Branding

I have become fascinated with the concept of individual branding. Corporations have done it for decades, and it’s only become mainstream by celebrities over the past ten years or so, and still many are derided by critics for pushing their brand onto consumers or just being too full of themselves. But they are masters at marketing themselves (hence, their celebrity status) and for that I think we are all a little jealous.
But I want to concentrate on the microcosm of branding, for us regular folk, because in reality, we all have to brand ourselves nowadays. I don’t care how smart or talented we are, if we don’t stand up and toot our own horns, we aren’t going to be noticed. There are just too many horns blowing nowadays, and individually, we get lost in the cacophony.
I’m on the verge of re-entering the work force. When I left the job market to raise my first child in 2004, there was no Twitter and Facebook was still an infant.
Job searching was so much different than it is now. I’m trying to get a grasp on the new way of job searching, but sometimes it’s like I’m broke down in the middle of the road with faster, newer cars whizzing by me.
But this brings me around to the concept of branding again. So important is a person’s ability to market their abilities, education and experience as much as their niche, their brand.
I worry sometimes that the time that I took to raise my children will be considered a detriment, time away from the real work force, rather than an enriching experience that taught me patience and time management, taught me that I can manage and teach my “subordinates” (although they could be insubordinate at times).
I know that in order to go back into my chosen field of journalism, I’m going to have to start near the bottom. In about a year I will be going up against people at least ten years younger than me, people that also don’t have children who can probably climb the ladder faster than me because they don’t have family obligations.
Right now my brand is “mom,” maybe it won’t be such a bad label to go with.