As someone who has worked on building brands for close on 25 years, I’ve always been perplexed how many people don’t understand the value or importance of their own personal brand.
It can be the most valuable asset you have.
Sure, we can’t control completely how others see us, but we can contribute to that perception with everything we write, share, do and say.
I saw a rather neat example (one that’s at the extremes – always good as a demo) of this yesterday.
Wednesday 6 April at 4 pm
On Wednesday 6 April at 4pm, Hewlett-Packard (HP) shares in the US were $34.91 each.
Less than 24 hours later, the shares had skyrocketted over 17% to $41.10.
(They’ve since dropped ever so slightly to $40.06 – a touch over a 14.5% increase on the $34.91 entry price.)
Why? Because of someone’s personal brand.
It was Warren Buffett
You see, Warren Buffet, the legendary CEO of investor group Berkshire Hathaway, purchased a $4.2 billion stake in HP on Wednesday.
Once the average punter heard that, they’ve assumed that HP is massively undervalued (otherwise Buffett wouldn’t have invested in it) and have piled on to send the shares through the roof.
So Buffett, because of the value of his personal brand, essentially made $600 million in one day.
Like I said, it’s an example at the extreme, but a pretty neat demonstration of the value of personal branding.
P.S: If you’re looking at understanding your personal brand a little more, I can recommend “Brand Aid – Taking control of your reputation – before everyone else does” by Larry Linne, CExP™ Linne and Pat Sitkins.
Cheers
