“The personal brand turns people into products; it dehumanizes them; it manipulates relationships.”

Is this really true?

Or could the opposite be true?

When I meet with clients to build their personal brand, I always start with the same question.
There are two possible approaches:

1. Should we design a brand based on personality traits?

       2. Or should we design a brand based on audience expectations and market needs?

There is no right or wrong answer.

As a personal brand, you have the right to choose the approach that aligns with your goals.
Your choice depends on what you believe you can manage best.

Is your goal to be invited to speak in your industry?
To become a top earner?
To strengthen your company’s reputation as an executive?
To increase your market value with a confidence-driven image?

Whatever your target may be, whichever approach you choose, it is still you.

Every step comes from your decisions, your desires, your choices and your vision.

Personal branding is never about inventing a new identity.
The goal is to evaluate your personality, your existing abilities, your experiences and your performance, parts of yourself you may have never examined properly, and then design the path that brings you to your goals in the fastest and most authentic way.

Personality and identity are not the same.
The self is shaped by environment and focuses on who you want to be, how you want to look, how you want to be perceived and who you truly are.

So we can clearly say:

A personal brand is not fake.
A personal brand is not shallow.
A personal brand is not manipulative.
A personal brand is not an ego game.

A personal brand is the process of building your ideal self.

And as Billur Ertuğrul, I believe:

In this era, building your personal brand
is no longer a luxury
but a necessity.