Why Personal Branding Matters NOW

Its NOW or NEVER

The idea of a ‘personal brand’ is still a relatively new one.

In fact, the term was first coined in 1997.

But between then and now, a LOT has changed.

Now, the Internet allows anyone with a Wi-Fi connection to enter the global marketplace and do business — a fact that has changed what ‘business’ even means (if you’ve ever explained SEO to anyone born before 1975, you already know this).

And here’s the thing: the pace of that change isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Think about the past four years.

A global pandemic. Worldwide political unrest. Wars. AI. And that’s just four years.

Now, if you’re an SEO, you’re probably already used to this to a certain degree.

After all, Google Updates wreak havoc on the SERPs pretty regularly; what worked like crazy one year might become completely obsolete the next.

And while AI isn’t going to ‘kill SEO’ anytime soon, it’s definitely going to accelerate the pace of change in the world around us.

I’m not saying this to throw doom & gloom around, though…

I’m saying this to prove a very specific point: the value of having a personal brand will only increase the faster the world changes.

Why?

Because during difficult or uncertain times, people trust what they’re familiar with.

Think about it. When you have a rough day, what do you want to do?

1. Go bungee-jumping for the very first time with a group of total strangers, or —
2. Order your favorite comfort food, turn on your favorite episode of your favorite show for the 83rd time, and chill out?

People trust what they’re familiar with, especially if that’s other people.

This is why personal branding is the future of marketing — and probably why search volume for “personal brand” has 4x’d over the past 15 years.

Not bad for a term that didn’t even exist 27 years ago.

If you think the world has changed a lot since 1997, what do you think the next 27 years will bring?

Final Words

I’ll keep my predictions about flying cars to myself, but one thing I will bet quite a bit on is that the value of having a trusted personal brand — an asset that’s about as future-proof as you can get — is only going up, the faster the world changes.

And if you haven’t started building one yet, the best time to start is NOW.