Personal Branding Literature

The first time I read any books or articles on this topic was at the end of the last module.  I think the subject of personal branding is something that most performers will know about and be interested in so I expected there be a lot of relevant articles and books.  How wrong was I?  

When searching the web I notice quite a few authors claimed to be experts on the subject and some have written books on the topic.  I found a huge amount of books and articles on branding and I made my list and visited the library.  This was a waste of time and I ended up using the web and having to purchase books.  When I started to dip into them I found the majority of them focused on company branding or personal branding from a business point of view, but not a lot referenced the entertainment industry or how it applied specifically to a performer’s career.    A few books and articles did give some information on specific performers but the majority of the content was on personal websites and how to be at the top of Google.

I have found all the readings really interesting and there a few key learning’s, which I think are really relevant to entertainment industry:

·         Define your personal brand before someone else does

·         Be very sure of your brand before you choose it as its very hard to change once you decide

·         Once you have decided on your personal brand, control it and stay on top of it

·         Stay true and honest to who you are, do not lie as people see through it

·         If you stay honest and reliable, when you make a mistake and own it, people will be more likely to forgive you

·         A personal brand is not just what you do for a living. It is who you are as a person and what your values are. What you stand for are used to help you in your job.

·         A personal brand is a visual/selling point to show people what you stand for and what you will bring to the business/contract  

I then tried to think about other sources of articles and had a look at Equity and Spotlight.  I came across a workshop on branding for performers, how to define and use it to your advantage and the tools and skills to help.  The description of the workshop was exactly what I wanted to find out about and the tools to help raise your profile and network and to sell your brand were all the things we learnt in module one on the BAPP, blogging, social networks etc.   As expected they got a good response to attend the workshop so much so I was not offered a place and so far I have not had any luck getting a copy of any information they used.   Did any of you attend?