Do you need a new logo? This infographic from watermark design should help you figure that out.

Click here to view the full image.

Seesmic is doing something really cool right now that I think you all should check out. They’re releasing 30 videos (1 each day) to teach you how to build your own brand online. I haven’t gotten a chance to watch them yet, but when I do I’ll try to post the best ones here for you, but definitely check them out.

You can find the videos on their blog.

The term ‘personal branding’ has always intrigued me. A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by Brand-Yourself.com and one of the questions I was asked was “What’s the difference between personal branding and social branding?”. Here’s the answer I gave:

People have different definitions for it, but when I hear the term personal branding I think of individuality and self-improvement. While self-promotion is an important aspect of branding/packaging one’s image, I like the idea of a social brand better.

If you have a social brand, you have a network of friends that become a part of your personal brand, and you can build healthy relationships with like-minded people in your field. If the idea is to get noticed, I would consider growing a community over a personal brand any day.

Since then, I’ve been giving this question a lot of thought. While thinking about it, I’ve come to realize that I’ve never really considered what I do to be personal branding. I came up with the term ‘social branding’ because it always felt like a more direct way of portraying what I’m all about.

To further illustrate the point I’m trying to make, view these definitions of the words ‘personal’ and ‘social’ from Dictionary.com:

Notice any differences between these two words?

I believe in transparency.

When I think of personal branding, I think of a method of branding one’s self image the way he/she would want to be perceived by others. You’re essentially telling others who you are, rather than showing them.

If you go about building your brand socially–through engagement, content creation, and consistency–your “personal” brand will be defined by the relationships you make with people. In my opinion, this is a more effective way of building your brand because it allows you to be yourself and others to form their own opinions of you. Let your actions define who you are. Be transparent.

What do you think about personal branding? Do you have anything to add to the discussion? If so, leave a comment below!

Gary Vaynerchuk posted this video on his blog a little earlier today, and I thought it was really interesting so I decided to share it. Gary talks about how he has the strange feeling that social media is going to get re-branded at some point because it doesn’t really feel like media. He equates this to how we all used to refer to the Internet as the World Wide Web.

After watching this, I have to agree with Gary on this one (not that I’ve ever disagreed with him in the past). I care a lot about social media, but what I care about isn’t the ‘media’ part so much as the ‘social’ aspect of these technologies. In fact, rather than thinking of media in terms of news platforms and information, I tend to think of it as being similar to multimedia–audio and video content that engages audiences.

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a re-branding of the term ‘social media’. In fact, we are merely the early adopters of a new and innovative form of technology. As this integrates further and further with the Internet’s landscape, it will be really interesting to see how it is portrayed on the grand scale.

What are your thoughts on this recent topic? Leave your ideas in the comment section below!

One of the things I’m constantly thinking about when it comes to my blog is whether or not to make it more or less personal. What I mean by that is, what is the best approach–to create posts that inform/educate that are mostly supported facts, or create posts based around my thoughts and opinions so you get a feel for who I am?

The conclusion I’ve come to is both. I can’t be afraid to change up my style every once in a while. After all, it is my blog, so why wouldn’t I control my own content?

Due to writing a lot of technical articles for sites like Make Use Of, I’ve grown pretty accustomed to just researching a topic and putting my spin on it to inform users of what an application is and how it can help. That’s great and all, and I try to do that here as well, but sometimes I just want to put on my headphones and write down my thoughts, kind of like I’m doing right now.

So, what does this mean?

What does this have to do with branding? Everything. If you’re working on building your brand, you need to take control of your content. Let people know who you are. Creativity can go a long way as far as establishing yourself in people’s minds as an expert in your field, and you can’t be afraid to change up your style.

As long as your blog has a central theme people will enjoy hearing your take on a popular topic or your perspective on how to do something. Don’t worry about creating a blog that everyone will love. Just be yourself and let your content portray your authentic self.

I’m going to try harder to be myself around here, but don’t think you’re not gonna learn anything.

What’s your preferred writing style? Can I learn a lot about you from reading your blog?

Leave your thoughts, ideas, comments, criticisms, and praises below!

Image Credit: redfloor

Today I thought I would rep a fellow brand manager’s goods. Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, is a leading authority in personal branding and a representative of Gen Y. He was recently honored in Inc.com’s 30 Under 30, which is a real honor. If you like Dan’s tips and articles on his Personal Branding Blog, you should check out his Personal Branding Magazine.

Here is everything you need to know about this issue:

Summary

Volume 4, Issue 1 is focused on philanthropy and how you can grow your personal brand if you give back. Helping other people doesn’t only mean donating to charity; it means supporting a cause that aligns with who you are as a person. By targeting a specific nonprofit or charity, you will be more passionate about helping them out, and achieve far greater results. In this issue, we interview Candace Cameron Bure and other philanthropists that are changing the world, one person at a time.

Features

• Full paid issue (August 1st): 25 articles
• Sample issue: 11 articles, including how to raise money for charity, standing out for what you believe in, and a new kind of philanthropy for a new kind of world.
• Interviews with: Candace Cameron Bure (DJ Tanner from ABC’s Full House), Bob Costas (NBC Sports Commentator), Tory Johnson (Good Morning America), Beth Kanter (author of The Networked Nonprofit), Monica Van Neumann (Style Expert), and Sam Jones III (Smallville).

You can get a free sample of Issue 13 of the Personal Branding Magazine here.

Hear what Dan has to say about the magazine in this video:

What do you think of the magazine? Leave your thoughts below!

Today I wanted to talk about a great app I use called WiseStamp. WiseStamp is an extension for Google Chrome and Firefox that allows you to take control of your email signatures. And by take control, I mean put your signature on steroids.

WiseStamp allows you to keep track of multiple email signatures, including those for Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and AOL. It enables you to customize your signature with fonts, colors, pictures, and even social links and feeds. Allow me to show you how I’ve used this extension.

Here you can see the app’s layout. The editor allows you to set a default signature, change settings, and it gives you a lot of options for editing and incorporating your brand into your signature. You can be creative while still maintaining your professionalism. Below you will see tabs to add social profiles to your signature as well. There are dozens of profiles to choose from.

On the RSS tab, you can add your blog’s RSS feed. This will place a link to your most recent blog post at the bottom of your signature, which is a great way to garner attention for your blog/brand.

When you’re done creating your signature, you can hit preview. Here’s what mine looked like after I finished. In the settings, you can choose to auto-insert your signatures into your emails or you can simply add them by clicking the WiseStamp icon.

Will you be using WiseStamp to brand your email signature? What other apps do you like using? Leave a comment below!

Today I just wanted to talk a little bit about the importance of guest posting. Whether you are a blog owner or just a frequent visitor of others’ blogs, writing guest posts can help spread your brand across different platforms and audiences.

Examples?

Helping your peers is never a bad thing. I have been trying to expand my writing across different websites and have been met with much success. Aside from blogging here, I write for Make Use Of, The Daily Buggle, and have been entertaining requests for guest posts on other sites like Gen Y Journey and Weigh Your Mind. I’m also being interviewed for an upcoming post on Brand-Yourself.

What’s Your Point?

The point I’m trying to make is that if you are trying to be found online you should get your work out there. You’d be surprised how many great sites are looking for guest posts or contributions. If you have your heart set on guest posting for a high-profile website, shoot them an email inquiring about your post. It really helps to write the post first and then send it to them asking if they’ll use it. Also, you may want to write for a few other sites first so you have some well-written samples of your work to show them.

I will definitely be talking more about this in the future as I am just speaking off the top of my head here, but I’m a true believer of guest posting and helping out your fellow blogger.

If you feel you have any great branding info you can contribute to this blog, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Image Credit: hoefi

Over the past several weeks I have shared a lot of information pertaining to brand management and utilizing social media. One of the things I have yet to discuss is the importance of developing a plan, so today we’re bringing it back to the basics.

Planning and organization are two underrated skills in my opinion. You can do all the work you want developing your brand but if you don’t formulate and stick to a solid plan it’s practically worthless.

Admittedly I’m trying to get better at this myself so suffice it to say I will be covering this in more detail in the near future, but here’s what I have so far:

1. Make Lists

To-do lists are important. I keep a pen and pad on my desk at all times just so I can jot down ideas as they randomly pop into my skull throughout the day.

I try to write down what I need to accomplish in categories. Anything from blog maintenance to important articles I want to remember to read go on my list. I have items dealing with blogging, web design, email marketing, communicating, and organization.

If you think about it you can always come up with something you should improve on.

2. Make Schedules Too

Schedules are just as important as lists. In fact, a lot of times you need to make a schedule just to manage your lists. I use Google Calendar to keep major appointments and deadlines organized. Whenever I create a new event I make sure to add an email reminder to it so I don’t forget anything.

Having hard copies of your different schedules can also be helpful. I use a site like PDF Calendar to print out individual months that I can then write my tasks on. I keep track of all of my blog-posting duties this way and I even have a calendar for my gym schedule.

3. Gather Information

I have never seen a rule saying you can’t borrow ideas from your competitors. What I mean by this is take a look at other people that are successful in the same field as you. What are they doing that really catches your attention?

I like to bookmark (and later print) any information that I would find useful or helpful in developing my business plan. Gathering ideas is important because it can help get your brain flowing and spark an idea of pure genius.

If you get enough good ideas down you should be well on your way to developing a solid business strategy.

4. Write Down Your Plan

Lastly (for now), write down your plan. Take all the to-do lists, schedules, and information you’ve gathered and use that to develop your strategy.

Depending on what field you are in your strategy will be different, but one thing I think everyone is going to need is a solid marketing plan. Email marketing, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, product launches, content creation, giveaways, events, you name it. Get organized and write out a plan so you can capitalize on all the information you have collected.

Do you have any advice to add? Leave a comment below to start the discussion.

Image Credit: Jan Willem Geertsma

This video features David Brier, veteran branding specialist and award-winning designer. He discusses what makes some logos work while others fail, as well as the value in developing the right brand.

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.