About

This book is divided into five sections. First, you will become acquainted with our concept of a personal brand in Chapter 1. Specifically, you will be introduced to the three “Ms” of a personal brand- Meaning, Makeup, and Message- as well as learn why personal branding is no longer an optional strategy for managing your professional identity. A great deal of misinformation exists about what personal branding is, and we debunk personal branding myths in Chapter 2. The basics of branding are discussed in Chapter 3 as we recognize some readers will be familiar with branding terminology and practices while others have little or no familiarity with branding.

The next three parts of the book is devoted to one of the three Ms of personal branding. Part Two focuses on establishing brand Meaning. Purpose (Chapter 4), Passion (Chapter 5), Situation Analysis (Chapter 6), and Goal Setting (Chapter 7) are the elements of Meaning that lay a foundation upon which your brand is built. Part Three delves into brand Makeup, the skills, education, experience, and knowledge you have that can be used to create value for others. Discussion of brand Makeup components focuses on skill set (Chapter 8), mind set (Chapter 9), network (Chapter 10), and brand positioning (Chapter 11). Part Four explores the Message dimension of your brand. The role of storytelling (Chapter 12), social media in general and LinkedIn in particular (Chapter 13 and Chapter 14, respectively), creating brand content (Chapter 15), and your résumé (Chapter 16) are communication tools that play a role in expressing your Meaning and Makeup to the world.

The fifth section contains the concluding chapter that describes a fourth M. We are going to save it for Chapter 17. All we can tell you is it is a perfect bow to tie onto your brand, making it complete.