Why I Regret Not Building a Personal Brand Ten Years Earlier
It’s not something you can afford to ignore anymore
Do you roll your eyes at social media influencers and think they are mostly pathetic, attention-grabbing fake people? While clearly, some are cringe-worthy, times are changing. Building a personal brand is becoming mandatory in the modern world for EVERYONE. People without one will regret it.
Now I am suspicious of anyone under fifty who says they don’t have social profiles. What are they hiding? Are they anti-social, in general? What is wrong with them?
Let me set it straight for the record: I am a Gen Xer. My generation did not grow up with the Internet. It may feel like a different time period altogether because it was. My parents had a rotary phone (Millennials, you can google that) and I listened to cassette tapes in my bedroom as a teenager. We learned DOS computer systems in school. When I entered the workforce, Google was in its’ infancy and Facebook and YouTube didn’t yet exist.
Business used to be based on a personal connection. You actually met people in-person. Your circles were smaller but more meaningful. Networking meant grabbing a beverage and working your way around a large room filled with people to introduce yourself. You handed out paper business cards. Then you…