Promoting the Brand Called “You”

I’ll admit it, I struggle to promote my personal brand, which is pretty ironic when I think about how well versed I am in digital and social media marketing.

I’m told this is a struggle many millennials experience because we grew up hearing how special we were and received far too many “participation trophies.”  We use digital media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. – on a daily if not hourly basis for all kinds of mundane announcements and yet we keep the really important stuff offline… and I’m guilty of this just as much as the next person.
I started this blog as a way to comment on the digital media trends I experience in my professional life and I have yet to share this blog on my Facebook or Twitter for fear of making myself look stupid in front of my peers.  Yes, I know that if I don’t invest in me and share my posts, nobody else will either.  I’m caught in a lack of confidence catch-twenty-two.
Luckily, I was catching up on Six Pixels of Separation podcasts and came across Mitch Joel’s conversation with Dan Schawbel, the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding – a Gen Y research and consulting firm. He has authored two bestselling business books, Me 2.0 and the recently published, Promote Yourself – The New Rules For Career Success. Dan is also a contributor for Time and Forbes magazine, as well as being a sought-after media pundit on the topic of personal branding and Gen Y.
Dan is an authority on the practice of self-promotion and everything he mentioned in the podcast resonated with me so much so that I purchased both of his books on my nook as soon as I reached my computer.  Stay tuned for the reviews!