These days I have been lucky enough to be able to read the book of my good friend Guillem Recolons,”Si no aportas no importas” I really wanted to read it because it is a project that Guillem started almost a decade ago and we had talked about it on numerous occasions. Being the last book to be published on personal branding I always expect a lotof it, and more for having been written by one of the great experts. From a new bookabout personal branding, it is logical to expect that to some extent it condenses all the good (and much) that has been written about personal branding in recent years. And Guillem achieves more than enough, in a clear, practical, and enjoyable way. In addition, it is also expected of a new publication that provides news, new approaches, content, methodologies…
And, the book responds brilliantly to the challenge of contributing news in the personal brand sector (where there is a lot of plagiarism and there are many professionals who have no experience and do not really add value). Among Guillem’s excellent contributions, I would highlight a personal brand test, the personal brand hexagon, the relevant difference canvas, or the R Index (of Recolons) among others. It also has a magnificent prologue by the digital humanist Joan Clotet and a very interesting dictionary on personal branding in the form of an Annex, in which200 professionals related to the subject, have collaborated. You can access more information about the book at www.sinoaportasnoimportas.com
Without a doubt, “Si no aportas no importas”, is already an essential reading book, not only for those interested in personal branding but for any professional. From the book, I highlight some ideas that summarize it perfectly.
1. Everything leaves a mark, so do we. The essence of brands is to leave a mark on others; in the case of people even more so.
2. Your ability to add value determines your future. It is one of the central axes from the book. Adding value to others, helping them is key to understanding the management of personal branding.
3. Markets are conversations. Inspired by the “Cluetrain Manifesto”, one of the documents that have most influenced Guillem’s career.
4. Standing out is not optional, it is a necessity. I wrote it down in my book “Desmárcate ”a few years ago; differentiate and stand out from the rest is more essential than ever.
5. The personal brand is not created, It is left. The brand is not what we are, neither what we say we are, but how we are perceived by others.
6. Personal branding is the process of managing our brand to become the preferred option. I can’t agree more with Guillem and this is how I explain it in my post from a while ago “Standing out is extraordinary”, in order to be successful in managing your personal brand is to be the preferred option, be elected for a project, for a promotion, for a professional opportunity or to get a new client or a new contract.
7. Your people are your brand. Basically, highlighting the importance of people in the perception of corporate brands.
8. Brand and value are inseparable. You can’t build a good brand (corporate or personal) without adding value to others.
9. Without a message there is no medium and without a medium … there is no message either. It is convenient to have very present that the medium is not the message, nor is the message is the medium. Although they are very interrelated concepts.
10. Content is still the king of the message. With his long career experience in the world of advertising, Guillem is committed to generating content such as key strategy in personal brand communication.
11. Personal branding will not make you find a job but the job will find you. One of the great benefits of working your personal brand well is that allows you to improve your situation and your employability in the labor market. A very relevant characteristic nowadays in which the levels of unemployment will increase notably due to the serious economic crisis that we are living.
12. Brands must humanize their communication to regain trust. The confidence in brands has dropped notably in recent years and has on the contrary increased trust in people. Humanizing the corporate communication should be a step to regain the trust lost by corporate brands.
12 very powerful quotes about personal branding (in the book you will find many more). 12 Ideas that I recommend you to keep in mind to manage your personal brand. And I finish this post with a Guillem’s quote I love and perfectly sums up the central idea from the book “Personal branding is the art of investing in yourself based on the value you bring to others”.
