Having studied branding very briefly in another life, I was curious about “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Branding Yourself,” by Sherry Beck Paprocki and Ray Paprocki. How would product and service brand theory be translated to the branding of people? And could a book set an ordinary human being on the path to being the next Steve Irwin/Oprah/Paris Hilton?

Despite that brief brush with brand theory years ago, I consider myself a personal branding novice, so I came to the book with an open mind. In terms of structure and coverage, it seemed well planned and comprehensive. It’s broken into four parts: “What is branding?”, “Launching your personal brand”, “Branding in the modern world” and “Brand extension and evolution.” So far, so good. There are 20 chapters in a total of 228 pages, so it’s obvious that they’re going to be pretty easy to get through.

Can you sense a “but” coming? Well, here it is.

Too General

I read the book from start to finish (though it’s definitely the kind of book you could dip into quickly to get tips on a particular area), and I found it very general. The references the authors give to readers’ potential occupations — from writer to plumber to college graduate (of any description) looking for a first job — suggest that the audience for the book was defined in terms of its target readers’ needs for basic information on personal branding. That might be fine if the authors had had more space in which to educate such a wide potential readership. Unfortunately, the broad-brush, general way in which this book addresses personal branding means that, for many readers (I suspect) little of the content will be personally relevant or particularly useful.

Here are a few examples. The guide covers all forms of promotion, from preparing a resume to buying billboard space. It takes the time to explain how the generation in which your target audience members are born will affect which media they use, and how they use them, but also includes sections entitled “What is print media?” and “What is broadcast media?”. Advice is also provided on manners, eye contact and the correct use of cutlery as embodiments of your personal brand. Read more…

Some of resources: CAD Services, Handwriting Experts