I caught a nice segment on the Today show this morning – they had Steve Abudato on to talk about his new book “You Are the Brand“.
Readers will notice a great similarity between what I’ve said and this other Steve’s suggestion that branding is an essential component of every professional’s toolbox.
Don’t evaluate it based on my credentials…
The first thing that pops out is that Steve has a different last name than I do – but that’s ok – we’ll forgive him for that;-)
And right after that one notices that he has a PhD. His LinkedIn profile indicates that it’s from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers – so his credentials are right up there.
Me – I saw how useful a personal brand was way back and just keep telling people that it’s true. Steve – he’ll show you why a personal brand is useful.
In fact, that’s what You Are the Brand is – a series of personal brand case studies.
Why?
Again – I’ve been saying “this personal branding stuff is important”, and you’ve been able to dismiss it as just some words from a leading LinkedIn authority… But here’s Adubato’s take on it:
Branding is important for you too–that is, if you want to be more successful than you are right now.
And that’s a nice way of putting it – you don’t have to care about personal branding. Life will go on, the earth will continue to orbit, and the sun will rise.
But if you’d like to be more successful – well then you ought to consider it…
Please forgive his profile
On the subject of LinkedIn, Adubato is apparently not very invested.
Sure, he’s got a profile and 438 connections, but when you’ve won an Emmy, host 3 PBS shows, and regularly appear on the TODAY Show, CNN, FOX News, FOX 5 in New York and CNBC as a media and communication analyst, you might not have to care too much about your LinkedIn profile.
(Of course you know I’m being a bit sarcastic – he should definitely transfer the information he’s already generated in his “About Steve Adubato” page into his LinkedIn profile, take a personalized profile link and point to “Caucus Education Corporation” instead of “Company Website”)
Cobblers and children
It’s more likely that he’s just so darned busy that he doesn’t really care much about social media – it’s not like he’s a marketing expert or … oh … well … he is a marketing expert, but his specialty’s in crafting a brand, not necessarily promotion …
Hmmm… I’m not sure I have a graceful way to get Steve out of this predicament other than to say – his twitter account is very barren too, so he’s not using other social media more than he’s using LinkedIn.
(And Steve – If you’re reading this – sorry for the humor here – and I can help you with LinkedIn – call me)
What’s your brand?
Other than worrying about the potential need to fight off lawyers after I use some vikings in a commercial, I’d like to put dibs in on this line.
Really – what is your brand?
If you don’t have one, everybody else will be creating one about you – based on what they hear, see, and remember. The question that follows is: how close is that to something you’d like them to be thinking?
And wouldn’t you rather just create a personal brand that is exactly what you’d like people to think about you?
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock