Today we all need a personal brand especially retirees
I just finished Me 2.0, Dan Shawbel’s book about personal branding. He focuses, as you might expect on his generation and it is a powerful source book for career building today. Today’s entrants into the job market face a truly different world from what I experienced in the 70’s. Dan demonstrates the power that Web 2.0 provides an individual to create a presence and be noticed. In my day the individual could only hope that the powerful would notice a letter or resume. There wasn’t much else you could do.
Roadmap for career planning.
I read it as a What Color is Your Parachute for the 21st century. Dan provides examples of people making their opportunities and dreams happen using Web 2.0. Along the way he provides advice about using the tools and protecting your image on the web which, as he points out, is virtually permanent. What turns up when someone Googles your name will be there forever.
Vital information for everybody wanting to have an outrageous retirement.
My point today is to tell everyone that Me 2.0 is vital information for all generations. If you are participating in life and business today or if you are retiring and don’t want to just fade away, you need to have a web presence. Gen Y has the advantage over the rest of us. Web 2.0 is second nature for them. They may have things to learn about using it effectively but they use it. It’s the rest of us that want to believe that the world hasn’t changed and more importantly that we can be successful without a web presence. Believe me I have been there but I see the light and everyday I struggle with myself to get better at personal branding on the web
The past does not define me. I need a new personal brand in retirement
What I know is that I am not defined and limited by my job title and resume. My web presence is where I can demonstrate who I am and what I can do. Success from now on depends upon how well I use the resources of Web 2.0 to define myself and provide value to others. Over the last six months, I have stumbled along with Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and the like, going through the numbers but not really getting it. Maybe I have an excuse being born in the dark ages just before World War II but an excuse doesn’t make you successful.
Me 2.0 Provides Understanding and Recommendations.
Let me just say that Dan brought me closer to understanding how and why I need these tools than anybody else so far and provided some concrete recommendations for using them well. I am implementing them with confidence. I begin to see where I need to be and how to use them.
Keep current with your marketing especially when you retire.
Bottom line, I recommend Me 2.0 to anyone today who wants to be successful. I don’t think that anyone should handicap themselves with outdated and ineffective marketing tools and strategies. So if you are Gen X, Baby Boomer or even antediluvian like me, get Dan’s book and learn the ways it’s done now. And if you are retired or getting ready for retirement don’t feel self-conscious. You are as young as you feel.
