Personal Branding: A Game of Chess

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Last week’s Principles of What I’m Reading blog touched on the Top 15 Social Media Tips from Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of Social Media”. This week is a different path as the new reading is “Social Media for Strategic Communication” by Karen Freberg- meaning this is the strategy and brand development aspect of social media.


So let’s call social media a game of chess- funny because the front cover depicts the social media logos as chess pieces. It is, in fact, a competition all about strategy. A competition between users to gain the most followers and likes, and a competition between platforms for who can gain the most users and daily interaction. Everyone wants to be seen and more importantly- liked. Fortunately for you as a user trying to gain a following, each social media platform has a slightly different demographic, meaning you can find your truest audience and you may dominate on one platform, but not quite as much on another. This is good, it builds loyalty to you across all platforms.


So what’s your strategy? Our text says it’s all about personal branding. Here are the key components:


Personality that is unique and memorable. This focuses on how you act, respond and communicate. Luckily everyone is unique, so what sets you apart? What are your passions?

Consistency between your branding, posts and personality. So be consistent with your online personality as a person and build relationships. 

Expertise in your field. Do the research, put in the time and don’t be a fake.


With these three pieces of information in mind, set forth and establish your brand. The book goes into several guidelines to follow, all of which touch on these components. So remember: personality, consistency and expertise. If you know what you want to be known for and invest in your community, you can be sure that you will take the queen with each post and start winning game after game. After all, even the world’s greatest chess masters have lost a game or two; but they have learned, researched and then executed, so that they didn’t make the same mistake again. 

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