Takuya Hikichi

Socially Brandable

Branding – It’s one of the most spoken, yet least understood elements of marketing. If someone who has never studied marketing asks you what branding means, what would you say?

It is the perception? The gut feeling? The impression about you? All of the answers are correct and they’re all intuitive. A subjective feeling of how others observe you becomes your brand.

Mashable’s Dan Schwabel takes this subject a step further. He challenges you to establish a brand online and maintain it, particularly with the use of Social Networking tools.

Here is the summary of what Dan has to say.

“To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal. Your self-impression = How people perceive you”.

Then gives what he calls ”Personal Branding Toolkit” with list of things you can use to highlight brand.

Speaking of online presence, Schwabel reminds us

“Don’t be fooled by the myth that if you build it, they will come. Unless you’re the luckiest person on earth, you’ll have to actually communicate everything you’ve created to others”.

Then in the following article, he goes on to talk about how to maintain a brand once you establish it.

Schwabel mentions,

“…what others say about your brand (especially if they are respected and well-known) is more impactful than what you say about yourself”.

There are two main parts to brand maintenance that matter: online “spring cleaning” and careful listening.

“Online ’spring cleaning’: As your brand grows, you must ensure that all the online assets that you have control of grow in the same respect”.

“Careful listening: People are going to be talking about you in various places, such as Twitter, blogs, social networks and more. You need to keep track of what they are saying, so that you can respond accordingly”.

In summary, Schwabel says

“It all starts with you. You can make anything happen and now, with these social tools, it’s easier to accomplish more in less time. People that can help you accomplish your dreams are at your fingertips. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do and surround yourself with the people that can help in your personal branding conquest”.

Socially Brandable

Copyright by Takuya Hikichi © 2008-2009