There was once a time when if you had a business idea, you created the business, and from there you would run the business. Perhaps you ran it alone, or perhaps you had a team but either way, you and the business were separate. You were the business owner and the business, was well, the business.
The business had its own logo, a bio, and a variety of other brand-specific elements, but what about the owner? Did the owner or CEO have a following? In most cases, the answer is no. Not only did the traditional business owner not have a following, many times people didn’t even know who they were. They often created a business and the service or product sold itself…or not. The business owner benefited solely from the success of that business and everything that came along with it.
But times have changed. Now the power is all in the personal brand. Personal branding is the reason why people who don’t have a reputation as a business owner can create a product or service and have it be extremely successful. Because now, you are the brand. On the downside, it’s also the reason why there are hundreds if not thousands of amazing businesses out there that aren’t successful because they don’t have the manpower behind them.
From a career standpoint, it only makes sense. Say you have a business, and that business falls into trouble or comes to an end. Your well-being is in the hands of that business, so your success as an individual will be affected. Opportunities, connections, etc. attached to that business are no longer available to you because it’s hard to establish connections when no one knows who you are.
This is why it’s so important to establish yourself as a powerful brand. If you are the brand the possibilities are limitless. Once you coin yourself as the expert, as the one with the value, as the professional, as the one with the goods – the power is in your hands from that point on. No matter how many businesses you create, people will follow because they’ve connected with you the brand.
