they want and everybody has different goals, a lot of them, just fun :)

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #8

Thanks for tagging me. Detractors of personal branding sees it as a manipulation/control of a person/professional. Personal Brand is about authencity. Building a Successful Personal Brand @javierbebee https://www.bebee.com/producer/@javierbebee/building-a-successful-personal-brand vía @beBee

Lisa Gallagher

6 years ago #7

"3. Be singular. Be all of yourself. You will never be able to completely separate personal and professional brand." Great article Jerry Fletcher, and #3 summed it up well.

Ali Anani

6 years ago #6

Jerry Fletcher has his perspective on personal branding.

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #5

Jerry Fletcher> "Trust is the single most important measure of brand..." How true that is, Jerry. And one need only look at the strong brands in the history of marketing. I like the example of Sears. Sears private-branded "Craftsman" tool line was legendary in the level of trust it commanded and the perception of quality it engendered as the result of Sears's no-questions-asked, 100% lifetime warranty on Craftsman hand tools. If a Craftsman tool broke, Sears replaced it. No questions asked. No receipt needed. No proof of purchase required. If you took the broken tool into a Sears store, they replaced it. The guys in professional shops tended to buy Snap-On, but that was because the local retailer was a route salesman in an inventory-carrying truck who financed the larger purchases, so a mechanic in the shop could always buy a tool he needed. Sears was also at one time legendary for customer service. My favorite story came from a friend of mine who worked in Sears customer service in the greater Chicago area more years ago than I care to say. He told me about the little old guy who carted in a brand new window air conditioner that was literally smashed to hell and asked for a replacement. Turned out the old guy had gone to install the a/c unit in a third story apartment window, from where it slipped right out the window and fell three stories to the concrete pavement. (Luckily nobody was injured or killed.) Not exactly a warrantable defect, would you say? But Sears in those days was fanatical about customer satisfaction. So they not only replace the air conditioner with a new one but sent an installation crew out to install it and ensure that the situation did not repeat itself -- all at no charge. That might seem crazy, but the fact is that old guy told everybody he ran into about how Sears took care of him, from that day forward until the day he died. You cant buy that kind of marketing or advertising. Cheers!

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

6 years ago #4

Great, inspiring post to gauge and redefine oneself!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #3

Thanks for sharing your important insights on this topic, Jerry. You write: "...you can’t be two different people...Be singular. Be all of yourself. You will never be able to completely separate personal and professional brand." However, I would reiterate one of beBee's main concepts and promotional points: shared personal interests and passions can (and do) result in stronger business relationships. Do you agree? I'm curious to hear what Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee think about your analysis, as they have written extensively about personal branding.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #2

#2
Thank you Kevin. I, too, have found that all the titles and letters behind names mean very little when the person has stayed true to positive values. It is, in my humble opinion, always better to be true to yourself.

Randall Burns

6 years ago #1

Great post! Jerry Fletcher

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