Personal Branding: The difference between our folks in the 60's and now

Written By Rush Bhana

Vijay Bhana (my late dad) was a successful Retail Businessman and Community Leader in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. At one point, he had over 15 businesses running concurrently, a staff of over 100 personnel, and hundreds of customers walking in and out of his stores on a daily basis. Everyone in his circle respected Mr Bhana.

One day I "googled" his name and only this article came up from an esteemed professional and dear friend Dave Robinson, now based in Australia.

"VJ Bhana had made it to the very top of the Indian community in Port Elizabeth. A wheeler-dealer supreme, he owned a number of shops and businesses. Whenever we went out for a meal he would take his briefcase – a traveling cocktail bar. Any old whiskey just would not do. It had to be Bells or Johnny Walker. Rusheel, VJ’s son, was like my son’s twin, despite any differences in appearance. As kids, they were always at each other’s houses."

I am sharing this because 10 years ago, our parents didn’t have the internet or social media. This is all I have of my dad as a reference besides VHS and old-school pics. Because of our tech-savvy age, we might as well take advantage of it and leave a legacy behind on the internet. We are no longer in small communities where business deals are done in a certain area. We can now do business 24/7, anywhere in the world, and link up with almost anyone we want to; this is the beauty of our digital era.

So, do yourself an exercise by "Google yourself." Type your name in the search bar and analyze yourself. If you pass away now, what will you be known for? Your offline personality, friends, and network will always remain, but what will you be known for online? One day, your kids will want to know more about you and what they will do. They will surely "google" you.

I've done this exercise a number of times, "googling" my name (Rush Bhana) where I religiously grow my online base with constant updates on my personal brand. Here's some info on my personal brand online with 4 pages of Google search engine content, and perhaps you could learn from me and work on your brand and share tips and feedback, of course.

As a professional Entrepreneur and Marketer, my brand is what sells. I nurture it so clients can call me, my family can be proud, and I can look back and say, "Hey, I've achieved stuff over the years".

Of course, every individual has a different target audience. For example, you could be a Doctor, Accountant, Physiotherapist, Photographer, Yoga Instructor, or Small Business Owner and have different strategies for moving your plan forward.

Start your personal branding adventure with a strategic plan that is targeted to the right audience, and just be the awesome you that you really are.

If you ever need to chat, I’m 1 message away! In upcoming posts, I will share the importance and the value personal branding creates, along with various solutions to building your brand.

Comments and Feedback will be appreciated.

1Love everyone.

Thanks, Rush

"Follow me on my journey and lets’s create magic together!"

February 10, 2015

Rush Bhana
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