Review: A great intro to the wheres and whys of personal branding
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2014
You Branding is an introduction and guide to reinventing and marketing yourself in a specific, targeted way – self-branding. It’s the modern, particularly on-line approach to putting onself out into the world, raising one’s profile, and Cijo suggests it’s also a way to get ahead in the job market, and perhaps as a way to generate income itself.Cijo begins by explaining why self-branding is important in this day and age, and I think that in itself is valuable for people who are just beginning to navigate the new world of self-presentation.  Cijo is right, particularly here in the U.S., one has to take charge of how one navigates and presents oneself in and to the world.  Step by step and area by area Cijo moves forward the different needs and branches of self-branding, and gives a pretty thorough and vigorous overview of the subject.  It is, however, an overview, and where the book falls short (and why I gave it four stars rather than five) is that occasionally it is short on specifics.  For example, it brings up the need to be aware of search engine optimization (SEO), and that you need to get to the top with search engines, but it doesn’t really get into how, except for talking about keywords and linking.  This is all very well, but if the target audience of the book is newbies who have to be persuaded self-branding is a valuable thing, they are also going to need a lot more practical help in order to navigate SEOs.  That said – it is a terrific overview, and would be a great stepping stone for anyone getting on the track – it gives a vision of why and what needs to be done, and makes it seem very doable. That is a great service to readers.