A lot of books about marketing, career and business planning, or "how to make it big on the Internet" are full of useless advice. Weak suggestions like "find a bunch of hungry fish – and feed them!" may be inspirational (although unlikely helpful) for an established successful entrepreneur, but they are frustrating to someone who is just starting out.
In Me 2.0., Dan Schawbel deserves a lot of credit for writing a book that is inspiring and full of practical advice for actually doing something meaningful. There is some fluff that doesn't have any purpose other than to cheer the reader on. There's nothing wrong with that – so long as there is plenty of meat – which there is.
Schawbel's Personal Branding Journey
Me 2.0 is presented in three parts. Part I describes the rise of personal branding from the author's own perspective. There is isn't a lot of practical information in this part, as it mostly gives an account of how Schawbel became interested in the concept of personal branding and how he has used his drive and ambition to achieve success. It's moderately interesting and doesn't take long to get through.
The Path to a Successful Personal Brand
Parts II and III get into the practical matter of establishing a personal brand. Schawbel mingles some old-school tried and true advice (dress for success) with current ideas in self-marketing (start a blog). What is good about this book is that it doesn't stop with "start a blog" and then move on to something else. Schawbel goes on to advise how to use the blog to get some attention. For example, one suggestion is to offer to trade guest blogs with other bloggers. It's a good idea.
Schawbel summarized the purposes, advantages and disadvantages of everything from blogging software platforms, to social and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace, Technorati, Twitter and Ning. Ever heard of Help a Reporter Out? It's a website that provides leads to reporters on specialized topics. Subject matter experts register with the site and receive emails summarizing requests from journalists and other writers who are looking for subject matter experts to interview. A blogger with knowledge on a specific topic can respond to the request and maybe get some publicity in the process.
If after finishing (or while reading) Me 2.0 the reader can't help but jump on the Internet to update their FaceBook profile, or register with some networking sites they hadn't previously considered, well – maybe personal branding and entrepreneurship isn't for them. As personal branding becomes ever more important in a web 2.0 world, use of the techniques and ideas presented in this book are fast becoming a necessity.
References
Schawbel, Dan. Me 2.0. New York, NY: Kaplan Publishing, 2009.
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