Paradox is what is said and especially opposed to logic. A while ago I published an article entitled The personal brand paradox, do I worry about the image I project or the value I bring? There I dealt with Paradox value, possibly the most important. But there's more.
In a world where differentiation is sometimes more revered than courage, The Paradox is the order of the day. Here are five of the most common contradictions in the realm of personal branding.
Paradox 1 personal brand: Advice I sell that for me I don't have
The Internet has shrunk the world. We are more interrelated than ever. For the good and for the bad.
Sustaining a value proposition showing live the opposite result is to immolate in a few seconds. You know, at the blacksmith's house...
Lorna follows me on Instagram. Promises 1.000 followers by "alone" $29. The point is that she herself has failed to overcome the 244. Is that your guarantee, Lorna? You don't sell followers, rather you give away a great Paradox.
And there are worse cases, like those people who preach Online actions to improve and in the Offline are quite the opposite. They have a chance to deceive, and the sad thing is that you can also live.
Paradox 2 personal brand: a lot of brand is bad brand
Abuse in the projection of our personal brand is negative. In the words of my friend and colleague Eva Collado, "give the ember" is punishable.
Internet, in addition to making our planet small, has brought some contradictions: we complain more, we celebrate more, we share more. Our presence is growing, and not knowing the limit of abuse is a danger.
Once I've met friends who tell me: "uncle, you're on social media all day". They too, Of course (if you don't, the comment would not make sense). Think: if a friend "alone" has 50 contacts on Linkedin, and of them only three publish regularly, that friend will only see you in his Timeline... have you considered it?
Paradox 3 personal brand: On the Internet it is written with a pen, not with pencil
We heard this phrase in the film 2010 "The social network", the one that explained Mark Zuckerberg's rise. And that's the way it is.. There is no draft on the internet, what's published, there it is.
Yes, I agree, some networks allow you to edit what you've posted, also eliminate it. But none of them avoid "screening" (Lorna case) or photograph the screen with another device (Snapchat case).
Counting up 10 it's a must in real life. Digital environments must count to 100 before publishing. And the reality, Paradoxically, it's reverse.
Does it add value to what I publish, either own or foreign? Am I clear that my message will reach who it should reach? Offending someone with my posts, and that's good for something? Am I consistent with the brand I represent?
Don't forget my particular slogan: All, absolutely everything, leaves mark. By action or by inaction, by active or passive. It's worth telling up 100, those two minutes of reflection can save our lives.
Paradox 4 personal brand: people who act as companies and companies that act as individuals
Of course, that's Tom Peters' inheritance with his foreboding article."The Brand Called You". He invited us to think like companies. And some, we invite companies today to think and act like people. It makes sense, people lack strategic thinking self-applied; companies lack humanization to generate Confidence.
It's a Paradox, but in this case I'll tell you it works well (unused). Requires three steps to success: mentalize, form and be stubborn as a mule (in pretty words, Insist, Insist, Insist).
Paradox 5 personal brand: reputation is not created, you win
I'm sorry to say., But it's like that. Now you can hire an army of digital marketing experts to generate a "super-brand".
Your reputation (Positive) will come when what you think, say and do is aligned, behave value, and it's something different from what already exists.
Personal branding is the footprint we leave on others. And if it's positive and anchored in a powerful value proposition, will generate recognition (Reputation) Positive.
I'm sure you can think of some Paradox more Do you want to share it?
Main image: Sculpture of Ai Weiwei “Bicycles” in the Ibirapuera park in Sao Paulo, a paradox about static motion.
AGENDA November
- 5, 6 And 7, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Workshop BRA. V.E (Brand Value Evolution), I teach with Ilana Berenholc and Reinaldo Campos. Registration here.
- 9, 10 And 11, Puebla, Mexico. Personal Branding Experience #PBEX. Registration here (exhausted face-to-face assistance, there are online places left)
- 20. Grenade. Knowmads space. Personal Brand, Entrepreneurship, Employment, with my colleagues Elena Arnaiz, Sonia Rodriguez Muriel, David Barreda (organizer and speaker), Eva Collado, Andrés Pérez Ortega y Azahara G. Peralta Inscriptions (Free) Here.
- 23. Business Forum of the Region of Murcia. Management days. Personal Branding and Securities Conference. Information and information registrations in this link.
- 28. Update Zaragoza. 28 November in active Zaragoza. Free event. Registration coming soon on the website Zaragoza Active. With my colleagues Victor Candel, Meme Romero, Elena Arnaiz, Eva Collado, and Juan Martinez (organizer and speaker).
- 29, 30. Workshop Personal Brand and Relationship Management. Ferrovial, at Euroforum II San Lorenzo del Escorial. It can be followed in the hashtag #MarcaPersonalSumma
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The best of 2022 and trends 2023 in Personal Branding
by Guillem Recolons
Convinced that everything leaves a mark, I help companies better connect with their stakeholders through personal branding programs (personal brand management) and employee advocacy (programs of branded internal ambassadors).
Socio of Soymimarca's Integra Personal Branding, Brand Directory of Omnia Branding, I also collaborate with Ponte en Valor, Brandergizers, MoreThanLaw, Noema Consulting and Quifer Consultores.
I participate in various programs at IESE, ISDI and EAE, among others. Collegiate advertising, Master in Marketing. Humanities Degree Student.
My advertising DNA comes from 20 years in agencies: Time/BBDO, J.W.T., Bassat Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Altraforma and TVLowCost among others.
Dear Guillem.
Thank you for bringing out the theme of paradoxes in the personal brand and addressing it from clarity and resounding sincerity.
The world of medicine that is full of brands and prefabricated at the stroke of agency in which you can give the paradox of the “Klout-100 Value - minus10 ( ” He'll be very famous on the internet but as a doctor I don't come back…..”). Famous doctors happy on instagram that we all know are in prison for anorexia, drugs or debts.
Time puts each brand in place in the medium term and what the value you bring does not sustain, ends up falling and maybe the fall is even harder from the pedestal of an artificial personal brand.
Hello Doctor! Lucky we have that Klout no longer exists, was causing a bubble 4.0 Unsustainable…
Sometimes there are people who get scared when I say that the return of a personal branding strategy is four years working hard. Picking the fruits depends, As you know, Value, but not just the one we projected, of which we exercise. A hug!
In my country we said, Guillem, What “every day a fool comes out on the street. Whoever finds it, it's his” and unfortunately that abounds on the Internet: people who go out every day to “hunting fools”
And as you well say it, they end up living off it.. What do you care that 100 people think it's crap, as long as there are five who buy them?
Take out the bill and you'll see. This girl who sells followers on Instagram with getting 5 fools every day, Wins 145 dollars x 5 days of the week: 700 dollars x 4 weeks of the month, and already has the market done.
They're characters of this kind. (and the multiple badpractices of many) those who are turning social spaces into trap-hunting-bobos.
What can we do? try to sow awareness in the need to separate straw from wheat and not look for shorter pathways, simpler or less effort to get things done.
Maybe that way, many will begin to look through the dense curtain of smoke that surrounds them.
I share with pleasure.
Right Joel, had never done the sum, but it's scary. We have to get used to living with this kind of parasitism, but also to fight it and denounce it. A hug”!