Maybe Lyell has the idea that there is also a breakdown of conventions and they do have proper roots even though much of the actions we've been practicing all along.

With what Craig is saying, lately my consults with on clients have been that we can no longer hide behind the company label. That you will be opened up and inspected along side your “corporate values”, and that if you don't match that identity or support those roles you will be called out upon it.

To me it is my hope that this transparency creates a deeper trust with people not scamming and those who try and scam or belittle their customers and brand will not be supported.

Anywho, good stuff, good discussion.

I'm thinking along the lines of stacking up social media marketing aphorisms, getting the following:

A. Brands are conversations.
B. Companies can't control conversations (though they need to monitor and participate)
C. Therefore, companies can't control brands.

Substitute “people” for “companies” as needed.

Specious reasoning? Maybe. Like I said, I still need to think about it some more. Thanks — Joe

On your point about name as business — clearly, there's a role for it, whether as a standalone as yours, or a hybrid: John Doe, REALTOR; Jane Doe of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, etc, and they're not etched in stone.

And branded or not, as many have noted, the Internet makes our stupidity and our mistakes, as part of our greater body of work, a lot more readily accessible to the world — no getting around that…

Thanks — Joe

The lines of work and home were only born in the last couple hundred years, think back to pre-industrial when work/home life was very much connected. We separated them within a factory and now once again we're merging the two. Some are struggling with what this means, others are just swimming like they were meant to. While this occurs we get to see the great convulsions and gyrations of those with star power (anyone else scarred of Oprah? hehe).

Anyhow, you are who you represent, you still need to watch what you say, you still need to show value and you will still be checked if you try and be something in the end you are not.

The terms “personal brand” and “personal reputation” are not interchangeable nor do they mean the same thing, and perhaps that is the source of confusion. “Brand” precedes and defines “reputation” in a space where your reputation is not already known.

Prior to the advent of the web, search engines and social media platforms, your personal brand was called “your resume,” at least in professional circles anyway, and it had severely limited distribution. Your resume was, or should have been, crafted to present your reputation in a positive light, in a way that would appeal to your target audience who had no prior experience with your prior accomplishments. Your resume preceded and defined your professional reputation.

Today we can easily reach out much farther than before, and in the case of “reputation management,” we can be reached by many more people much easier than ever before, and it's only getting easier. That means many more people who have no idea of your accomplishments might be trying to draw conclusions about who you are. Enter the “personal brand.”

I want to control as best as I can my image that people may discover. I want to avoid the possibility that someone may have an idea of who I am that is not to my benefit. So I craft a brand that says what I want people to think about me; I craft a promise of my past and future accomplishments; I craft trustworthiness and reliability; I craft all the same concepts that companies do through their brands for myself. Then I have to deliver on that promise, just like companies do, or the brand will fail; the brand will be untrustworthy creating the wrong reputation.

Brands are not for the existing “customers” of the brand; that's what reputation is for and where reputation is built. Brands are for future customers; a promise of reputation to be delivered. The brand defines and precedes the reputation.

My name is Lyell E. Petersen, and my personal brand is 93octane. Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Lyell E. Petersen / 93octane
@93octane on Twitter

On another note … someone like myself who uses my name as my brand (e.g. mayraruiz.com) … years ago, when I had my marketing practice version 1.0, I operated under a more company-sounding name. It caused me all kinds of strife in many ways; I felt I was trying to be something bigger than I was … and people/clients thought I had a staff or a commercial office location (vs. home office working from my residence). So on this version 2.0 go-round … in an effort to be more “transparent” (there's another over-used term!) … I didn't want to have to explain or defend or pretend to be something I wasn't. I just wanted to keep things real. It's only me here. Sure I work with a handful of folks but at the end of the day, most people hire me (I learned this from my last go of it) because they want *me* … they don't want me to sub-contract or farm out the work. They want the work product to be my own.

To this end, then, marketing or positioning myself honestly using my own name works for me at this point in time. Might it work for me 2 years from now. I'm not sure. But at this moment, as I type these very words here into this comment, it works for me.

Does this mean I have to be on patrol constantly to make sure I don't mess things up for myself. Sort of. I mean, I do always give every project my best effort and attention … but at the end of the day, last I checked … let me pinch myself to be sure ….ummm, yup! I happily confirm I'm still a human being just like my clients and just like my peers. Therefore, from time to time … a mistake or error surely is unpreventable.

I think having good, honest and open communications with clients is key and when there is a good relationship and foundation with clients, plus you can happily eat humble pie should you mess up, I think 99.99% of the time most people are cool and your “personal brand” maintains its integrity.

I could be wrong and surely others will have their own opinions. I can only speak for myself and this is what holds true for me.

Great post and I *thank you* for engaging my brain on a Friday morning!!!

Mayra