Let me give you an example; a couple of years ago I was interviewing for a community manager – that's someone who manages a brand's online identity in social media such as Facebook and Twitter. It was a job role initially created in Silicon Valley for software companies but as all sorts of brands clamoured to have a social media presence the demand for the role took off and finding anyone with experience was nigh on impossible. The person I ultimately employed had never worked in an ad agency, was employed as a civil servant and on the face of it their CV didn't really suggest they were right for the role. However, before the interview I Googled him and saw he'd taken a year off after university to cycle around Europe, created an outstanding blog and used a variety of social media to record and publicise the adventure. It was this competency together with a strong personality that led to me offering him the job and he went on to be outstanding in the role.
I know a couple of people who simply refuse to take part in the social online phenomenon. One is a very popular TV producer but detests having an online profile - he simply won't do Linkedin, Facebook et al but one of the problems is that everyone is findable online, even him, and the lack of information is in itself part of his online brand persona. So there is simply no escape.
Now you still may be dubious. "I'm not a brand, I'm a person", I hear you say but I believe since the arrival of social media each one of us is an online brand and the sooner we recognise it the better. And don't forget you are going to have to be your own brand manager.
Today's younger generation can expect to have amassed an online record of their entire life by the time they get to the end of it. Facebook ('Timeline'), Linkedin and other social platforms, blogs and websites will have an indelible record of your career, personal life and musings. And as we all know nothing ever really goes away on the internet, so even after you've gone, you will have immortality through your online brand.
If you are still doubtful about the idea of a personal online brand try this. Describe in one sentence what you think your Facebook profile says about you – 'charitable, kind, gregarious, thrill-seeking, fun-loving, family-orientated, artistic, intellectual, edgy, pet-obsessed, campaigning' – whatever it is, you have chosen this image, these are your personal brand values and you edit your life accordingly to project your desired self-image and how you would like to be considered and seen by others. Is it your real life? Of course not. You probably don't share depression, rows with your other half, click the 'Like' button next to a porn video (someone must look at them!), or post that you've just bought that haemarrhoid cream from Amazon. I'm not saying Facebook doesn't reflect your life, I'm sure it does but it's just one aspect of your life and it's one you choose, in the same way that a brand chooses which of its attributes and features to focus on.
Your personal brand may also have several facets to it. It will necessarily be different on Linkedin from Facebook, or Twitter, or your blog, or Pinterest, or Google+ , however, the sum total is your online presence and there are a growing number of companies who want to measure you online such as Klout and Peer Index. They use complex algorithms (are there any easy ones?) to work out your online influence and give you a score and of course brands want to connect with these valuable, high-scoring opinion formers. I recently heard of someone who got down to the last two for a senior marketing role in a FTSE 100 company and lost out because they had no Klout score. So increasingly it would seem, it's going to matter.
Just like any other brand, you are not completely in control of your online identity - it's a two way street and people may write articles about you - good and bad, people may post video or pictures of you online which you would rather they hadn't (Prince Harry knows a little about this) or there may be unwanted publicity through some incident, like the person I Googled just before an interview to discover they were in litigation with a previous employer about a trifling matter - unsurprisingly I didn't give them the job.
We're always telling our clients that it's critical they are out there projecting a positive online brand profile, engaging with their audience and setting the agenda, rather than the other way around, and the same goes for you.
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