get it how you live it!

Personal branding

Every day I hear people saying the economy is bad. That’s not true! That’s propaganda! That’s a cop out! That’s a mind fuck! Everything is working how it is supposed to. The economy is not the problem. We are at 10% unemployment and everybody is acting crazy! That’s the problem. Dm me on twitter when we are at 10% employment, then I will flip out. People are losing their jobs left and right because they stick to the old way in fear of losing their jobs. Companies are failing and going out of business for fear of failure while revolutionizing the industry and going out of business. The economy is not bad it’s hard! In a hard economy the only entities that make money are the ones who are hard progressive innovators. Companies don’t fire employees who produce what they are looking for. Companies that produce what the market is looking for don’t go under. Why did so many big old companies die?  Could it be that their big old clients died.

In times past it was not uncommon to have employees with 25 years of experience and generations of a family invested in one company. The old way: get a job, work hard, earn a living, advance in a company, retire and enjoy life. From the time you have a handle on speech and motor skills you are trained to meet deadlines. We don’t get education we get trained so we can insure a substantial income. When you left high school for college you may have chosen that path because you didn’t want to end up “flippin burgers”.  We are trained to find a job we love with a big safe company. You have been bread to join the rat race. You are not a rat! This kind of thinking is progressive but is necessary in this aggressive economy. the secret to the success of the big corporations was their brand equity, their focus on producing quality goods/services from their passion and their connection with their clientele. Things have changed, their clients either got fired, foreclosed on or died. so it’s time for someone new to step up, and that’s you!

                                Personal branding is nothing new. Tom peters started the buzz over a decade ago however drug dealer’s real estate agents Hollywood celebrities and most any other sales professionals have been hip to it and with the explosion of social media and viral video personal branding can be a reality for anyone from Brittany Spears to you. Personal branding is simply how you show yourself to others. Whether you realize it or not you are a brand! If you have a MySpace profile, facebook profile, YouTube channel or any other type of representation on the internet you have begun branding yourself by default.   Take a look at your facebook, MySpace or YouTube, are there ads? What’s the difference between you, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Anderson and Chad Hurley? The last three are cashing in on you(and I don’t think I added you on facebook yet).You can build a strong personal brand. It doesn’t take a million dollars, a dope website wouldn’t hurt, but the essentials to building brand you are your time, effort and know how. You already have an internet presence if you have a myspace, facebook youtube or any profile on the internet. Now it is time to start building your brand to your specifications. 

determine what your brand represents. Ask yourself “what would I do with my time if I had unending wealth.” In this hypothetical you don’t need money!  You need to work only to save yourself from boredom. Now in this magical world where money means nothing what do you do to occupy your time? Whatever the answer is that is your passion occupation. Discovering your passion occupation is the foundation of this movement. The goal is to be paid to be passionate not to be passionate about being paid. So you need to find your passion.

Your passion is inside you. If you are going to find your passion you have got to go inside yourself or catch it coming out. Either way you will be in unfamiliar territory. You going to be scared, go numb to fear. Expect the worst possible results, and go on anyway! Finding your passion is priority number one. Without your passion, you will die. Set your life up to lead you toward your passion it may mean working odd hours, forsaking your social life or some other sacrifice but it is worth it. Invest your time in finding your passion. Now ask yourself these four questions: what have I always dreamed of? What am I excited about? What am I good at? What do I spend most of my time on? Take the answers to those questions and live them out. Just go and jump right in there and do it.

Now that you have found your passion find a community of people who do the things you love. Don’t just get involved immerse yourself in the community. The idea here is to make connections and learn. You are new at this and chances are this (whatever your passion maybe) is not new. Search for people in the community that you can have a connection with beyond your mutual passion. Bond with people with your passion on multiple levels like music or they went to the same schools or they also like chilli fries. whatever you can think of!  The more things you have in common the stronger the bond will be. The deeper connection will lead to trust and transparence and in transparence there is opportunity.   Become the culture of your passion! Buy the shirts, the shoes, and all the equipment; be at all the events, know the people who work at the stores. After you have been doing this for sometime people will associate you with your passion, bam your branded!    

Now to capitalize from your passion you need to continually sharpen your skills, establish yourself at some level, find related products, sell the products and teach your skills as a service. Your success will be based on your connection to the community and dedication to its progression. People will since your sincerity. They will feel a bond with you and they will buy. The products will be sold because your name is attached to it. they are buying just because of you. You may not become rich but you will have the luxury of doing what you want with your time.