Today I attended a personal branding discussion at The Raleigh Forum lead by our very own VP of Social Media, Morgan Siem. She quickly engaged the room with some starter questions, including what we were looking for with branding, personal or professional. The consensus from our group was a little bit of both. It seemed that all of us were dealing with how much is too much vs. when is it too boring?
Morgan gave examples from her personal experience and explained that people will choose to work with you for who you are. First we discussed some words that describe branding: responsibility, consistency, and identity. She said that we should each choose a few words that we would like to describe us, ones that we would like people to say about us behind our backs, which will define our personal brand. Some of our group’s examples were: proactive, creative, flexible, innovative and progressive.
According to Morgan and her experience in this profession, she says that personality can drive business. When she was starting her professional career, she set down what she wanted her personal brand to be and went through her social profiles to make sure they were a match for the image she was trying to portray. A fantastic quote from this discussion is, “personal is professional now.” She expressed that it is important to know your audience and have consistency in your channels, even with yourself online to offline. Naming for your brand should be consistent through all channels so it is easier to locate all your information with one search.
From a big-picture standpoint, Morgan pointed out that at the end of the day a business is going to hire the person, not the resume. Trust and brand loyalty are important aspects, as well as your connections. Utilize your networks and build your brand tailored to who you are as a person.
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Holly Bazemore Social Media Coordinator at Media Two Interactive. 
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Thanks so much for the recap, Holly! Also thanks to the Raleigh Forum for inviting me to speak. I thought that there were some really great questions from the group, which made for a really great discussion. One that stood out to me asked about how much of the goofy or playful side of your personality should you show and should you worry that it can potentially turn people off and be seen as unprofessional behavior? Personally, I think that showing your goofy side is a great way to brand yourself and stand out. What I’ve learned is that everyone has a part of his or her personality that will turn some people off, but I think it’s beneficial to be upfront and open about what kind of person you are and what you stand for. That way, you turn off the people with whom you wouldn’t want to do business anyway, and you attract like-minded people with whom you’ll likely have long-lasting and strong business relationships.