Rosetta Thurman recently wrote a manifesto for why young professionals should care about personal branding and social media.  (She is also offering a 7-day boot camp on personal branding!  Early bird discount ends tonight).  I thought her manifesto on personal branding raised a lot of interesting points and there are a few I’d like to highlight:

A lot of young professionals complain that they gets no respect. Why would we? We’re young. People think we don’t know anything. That we haven’t done anything. Now in some cases this is true, don’t get me wrong, but in many cases it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Young professionals often have advanced education; a rich portfolio of work, volunteer and internship experiences; and a fiery passion for the cause.

The only problem? We’re not visible to senior leaders. No one can “see” us because we’re not at the tables. Especially if we’re the assistants and the interns.

But that’s the great thing about having access to social media. You might be a lowly administrative assistant at your organization, but on Twitter, you can be a rockstar.

Social media makes it so that thousands of people can “see” you and follow your work and leadership. Social media can make you more visible to all the right people – if you use it right – if you market yourself with professionalism and authenticity.

I think this gets to heart of why personal branding can be so powerful.  We often talk about how social media has democratized communication.  While the idea is not perfect, the premise is compelling: these tools allow us to share and connect in ways that are more accessible and engaging than ever before.   The ability for folks using social media to break barriers does  not only apply to communities facing inequality in general; we can also address the very inequality that seeps into our organizations and affects our working relationships. We can advocate for ourselves and our communities and push for greater opportunities.

Ironically, personal branding has an awful reputation (ha!) for being impersonal and fake.  It doesn’t need to be that way and focusing on your gifts and the gifts of others requires you to be open, generous, and humble.  The human part of personal branding is crucial for success.  Just think about the people you are most likely to follow/fan/subscribe to.  Are they just “me me me!” or are they asking, engaging, and sharing ideas and challenges that the both of you care about? If we look at personal branding as more than just “I need a job!” and instead look at it as a conversation about pressing issues in our sector/causes and how each of us is best positioned to address these issues, we’ll be better able to see, share, and enjoy the benefits.

I didn’t start blogging with big dreams of landing a fly job some where with a big organization.  I started out wanting to connect with folks who shared my  love and sometimes not-so-much-love of public service.  The ups and downs in the sector and how to get over them.  But folks started asking me different questions…harder questions.  I started going to different conferences and meeting folks that demanded I figure out who I was and what I stood for.  It is through the connections I have made through this blog and the expectations of friends and readers that I’ve been able to grow and find better opportunities.

So you want to get the most out of personal branding?  Focus on growth and connections.  Pay attention to people.  Be open about what you believe and why you believe it. Don’t call it personal branding (I hate the term too–if you have a better phrase, let me know).

What are your thoughts on personal branding?