A Personal Brand is Priceless

I recently did an April Fool’s blog post by suggesting that I was leaving the industry and selling the DeanHunt.com domain.

In this post I want to reveal why at the heart of this prank was a real and valuable message.

Ok, firstly, congrats to the many people who spotted the big clue in the post

Screenshot of the image properties below:

So here is the point I want to make regarding this…

Everyone has a personal brand, both on the Internet and in the real world.

It used to be called a “reputation” and these days it can be a powerful and extremely valuable asset.

Now, despite some people thinking that I was mad for requesting $125,000 for the DeanHunt.com domain, the reality is that I would NEVER sell it for that amount, not even for x10 that amount.

You see, your personal brand is built around you, and you are the most important thing you have.

Businesses come and go, trends come and go, investments rise and fall, but you, you are around for the long haul, so an investment of time, energy or money into YOU, is the safest and most logical investment you can make.

Tools like WordPress, Facebook, and even Twitter are great ways of increasing the reach of your personal brand, and we really do live in a time where it has never been easier, or more valuable to create a powerful personal brand.

You Don’t Have to Own YourName.com

When you hear of the brand “Apple” who do you think of? Steve Jobs

Microsoft = Bill Gates

Digg = Kevin Rose

You don’t have to have YourName.com to build a personal brand… as long as you are the voice or content provider for a business or website, then you have a personal brand already… whether you like it or not.

Personal Brands are Fluid

Over the past few years I have focused this blog on affiliate marketing, SEO, Buzz Marketing, Personal Branding and more…

I have blogged about my life in Madrid, then my life in Cheshire, then my life in Sussex…

I am able to do this because a personal brand is fluid, so once you have built up your profile, you can walk into ANY industry with an immediate advantage.

Oprah Winfrey is the best at this… she has created a huge personal brand, and now she sells, cars, books, diets, events, and is in literally hundreds of industries… if Oprah entered the Internet Marketing world tomorrow, she would be THE authority overnight.

Which means that…

A Strong Personal Brand is Recession Proof

If you can create an advantage over the majority, walk into virtually any industry and dominate overnight, have opportunities and offers flowing at you like a tidal wave… then you can be virtually recession proof.

This is one of the cool things about a strong personal brand.

If the wine industry crashes tomorrow… Gary Vaynerchuk can make millions as a speaker, marketer, etc… despite making a name for himself in the wine world, he was able to be fluid and take that credibility to new industries.

Times have changed, we no longer have to do the exact same thing for 50+ years, people with a strong personal brand have an almost unfair advantage.

It really is a fascinating subject, and over the coming weeks I will be doing some live shows and Q&As on Ustream with the brand consultant for Disney and Starbucks.

If you would like to be notified when we launch one of these spontaneous live shows, simply join my Facebook fan page.