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Dan Schawbel is kind of a big deal these days – he has a book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success award-winning blog , and his reputation as the #1 personal branding expert. But while Dan’s articles can teach us a lot about how to use social media to brand yourself, I actually learn more about personal branding just from watching Dan work his magic.
Here are some of things I’ve learned:
Dan gives a lot of himself
As one of the Personal Branding Blog writers , I get the opportunity to talk to Dan on a fairly regular basis about everything he’s doing in his career. What I’ve found is he has a huge heart and gives so much of himself to everyone he possibly can. He speaks at local colleges and organizations, he writes articles all the time, he shares interesting information through his twitter account, he does press interviews, he answers questions via email, he writes LinkedIn recommendations for everyone he knows… the list goes on and on.
I recently wrote a post about How to be Popular on Social Media , and Dan is the epitome of one of the points – to make the conversation about your followers, not yourself. It’s no surprise that Dan has a great following, because he truly gives more than he ever asks.
Dan keeps track of his online brand
Dan uses every outlet he has to promote good content of others, but he never misses a chance for self-promotion. I think this is a great thing, because nobody is going to toot your horn for you. Promoting your own accomplishments gives you credibility among your followers and sets an example for what people like you can accomplish.
In Dan’s case, he always shares every article that is written about him, no matter how large or small the publication. The situation is win-win – Dan gets publicity and the publication gets traffic, an incentive that encourages other publications to interview Dan.
Dan writes a ton of articles for various publications
Dan is known as the personal branding expert, but he knows that personal branding is not a vacuum. That’s why Dan applies his subject (personal branding) to broader subjects so he can write on a variety of topics.
Dan also knows that in order to grow a reputation, you cannot invest too much time into one community . He knows that every networking connection is a series of transactions rather than an intense, ongoing conversation . Instead of becoming just another member in several communities, Dan builds his own community around his work. He accomplishes this by gaining more reach – tapping into other communities through his writing, and bringing a portion of those communities back to his own blog.
Dan takes his network with him
The great thing about Dan is he uses his own status to elevate others in his network with him. He is constantly sharing press and speaking opportunities with the people who support him and his career.
For example, the week before Dan launched his book Me 2.0, he emailed the entire Personal Branding Blog team to thank us for making his book launch so successful. In other words, he let us know we were contributors to the Me 2.0 launch and could share in its success. I know that as Dan’s career skyrockets, he will bring his network with him.
Dan wrote a book to move his personal brand forward
I recently wrote that blogging to demonstrate “expert” credentials was sooo 2007 . That’s not really fair, because Dan became a personal branding expert largely due to branding himself through his blog.
Not that Dan’s blog is his biggest accomplishment – not nearly. He simply used it as a stepping stone to make an even bigger career jump – writing his book.
While Dan did not get article in Business Week and the New York Times through his blog, he did get them because he had a book deal. So if you really want to become an expert, write a blog about a particular subject, and use your blog to sell a book.
But first you have to find a great hook that sells. And “personal branding expert” is already taken, unfortunately.
Dan is a Google Reader rockstar
I recently dusted off my Google Reader, and as I started using it, I was shocked to discover that Dan Schawbel shares, like, 50 articles a day. How the heck does he read that much, I thought?
But then I observed Dan’s shared items, and found a lot of truly great content. And I realized quickly it’s all in the title – you can skim article titles in Google reader and tell what’s going to be interesting and relevant to you and what’s not.
Now, I have over 200 feeds in my Google Reader. I give basically anyone who communicates with me in any way a chance, whether through commenting or sending me a message on Twitter. I add feeds to my reader without fear, because I can scan 500 posts, pick out and read the best 10 (based on titles), and share the most relevant 5 on Twitter and my blog in about 10 minutes .
I know this has to be how Dan Schawbel finds great content to share with his following, and has built a loyal fan base that makes him the personal branding expert he is today. And I love reading Dan Schawbel’s shared items because they are usually intelligent, insightful picks. And I think if I can share good picks with people, I can brand myself as someone in the know too.
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PS. I highly recommend Dan Schawbel’s book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success
Monica O'Brien is the Director of Digital at Fizz and author of the book Social Pollination, which helps businesses leverage social media for crazy growth!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Monica, way to give Dan “The Man” Schawbel some well deserved credit! He is clearly one of the leaders of our generation and packs more into a 24 hour day than most people do in a 7-day week. Great post and we can all learn a ton from Dan.
Great post- as always.
Oh, I wish I had thought of doing this – great post! Dan is the man!
Monica, Dan’s got a great network and his book is going to do well. It’s great that he had a team of bloggers at the Personal Branding blog to talk about his book at their own blogs. Very cool.
Thanks to everyone for the comments. Dan continues to inspire me and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!
Your observations about Dan Schawbel are quite correct. May we all do our best to bring the necessary change we desire in our world.
Celebration of a New Groundbreaking Personal Branding Book … http://bit.ly/A0mOj
Have You Created an Authentic Personal Brand in order to make money? …. http://tinyurl.com/cl7s46
Barack Obama’s Authentic Personal Brand … http://tinyurl.com/cm4v36
A 4-Point Survival Guide for Turning Personal Financial Crisis into Opportunity .. http://tinyurl.com/cb9r8b
Become a Certified Personal Brand Coach … http://tinyurl.com/cxkfgj
Celebration of a New Groundbreaking Personal Branding Book … http://bit.ly/A0mOj
Have You Created an Authentic Personal Brand in order to make money? …. http://tinyurl.com/cl7s46
Barack Obama’s Authentic Personal Brand … http://tinyurl.com/cm4v36
A 4-Point Survival Guide for Turning Personal Financial Crisis into Opportunity .. http://tinyurl.com/cb9r8b
Become a Certified Personal Brand Coach … http://tinyurl.com/cxkfgj
Celebration of a New Groundbreaking Personal Branding Book … http://bit.ly/A0mOj
Have You Created an Authentic Personal Brand in order to make money? …. http://tinyurl.com/cl7s46
Barack Obama’s Authentic Personal Brand … http://tinyurl.com/cm4v36
A 4-Point Survival Guide for Turning Personal Financial Crisis into Opportunity .. http://tinyurl.com/cb9r8b
Become a Certified Personal Brand Coach … http://tinyurl.com/cxkfgj
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