"Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. Is this right for your career?" asks 85 Broads, the high-powered global women’s network, on its Facebook page today.
My answer:
It seems like the question should be "what possible reason could you have for not being a distinct, knowable, findable professional entity?"
Social media strategist Tara Hunt replied too, and said "I owe the lion's share of my career success to personal branding", despite struggling with the term and being criticized for her self-promotion.
I think Tara Hunt's right that personal branding is a loaded term and the act of it doesn't come easily for women, nor does becoming visible always bring positive attention for women.
But none of that makes it less a valuable, meaningful, self-actualizing way to operate.