Building a personal brand
Personal branding requires you to take risks—and to develop a thick skin.
Welcome to the Sociology of Business. The Sociology of Business offers a paid membership program. Paid options are for the members of this community who want to be the first to access everything from Web3 brand-building to the new business models and emerging creative formats. Since its inception, the Sociology of Business has been the source code for many other analyses, strategies and brand-building approaches. Members will now have the front-row seat. If you are not yet subscribed, join the community by subscribing below and joining the Sociology of Business Discord. You can find my book, The Business of Aspiration on Amazon and you can find me on Instagram and Twitter. For those new here, in my last analysis, Culture 3.0, I explored how brands can create and trade currencies of the new social, cultural and environmental capital.
Next week, I will be speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity about the future of ownership (decentralized) and about fragmentation of media (extreme).
Ten years ago, one of then-leading advertising bloggers called me a “lady douchenozzle.” I am still not sure what that means, but I’m certain it is not a compliment. It’s one of a number of insults I’ve weathered in my 16 years of working first as a strategist in the world’s most renowned advertising agencies and then as a brand executive. The internet isn’t always a great place, particularly if you are a woman and a foreigner.
If you’re just starting out, it’s easy to gloss over the negative sides of the personal branding business. There are more than 554 million “personal branding” search results in Google, and while most of these “how-to” guides are useful and inspiring, they also stay clear of the gritty, sensitive, and uncomfortable aspects of having a personal brand. The truth is, to build a truly sustainable digital presence, you’re going to have to put yourself out there—and develop a thick skin for the feedback you’ll inevitably receive. Basically, you have to be willing to be called a “lady douchenozzle.”
If you decide that you’re up for the task, here’s what you should keep in mind: