All of the personal branding gurus out there are leaving out an important piece of the puzzle.
Yes, you should try to discover your life’s passion. But what’s next?
According to Mark W. Schaefer, consultant, speaker, and author of Known, the missing piece is applying your passion in service of a long-term goal.
For example, talking about my obsession with cupcakes is not going to help my personal brand unless I’m opening a bakery.
Mark is a masterful teacher, and he uses extensive interviews with successful people to give the reader actionable advice. He pulls back the curtain on regular people who found the right niche, built an engaged audience, and then patiently activated that audience to achieve a goal.
He’s the right person to talk about this subject, since he left the corporate world and started over as a consultant, using blogging as his calling card to become known in a new professional niche. His blog, {grow}, is now one of the top marketing blogs in the world.
My favorite thing about this book is that it’s written in Mark’s inimitable voice, as if you’re old friends. It’s not a stuffy, by-the-numbers business book.
Each person interviewed brings a new insight to the story, whether it’s the “grandpa who shoots things on YouTube,” or the blogging pediatrician. You’ll just have to read the book to meet these interesting characters.
There is also a separate workbook that takes the lessons from the book and provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the process to become “known.” Each question or prompt will provoke deeper thought and encourage you to put some meat on the bones of your professional plan.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to be heard and recognized above the din. You’ll find inspiration and solid ideas in one entertaining package.
Disclosure: I consider Mark a friend, but he did not request this review or send me a free book (what’s up with that?). I forked out my own hard-earned dollars to purchase it, and these are my unvarnished opinions.
Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee
