Standing out... where Personal Branding meets Marketing

For those starting to become more familiar with the whole idea of taking charge of your reputation and managing your profile online, you will undoubtedly have heard the terms 'personal branding' and 'market yourself'. Both key ingredients to career success. But, personal branding and marketing yourself are two very distinct concepts-- both equally important in the overall career strategy.

First, personal branding is about understanding who you are and what your strengths and weaknesses are, what you stand for and what you wish to be. Take William Arruda, CEO of Reach and a partner of Market Yourself Smarter/videoBIO in helping individuals to know themselves before sitting down in front of a camera for a videoBIO or thinking about a more concerted effort in building profile and marketing yourself. Reach has been in the personal branding business for years and is arguably the leader in the field for all things personal branding.

Next, there is the marketing step. This is the part where all of the groundwork comes together and is put to the acid test as you navigate through your career and create connections, make impressions and build success. Take videoBIO as a career marketing tool, for example. In order to get the best out of the videoBIO opportunity you need to know what you are putting into it. What are your key messages? What is your raison d'etre? What makes you unique and how do you convey this with energy and conviction?

So be sure to remember the one, two' step process when you are ready to launch your personal brand out into the market. Take care with your brand.