subject: 3 Things to Avoid While Enhancing Your Business Using Personal Branding! [print this page] 3 Things to Avoid While Enhancing Your Business Using Personal Branding!
While personal branding is a powerful tool for accelerating your business through the loyal following you have managed over the net, it still has its limits which must be respected at all times. The fact is that internet search engine databases cache info for long periods meaning that your previous life can be made available to the public at large and the interested ones in particular. So, any kind of unwanted info that can cause harm to your image is what is going to kill your brand also.
The most common mistake that people do and you therefore, must avoid is misdirection. Whether it is faking your resume by including nonexistent projects or stretching project durations to cover periods of unemployment, these are actions that can always create problems for you later. The corner stone of personal branding is transparency. That is the reason people follow a person's posts and blogs instead of following those of companies who can hire 20 other people to write on the same subject. Hence, keep away from misdirecting people and your brand will go a long way.
As I mentioned earlier, hiring ghost writers to do your articles or blogs will never go down well with your followers. Take the case of Guy Kawasaki. His twitter following was hit hard when he admitted to using ghost writers for writing most of his works. The fact is that people adored him for they thought that the insightful tweets were all him, but upon knowing the truth, many like me felt cheated. Personal branding is all about authenticity and truth.
A total killer for any individual successful in personal branding is stopping what he does best, and trying to change tracks. This is an absolute no-no for anybody who has the slightest inkling for personal branding. When you inform on a particular subject and make a niche for yourself, do understand that your followers consider you be passionate about that subject and hence the following. So, make sure that your interest area is subject localised as your expertise on that particular subject is what will turn you into a brand.
