How to do personal brand without the *cringe*

(+ why do it at all?)

Photo by Philippe Bourhis on Unsplash

Let’s cut straight to the cringe – most people, including you, dislike the term “personal brand.” If you’re the exception, this post isn’t for you. Everyone else, stay with me.

I hear you: “the influencer movement is so fake,” “I don’t want to be one of those self-promoters,” — “a person isn’t a brand.”

How about this?

“People will think I’m full of myself,”

Or these classics :

“Personal brand is just for: the beautiful … the articulate … the photogenic … the popular … the insecure … the power-seekers… the fame chasers, the …” [fill in the blank with whatever trait you believe you lack or loathe]…

I hear you — but there’s a shift happening

Call it what you like, the growth in “personal brand” is part of a massive shift towards greater freedom of identity. Sure, it might look like something else — with people behaving badly — at times — most movements start a little…