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Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Your #1 source for Personal Branding online. Learn how to discover, create and maintain your brand throughout it's lifecycle. Through multimedia, articles and sources from the most unique brands in the world, you will have the resources needed to be successful.

How to Build Your Brand While Being in a RelationshipYesterday

Today, I spoke with Brenda Della Casa, who is a dating and relationship expert. We’ve had a discussion about dating, as it relates to personal branding, in the past. Now it’s time to dive deeper into how successful relationships can work, while you are working hard to build your personal brand. It’s not easy managing a relationship, while managing your career, at the same time. I have yet to succeed in doing this, but Brenda gives great advice in this interview.

Brenda, how does a man brand himself as prince charming and how does a woman brand herself as “Cinderella”?

I don’t know that too many people actually brand themselves as Cinderella and the Prince but I do know there are plenty of intelligent, lovely, competent and complete women who buy into the idea that their life and accomplishments only have significance if they are in a relationship.

You’ve interviewed 1,000 guys (GOD help you). What were some of the comical responses you received? What do most guys want in relationships with women and the other way around?

Many men, by nature,

Personal Branding Clam Model of ProtectionYesterday

From time to time, I like to create models for some of my bigger ideas. At the end of last year, I contrived the Octopus Model of Relevancy for personal branding. It states that personal branding is made up of eight different topics, which all surround the head of the octopus (the personal brand).

This model owns an entire chapter in my new book, Me 2.0, because in order to grasp the entire idea surrounding the topic, you need to have working knowledge of everything it touches (each tentacle). All the posts on this blog, as well as in Personal Branding Magazine, use this model as a frame that illustrates what type of content you should expect. I’ll be using a different sea creature for each model, if you’re wondering.

Model introduction

I want to introduce you to another significant model that we’ll be using and referring to moving forward. When I started speaking about personal branding two years ago, my message was about promotion, not just self-promotion, but promotion in general. You also want to promote others, who will reciprocate by promoting you. By promoting both yourse

Become a Career Renegade Instead of Being Depressed at WorkNovember 20

Today, I spoke with Jonathan Fields, who is an author, blogger and much more.  He just launched his new blog based on his “Career Renegade” book today, in addition to an incredible new eBook called “The Fire Fly Manifesto.”  The purpose of this interview is to inspire you to start doing work you love, instead of being part of the status quo, dreading each day of work.  We’re not saying to quit your job, but we are telling you (begging you) to get on a career path, where you are happy AND make money.  It will take time, but the effort is worth it in the end.

Studies show that 75%-90% of Americans are dissatisfied with their work lives. Why does this happen?

That’s a mighty big question, and there are a host of day-to-day reasons, from conflicts with people to tasks, processes and settings that don’t jive with who we are.

But, in the end, it comes down to the fact that the vast majority of people are hired in jobs that summarily empty their souls, while shelving any number of other pursuits that would not only fill their bank accounts, but allow them to come alive.

Too many people hav

Magic Johnson Reinvents His Brand From Basketball to BusinessNovember 20

Branding Magic Johnson

When I think of Magic Johnson, the following words come to mind:

• Lakers - He took the Lakers NBA team to many championships.
• Basketball - He played basketball for most of his life.
• HIV - While playing basketball he was diagnosed with HIV.
• Philanthropy - He founded the The Magic Johnson Foundation.

How would you brand Magic Johnson?

Magic reinvents his brand

Before - basketball player

After winning a championship in high school and college, he was selected 1st in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson won a championship and a Finals MVP award in his first season, and the Lakers went on to win a total of five championships during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had HIV, but he returned to win the MVP of 1992 All-Star Game. He retired again for four years after protests from his fellow players, but he returned in 1996 to play 32 games for the Lakers, before retiring for the third and final time.

Johnson’s career achievements include five NBA championships, thre

Personal Brands Are More Successful in Diverse TeamsNovember 19

Today, I spoke with Scott E. Page, who is a professor at Michigan and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to diversity. For the benefit of my blog readers, I asked Scott a lot of questions on how diversity in teams is crucial to building a strong personal brand. One of the main conclusions you’ll see is that if you supplement your skills with a diverse team, you will be able to solve problems faster and smarter.

Scott, what is the real power in diversity?

I think everyone recognizes that solving hard problems and anticipating the future in a complex world requires enormous cognitive capacity. Given a cognitive task, we have two options:

• we can hope one person has the ability to accomplish it
• we can choose to rely on a team or a collection of people

As the task becomes harder, the team or collection becomes the better choice. Why? Diversity. Each person brings a unique set of tools, representations, and heuristics to bear on a problem. The value of diversity should be obvious: if you have cognitive diverse people, you have more tools to bring to bear. To see diversity as having pragmatic benefits much in the same way that we see ability as useful.