Life Beyond Code :: FREE eBook - Personal Branding for Technology Professionals

I just stumbled on a free eBook entitled Personal Branding for Technology Professionals by Rajesh Setty, a very successful entrepreneur and and high-powered technology business development consultant whose blog is a regular stop for me as I wander about in the Blogosphere.

While his book title implies that it is about technology professionals in particular, a quick read-through has shown me that its advice applies to any professional who wants to use the social networking power of Web 2.0 to build credibility and trust and to grow one's practice and/or career.

His way of depicting the pain that leads to the need for a personal brand can be summed up in three words:  "Commoditization Erodes Value."  You offer a high-value service that is unique for some period of time; then others learn how to provide the service or even improve upon it, and suddenly you find yourself in a war, competing on features and price.  It requires more and more effort to earn less return.

You seem to have three options: you can deny reality and live in a fantasy world, until it collapses; you can compete; or you can flee to greener pastures.

There is another option: building a personal brand. Branding can create premium value, allowing you to charge more for the same or even lesser services than your competitors; the brand will draw new customers who are paying for perceived value that goes beyond the commoditized aspects of your product or service.

Building a brand is hard; it takes time and energy, careful thought, and a willingness to be brutally honest with yourself and learn to change on the basis of your self-criticism. There is a flip side to this, though: because it is hard and takes time and effort that is outside the scope of day-to-day  activities that provide immediate returns, the personal branding approach is the "road less traveled," as Setty puts it.

He describes three of the major benefits of a powerful personal brand:

1. Higher value: I would clarify this a bit by changing it to higher perceived value. You can deliver more value, but if you compete on direct value alone, you are at risk of commoditization. The value you deliver is based on credibility and trust.  Clients come back to you time and again because they can sleep at night when their woes are in your capable hands.
2. Lower cost of sale: Word of mouth is simultaneously the lowest cost and highest value advertising you can have. Word of mouth is generated by a strong personal brand; people remember your name when it comes time to recommend someone who is in your niche to a friend or colleague.
3. Implied assurance:  Clients who enter into the transaction are easy to keep satisfied; clients who don't know you from Adam but are using your services based on price view the relationship through the lens of caveat emptor: buyer beware.

I haven't read this all the way through yet, but I have already learned on lot by page 7 of 40. Then again, I also know there is value here because I believe in and trust Rajesh Setty. That's also why I'm recommending you invest the time in reading this eBook, and encourage you to share it with others if you find it as valuable as I am finding it.

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

Perceived value is king because it is more about what others think about you than how you view yourself!