Personal Branding: All or Nothing

It can take a life time to make but one action to lose everything you have worked for.  Some say the first impression is everything, but sometimes you can you can fix the damage.  After you have got your foot in the door and have made a name for yourself, there are more important things you need think about.  You need to think about everything you do and how you do it, because one wrong move can take everything you worked for away.

Personal brands don’t end after five pm or start at nine in the morning, personal branding is your person reputation.  When your looked at as an icon, everything you do, say, hold, wear, talk, is focused on.  Some cases don’t end up as bad as others, but people always remember what has happened in the past, most will always hold you to it.  The hard part is that it could be something you wouldn’t even think about that could destroy your personal brand image.  In my opinion, I think everything comes with a price, so is it worth it?.

Thinking ahead is the key to having less bad situations.  In history there have been some severe damages to personal brands, such as The Dixie Chicks, Tiger Woods, TTC chairman: Adam Gaimbrone, and Seinfeld's Michael Richards.  It happened as fast and simple as The Dixie Chicks and Michael’s comments, or Tiger Woods and Adam's night out with another woman, which cost them everything they worked for.

There have also been cases not so severe like Dwayne Howard, Maple leaf Foods, Michael Jackson and almost every music singer or movie star.  Whether it’s changing a team, an unclean work station or random actions everything effects your personal brand.  There are even cases most people don’t realize or see like when Britney Spears drank coke on set for Pepsi.  So watch what you do.

Personal branding, when it all comes down to it, it's all about earning respect and building relationships.  If people don’t like how you act, say, or even what you believe, they will not like or support your personal brand.  It could take a life time to make a personal image something big, so watch what you say and do, so you don’t lose everything that is in your life.

Some Case links: Dixie chicks, Tiger Wood, & Michael