The Two Things You Need for a Personal Brand

“If I could only be like him.”

How many times have you said that about someone in your life? Maybe you’ve said it about someone you’ve seen on TV, or in a movie.

I know I’ve said it. That’s why when I’m at home alone, I act like a playing a video game, trying to be the heroes I see on my TV screen.

Shut up.

You know you do something just like that too.

When we talk about personal brands in social media, we look at people like Gini Dietrich, or Mari Smith, or Chris Brogan and we worship them for their ability to create a cult of personality around themselves. But is it really just a narcissistic circle jerk?

There are two things that go into strong personal brand:

1. Strong values to stand for.
2. Great work to stand behind.

You don’t have a personality if you don’t stand for anything. When you don’t have any values you’re a barnacle, clinging onto whatever values you can. Or maybe you’re just clay, molded into whatever values are acceptable from one person to the next.

People with great personal brands hold strong values. I believe that half-assed social networking is ruining our ability to communicate with one another. I also believe in the power of humor to educate.

These values fuel the work I do. They make sure that whatever I do, my work support those values. They charge me with doing the best work I can. This includes my online persona. I don’t allow myself to suck just because I’m trying to figure out “the Twitter” or whatever the next social networking craze is.

You don’t need tips, hints and guides to have values and do great work. All you need is a spine and the gumption to do the work.

Stop worrying about your personal brand. Start worrying about what you value, and how you can do better work.

Once you’ve got those under control, your personal brand will reveal itself.