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Let's go ahead and jump into what exactly is a brand, and so when you think about a brand, most people

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think about a brand as just being like a logo or just a simple slogan.

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Here's the thing.

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It's much more than that.

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A logo.

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If you think about it, is just a visual representation of what a brand is.

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Right.

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But an actual brand is really a promise.

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And you could think about this as a unique selling proposition, a USP.

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So when you think about a company out there that pretty much produces the same product or service as

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another company, what often sets them to apart?

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Well, it's a unique selling proposition, right?

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So let's say, you know, a company A sells a particular widget and then Company B sells the same exact

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widget.

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Well, what's going to be the difference maker there?

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Well, Company A perhaps has a larger product size that you can order in.

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And maybe Product B has the product that runs more efficiently.

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Right, whatever that may be.

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There's always going to be something unique that you can mention or you can come up with for your product

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that differentiate yourself.

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So when you think about a brand, a brand is really that is a message, a promise that lets people know,

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hey, this is why we're different.

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This is who we are.

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This is what we represent.

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Right.

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And so all brands have a unique message.

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And that's really central to the purpose of a brand.

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Right.

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It's about getting the particular message out there to the marketplace through their brand representation.

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And here's a really important point that I want you to really understand here is that branding isn't

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about what you feel or think about yourself or your product, especially in the personal branding space.

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It's about what other people feel, think and say about you.

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It's the perception.

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And so that's why perception plays a huge, huge factor with branding.

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Right.

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You can bring yourself as this, you know, larger than life hacker.

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That is a whiz kid.

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Right.

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All of these different things, even though you may not be that good or you may be mediocre, that isn't

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necessarily a big deal, because here's the thing.

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Your perception is going to get you the attention and the, you know, mediocrity of skills.

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Those can be improved.

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Maybe you're mediocre hacker or whatever, but you can improve those skills quite easily.

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However, your perception as far as how people are perceiving you in the marketplace, your brand.

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Right.

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That is something that's going to be very impactful and why you need to really take that seriously,

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because it's all about what other people think, feel and say about you, not what you think.

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And one of the things that you can do, you can really ask yourself the question here is as far as what

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do I want people to know me for?

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Do I want to be known as the best ethical hacker in the world, the best dressed ethical hacker in the

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world?

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Do you want to be known as the best penetration testing expert?

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Do you want to be known as the best compliance expert, whatever that may be?

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Right.

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What exactly do you want to be known for?

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And oftentimes, if you can get, you know, quite specific here, it'll actually be to your advantage

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because then people will know you specifically for a certain subject matter.

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Right.

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And so because the more broadly you are, the easier it is to forget.

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But when you can get more specific, the easier it is for people to remember.

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Now, an example of a brand that does an extremely good job of presenting itself in a way that really

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builds perception as to how the wants to be known as an offer.

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Is Starbuck, when you go to Starbucks, you have a certain feel, a certain expectation, a certain

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vibe of Starbucks.

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They present themselves as being, in a sense larger than life, not your average coffee shop.

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It's high quality premium coffee.

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And so that's really what I want you to understand, is that, you know, you can go down the street

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and go to any other coffee shop and get similar drinks.

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However, when you have that Starbucks coffee that, you know, cup there, you are essentially in a

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different, you know, limelight.

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And so really think about how Starbucks really differentiates themselves with their environment in their

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actual, you know, coffee shops to how they have their cups, you know, what they represent.

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Or when you go to Starbucks, you have this, you know, even unconsciously, unknowingly, this type

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of feel about you, this sense about you that, hey, you know, I'm not your average person, right?

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I go to Starbucks and get my coffee.

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Right, because the coffee is like, what, four or five dollars per cup?

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And, you know, you can pretty much go to any other coffee shop and get the same or similar drinks

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for, you know, quite a bit less.

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But because you're going to Starbucks has a certain aura around it and.

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Another brand example here is Apple.

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This is also a one that's kind of prestigious, if you think about the branding elements of Apple,

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they're really all about thinking different, being different, and not just being your average computer.

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And so when you think about people that buy Apple computers, they are not necessarily buying the computer

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for the technical specs.

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Yeah, that may play a small factor.

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However, they're buying the computers as far as the apple, the brand, because of what it represents,

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how it makes them feel.

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And so that's why I want you to understand that branding is about how it makes people feel about you,

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your product, your brand, and how they can see you in a certain perspective.

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And it's about that perception that you're able to build, because under Apple products, you have the

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same types of technologies as far as the hardware that a lot of the majority of the computers have.

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However, it's what the brand Apple represents that makes a difference here.

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And so when we look at some of the most common brands out there in the marketplace, you see that about

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10 of these major corporations own a bunch of these different types of companies.

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And so when you look at their brands and you look at the logos here, the logos kind of make you feel

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a certain way.

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They represent different things to different people.

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Some people may remember them from, you know, back in the day growing up.

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And so each particular brand, each logo is making you feel a certain way.

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And you have this sort of perception of what the brand is about.

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And a good example of how the Kellogg's brand, as far as the Fruit Loops, how they were able to win

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over the millennial consumers with children that are just growing up, that they're wanting to get,

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you know, a piece of that market from what they did is they had a new tagline created that goes whatever

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Fruit Loops.

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And so what their whole intention there is to cater and target the millennials so that they can actually

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target their children.

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So this is really all about the branding element, the slogan, the tagline.

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Right.

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And being able to cater to your audience.

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And it's the perception that is being built here.

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And so now let's look at why building a brand.

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It's important, right?

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We looked at what a brand is, what a brand does and how it's represented.

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So having a brand along with an online presence will immediately set you apart from all the other applicants

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that just have a resume and some experience.

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Right.

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Because everybody today has, for the most part, a decent resume and a little bit of experience.

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And so how is it that you can separate yourself in the marketplace?

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Well, very simply, get yourself an online presence.

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Get yourself where you set yourself up for success before you even go into an interview.

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One of the first things that employers do nowadays is they'll get their application from the applicant

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there and they will actually Google the applicant's name to evaluate their online presence and look

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up.

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You know, what kind of accomplishments do they have?

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A blog?

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Do they have any special interest or are they just your average Joe?

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Right.

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This is really what is going to make a difference in you being able to separate yourself from the competition

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and land a job, especially starting out if that's what you're looking to do.

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And when you can combine experience, a resume and online presence, you have the winning formula that

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employers are looking for in today's digital age.

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Just think about it from the perspective of trying to attract the opposite sex.

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It's about your perception how you're able to market yourself, how the other person is perceiving you.

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And so same thing here with an employer.

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When an employer sees that you are somebody who is in high demand, who has their own brand, who is,

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you know, doing things other than just having experience with the resume, they're going to see you

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as somebody who is of high value, who's in high demand, and they want you to be working with those

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types of individuals.

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So very important, especially in today's digital age.

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And then if you want to go into the consulting room, the personal branding is going to go a long way

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as well with your potential clients.