"NOT having a personal brand is like standing in a stadium full of people and hoping work will find you."

There is a difference between a personal "brand" and being a kickass 10 year-old pitcher. What your son has is budding reputation, not a brand.

The brand comes in when he/you/the coach/the company starts putting a phrase, ID or "brand" around your son.

In my case, building a personal brand inside Dell was vital to my survival. In a company with over 80k workers and lots of really smart people how would I get my name on the radar of the executives that might actually give me a shot at something bigger than I was already working on?

This was never more apparent then during a global online "innovation" contest.

When I stepped up, after about 30 or so entrants, one of the insiders hooted, "Jay-Maaac!" My nick name had become a brand. And at that moment I stuck out from the crowd as someone to be watched.

See the full article at http://uber.la/archives/4288

John McElhenney
Member of ADVBOUCLE & PARTNERS's Marketing Consultants Network