Tailored Blazers and Skinny Jeans http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com Sensemaking in the world where I speak of amounts of money I don't necessarily have (yet) posterous.com Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:56:00 -0700 If I Were A Brand http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/24/if-i-were-a-brand http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/24/if-i-were-a-brand

What is my brand? What brand am I? I am not sure if these two are the same question only stated in different manner so by default I only need to provide just one answer. Just the same, I am still at the point of exploring the possibilities. I have been asking myself this question for days now after reading an article somewhere, discussing the importance of personal branding. And as barrycade would put it, there is a sea of penguins (out there in the Arctic!!) that is vying for readers’/clients’/customers’/employers’ attention. How can I possibly stick out? The potential of new media as an avenue to make yourself (or your brand) popular or accessible (at least), or to generate income, is just so overwhelming.

Two-pieced attempt

Blogging.

There is an array of platforms that you can use to host your blog. Some are free, but if you want to get premium features, you will have to pay for it. Now what exactly do you blog about? It can be anything that interests you, but make sure you retain a unique voice that will serve as your selling proposition because surely, someone out there is going to talk about the same thing that you are tackling. As for me, I only maintain this communication blog and another personal blog, making me a journal blogger (without any pressure at all). When you start writing for the money, investing on your domain, then it becomes a different issue.

Social networking sites (SNS).

As of now, I only have two social networking accounts—Facebook and Multiply—that I manage to update monthly, if not weekly. For other people, though, the frequency may be higher. Good for them. The fact that our connections define how well we get to fare in the business will see these networking sites as really helpful tools. These sites also serve to reinforce whatever it is that you blogged about. It can make you gain more readerships because options like linking your blog to your SNS accounts gives you more ways to direct people to where your humble abode is. As you go drafting your blog entries or creating your SNS accounts, I am sure you think about what image to portray exactly, what voice to use consistently. I find answering those questions difficult because it is very much like asking me to define myself right now (and I will have to stick with what I will be saying for the rest of my life).

Apparently, it is not anymore just the business of companies to create a good branding for their products in their attempt to generate good, stable shares. All of us who, in a way, are utilizing the Web is actually encouraged to have our own personal brand because it is the only way by which we can stick out. We have changing roles after all. Today we are mere consumers, tomorrow we are the dragon producers.

Why do I put a lot of pressure on it now? I came across a statistic lately that is quite daunting: Only 1 out of 100 Filipinos will become wealthy. So with so much people in the Philippines (and the world), all trying to max out the potentials of new social media, I should get going now in my attempt to live a comfortable life in the future. What better time to start than now? :-)

Selling Noemi Stephannie Guerrero

Do I have to sell myself? This question may seem odd but I think that yes, I have actually been doing it subconsciously.

1)      I recently created my Google profile so that people will find me easier; so that my future employer will find me and the things that are related to me easier. That way, I can also control the information that they will see initially. I tried googling my name and it annoys me that my communication blog is nowhere in the first three pages of search results. There are so much clutter that I need to exert conscious effort to actually optimize the results.

2)      I try to stick with just one username in the Web. It will probably take me some more time before I actually get to create a uniform identity online, but it is good to know that I am on my way there. I used to have just noemi717 as my username in any site. But now I am also ilovemobility, pearglace, noenoenoe, and guerreronoemi. Now who won’t get confused? In the same way that message consistency is a key to better communication, I think I will have to apply the same principle when establishing my identity. Good thing there are sites like Ping or HelloTxt, which can make updating all your SNS accounts a breeze, no matter how different your usernames may be. It goes without saying, then, that neither facelessness nor having multi-personality in the online world is something that should not be tolerated. If you want to enjoy the benefits and convenience that the new media can afford you, you will have to have that single branding that is unique to you. And with this, I return to the spirit of this entry. What brand am I exactly? Having a unique, recallable and single name does not suffice, I think. There is always more to the name after all. I guess I still need to figure out what that something is.

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