Comments on Rob Frankel - Branding Expert: Why Personal Branding...isn't

Well, first off, this whole "guru" business is som...

2009-10-29T10:52:43.656-07:00

Well, first off, this whole "guru" business is somewhat pathetic. As the post points out, it's gone away from helping people over the rough spots to a full-blown undermining of self-reliance. A point-and-click world where individuals have come to expect nothing from themselves because they think gurus know more.

Truth is that, at least in my experience, most gurus know less than their customers.

I've got no problem with people representing their company's brand, but people themselves are not "branded." People hire you for what you produce, not for who you are. Just try getting any business to hire you because "you're a nice guy."

At least that's my take on it.

Rob - this is a great discussion, enjoing it and y...

2009-10-29T10:36:44.295-07:00

Rob - this is a great discussion, enjoing it and your comments yesterday on #brandchat.

If as you suggest this eminates from the 60's or Dennis suggests even earlier, is the issue more with the term or the fact that it is attaching itself to your craft of branding rather than the validity of the approach?

After all we used to meet with people make connections and introductions, because that is what you did to make business go around. Now we call it networking and we have guru's for that.

Or companies many years ago used to spend a lot of time 1:1 persuading people that their product was the best and only solution to their problem. Now we call it branding and we have gurus for that too! ;-)

So what is so worng with helping someone recognise what they are good at, help them with that realization and self actualization so that they are being and feeling better ,calling it personal branding and having people do that too?

Hey Rob, Thanks for pointing this out to me on to...

2009-10-21T09:21:07.104-07:00

Hey Rob,

Thanks for pointing this out to me on today's #brandchat. It sums up my discomfort with the "personal branding" schtick nicely. Bravo for tying its roots back to the self-help craze of the 60's - although I'd trace it farther back to the Romantic Individualism of the 19th century and all the dark ugly movements that spawned in the 20th.

As I mentioned in the chat, to me, the reason "brands" exist is that they are by definition impersonal. Individuals can cultivate brands around themselves, but these brands are only as valuable as other people make them by valuing them.

If they don't want to become enlightened or better...

2009-05-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

If they don't want to become enlightened or better people, then sadly, my point is proven.

While there is a lot of merit in what you're sayin...

2009-05-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

While there is a lot of merit in what you're saying here (and you're absolutely right on the misuse of branding as a buzzword), I have to wonder if it's truly tragic that people are substituting personal branding for personal identity.

That is, is this a genuine inability to grasp something meaningful, or merely a mindset which uses available tools to find a different path to the same end?

Richard Feynman wrote about "cargo cult science," which copies the trappings of success instead of replicating the hard work and time needed to attain that success. If this is the situation here, then you're absolutely right. But on the other hand, what if they don't want to be enlightened or become better people? What if they just want a polished website, a catchy slogan, and a decent promo pic? In other words, what if they really just want the trappings?

I absolutely agree. Creating an identity is not th...

2009-04-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

I absolutely agree. Creating an identity is not the same thing as branding. That was exactly my point.

So perhaps that's the answer I was getting at... tell people not to call it "personal branding" because branding is not what that is. It's creating an identity for the business and a personal face for people to connect with--which isn't the same thing as branding.

Again, it's the business that gets branded, not th...

2009-04-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Again, it's the business that gets branded, not the person. People have to see that distinction.

My brand's identity is Rob Frankel. But I don't get hired for who I am. I get hired for what I do.

It's just tragic that so many people are raised without healthy self-images that they substitute a business tactic for what should be a natural human development.

I don't necessarily see it as a fad. For example, ...

2009-04-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

I don't necessarily see it as a fad. For example, your business and brand is very identifiable with your face and image. You even use your name for RobFrankel.com.

People do business with, establish rapport, make personal connections and relationship with other people, not nameless, faceless voids.

This is what they are intending when they talk about personal branding. But so as not to confuse people that that is not exactly what branding is about, how about coming up with another term? That was my thinking anyway. It would provide a solution in addition to raising the awareness.

I don't suggest any term at all, because people sh...

2009-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

I don't suggest any term at all, because people should be branding their businesses, not themselves.

From what I can tell, this whole movement is just another fad filled with air, foisted on innocent victims who actually believe their personal identities and self-image can be purchased or downloaded.

Rob, I completely agree. You can't "be empowered" ...

2009-04-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Rob, I completely agree. You can't "be empowered" by anyone other than yourself. External validation can be purchased, but immediately that renders it valueless.

When someone you respect and admire praises you, you might "feel empowered" but it's because you the weight *you* place on their comments - not because they spoke.

Personal branding is what you do every day of your life.

Cheers,

Erica Friedman
Yurikon LLC
Intelligent Business Promotion
http://twitter.com/Yuricon

Isn't that the point? Shouldn't self-actualization...

2009-04-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't that the point? Shouldn't self-actualization and development be the result of good parenting and self-growth? Character development and self- knowledge are the products of time, introspection and maturation, not a seminar or guidebook.

A healthy self-image can't be purchased with a credit card. Each person has to learn life's lessons and integrate them into his/her own circumstances. It's those trials that define us as the people we are.

Paying someone else to provide expedient answers as to how one should manage his/her percpetions seems akin to getting your burger free if it takes longer than 30 seconds from the time you order.

Again, it's more of the consumer culture, trying to convince people that they can buy their way out of their problems rather than thinking them through.

IMHO, the bitter reality is that people can neither run away from their real life experiences that form them, nor can they fulfill the artificial criteria that a "personal brand" creates for them.

In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor, "I am what I am." :D

Hi Rob, thank you for an insightful post, pinpoint...

2009-04-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Rob,

thank you for an insightful post, pinpointing one of the greatest problem with the common view of personal brands. I agree with you that the marketing process for brands online has went crazy lately, focusing mainly on spreading the word of one’s existence.

My work on personal branding is based on identifying the core values and strengths of persons and making sure that they are communicating the strengths and living by the core values. With this approach on personal branding you will develop yourself, being more self confident and understand why you act in a certain way when facing a certain situation.
Unfortunately, the preparation part is often forgotten in the blog posts and discussion about social media and twitter. When talking personal branding, the quality of relations is the core, not the quantity.