This week I have been writing about personal branding.  Today I want to share some links of folks who have both influenced my knowledge of the topic, AND who really get it.  Enjoy.

Tom Peters, of course, is the grandfather of the term “personal brand.”  He wrote a seminal article on the topic more than 12 years ago.  I reference it in another post . . . You might also want to check out another article on his blog that addresses the word “brand” and it’s many meanings.

Phil Rosenberg has some great content on his blog about “Online Reputation Management” — including a helpful strategic pattern to follow (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/03/online-reputation-management.html)

A blog writer named “Skellie” has a good section on building your personal brand.  Her writing is aimed at bloggers, but it’s very useful information for job seekers and anyone else who is concerned with their personal brand. Check out the foundational article entitled “How to Start (or Start Over) Building Your Personal Brand“. I particularly like her statement, “You don’t need to be big, to be big.” She makes a strong point here for consistency and transparency (although she doesn’t call it that).

Ron Desi writes a blog on “Leadership. Social Media. And Other Stuff I Like.”  He’s written a couple of posts on personal branding lately that I recommend.  He’s right on with his insights.  I don’t know Ron, but the next time I’m out in Maryland I think I’ll look him up!

Dan Schwawbel writes the Personal Branding Blog.  He usually has some good stuff there about building your brand.  He even has guests write posts that give a variety of insights on building your personal brand.  He tends to focus on younger folks (i.e. Gen Y), but those of us with gray hair can learn some good things from what these folks are saying.  Dan also wrote a book entitled “Me 2.0″, but I must say that it does not live up to the standard he has set with his blog.  There are some great insights in the book, but it’s so poorly written that it’s pretty much unreadable in my opinion (sorry Dan, just being honest).  Stick with his blog and you can’t go wrong.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 20. Tomorrow’s post: “Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Personal Brand”