A Personal Branding Tale Part 3 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

A Personal Branding Tale Part 3 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career You have been in your new role after being promoted for close to one year â€" you have done an excellent job and executed on all tasks. As a result of your leadership your team has exceeded expectations. You have even managed to keep up with your blogging â€" you are well known around the company because many of your colleagues read your blog. While there have been the occasional naysayer you have dealt with it by ignoring the negativity and focusing on the positive. It has worked so far. Through your blogging activities and social networking you have created a reputation as a thought leader in your field. You are respected both within and outside the walls of your company. You have written a few articles for trade magazines and have even been interviewed by other bloggers that thought your ideas would be valuable content for their readers. You have more job security than most people because of your performance at the company â€" but mostly because you have developed and nurtured a powerful social network safety net. If something were to happen and you lost your job â€" you have a strong network to help you. Other mid to high-level managers have reached out to you from different departments of your company and asked for your advice. You have more relationships than most of your colleagues at your company. Through your relationships at the company and solid performance you maintain a high level of influence at the company. Your colleagues listen to you. Then early one morning you are sitting in your office and your phone rings â€" you are surprised that the person on the other end works for your biggest competitor. They have heard about you through your personal brand and would like to meet with you. After a few meetings (on your time) this competitor of yours makes a very compelling offer â€" you have a very big decision to make. You decide to meet with your boss and talk things over to see if they are willing to match or exceed the offer being made to you by your competitor. After a few meetings your company decides to meet the offer being made by your competitor â€" you gladly accept. Your personal brand just helped you receive a raise and a few more benefits at your company. Personal brands have value â€" how much is yours worth? Author: Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.