I am my Brand...a Curriculum

I've been asked to do a speaking engagement for a wide ranging group of business participants. In the conversation, my contractor was concerned about talking with people who weren't in the sales dept. about "Branding".

Today, the idea of a brand starts way, way before we are part of a company and pick up a paycheck.

It starts almost in the cradle with a name that may brand a child. Kids on Myspace are in the business of developing a personal brand each time they tweak their pages!

We are all living in an age of personal branding when we can record our smallest actions on a twitter post " Am oogling hot guy in Starbucks, yummm!" suggests a personal brand that goes out as skywriting into cyberspace.

In business, I consult with people to build a business brand which is connected to his or her personal core. We talk about articulating from our gut, our heart, our core to portray who we are. We clarify what that means for others,and we create language and images that show the authenticity in a brand.

I'm suggesting as the school year begins, that their is a real need to talk about BRANDING in schools as part of the communications curriculum and standards. It's important to do that with children who are unconsciously in the brand biz as the work, some for hours, on social networking sites.

It's a necessary part of professional development for teachers...and young teachers especially can lead the way. They may be rookies in the classroom, but they have lived--and tweaked their brands as early adopters of social networking.