Personal Branding Decision – How Do You Describe Yourself?

Here’s a personal branding question worth considering at the start of 2011:

• How do you describe yourself to others?

Seems like there are three options. You can primarily describe yourself based on:

• Who you are
• Who you were
• Who you’re going to become

This personal branding question struck me after looking at the Twitter profile of a writer formerly at a well-known business publication. She had been downsized along with many others as part of a cost cutting move. In her 19 word personal Twitter profile, five words described her interests, five stated where she’s working now, and nine dealt with her former job.

Nothing’s wrong with that necessarily, but it makes it seem as if she’s a lot more invested in what she had been doing than what she’s doing now or where she’s headed in her future.

When I describe myself to others, it’s primarily about where I am, with a little bit of what I was, and really nothing of what I hope to become. In fact, using my “Brainzooming” Twitter profile to judge, only four words talk about where I am now, with the other eight words pointed toward what can be found at this website.

That doesn’t really cut it.

My challenge is creating a new description that incorporates where I’m headed along with more personal sharing about who I am as a person, not just a business.

How about you? How do you describe yourself?

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Mike Brown is an award-winning innovator in strategy, communications, and experience marketing. He authors the Brainzooming^TM blog, and serves as the company’s chief Catalyst. He wrote the ebook “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation” and is a frequent keynote presenter.