An important part of my brand
I was in LinkedIn updating some information and seeing what was going on with my network when I spotted this question “How can personal branding help entrepreneurs?” After reading through the responses, I decided to weigh in with my $0.02.
I have reproduced my response here, please feel free to weigh in in the comments here, or on the LinkedIn question itself:
I echo many of the sentiments expressed here. Having just launched my first entrepreneurial effort I have seen, first hand, some of these benefits.
However, I believe that anyone who interacts with an industry or business community already has a personal brand. There may be a question as to how you have maintained it and if you have groomed it.
Having a name and a brand has already been immensely helpful to my efforts. Not only has it provided exposure, but it has helped to grow my network and provide more credibility to my work.
So I would say that if you call yourself an entrepreneur, then you *already* have a brand, just maybe not a good one or the one you want. Get out there and introduce yourself to the world.
With respect to business brand. I firmly believe that it is something you need to think about out of the gate. You don’t need to invest serious time and/or money in it. However, you need to think about how you will be perceived by the market.
Understanding your target market can greatly influence the brand you attempt to build with your early efforts. It can take quite a bit of work to dig yourself out of perceived position if it’s not where you want to be.
Again, I can’t stress how helpful my personal network of business contacts has already been in working on ArgyleSocial. That network was created and maintained as part of my personal brand. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made over the past few years.
So what do you think? Where does brand fit into start ups and entrepreneurial efforts?
