I'm Gonna Let You Finish, But This Guest Blog Post Is The Best One Ever...

Note from the Capitalist #1 - Lance Haun, aka "Your HR Guy" is running what may be the first guest post in HR Capitalist history. Why Lance?  Because I trust him.  He's spent the last 3 years running Your HR Guy, being a credible voice and doing the HR Generalist gig during the daytime.  He just made a switch to the vendor side, and he's freaking EARNED the right to pitch his wares here. You trust him, too. Remind yourself of that.  No money was exchanged for this post, which I found to be both entertaining AND informative.

For a full list of my blogging conflicts, see my "Frauenheim Disclosure" here.  It takes 50K to make me channel Tina Fey and say, "suck it monkeys, I'm going corporate".

Hit it Lance...

Some people don't have to worry about personal branding. Take Kanye West and his latest insertion into

the half-comedy, half-controversy that seems to follow him. When the leader of the free world calls you... well, it is another name for a donkey (and I don't mean a Democrat), your personal brand awareness may be through the roof. Probably not the way he would have planned though: 

One day after the famously outspoken artist interrupted an acceptance speech from 19-year-old country star Taylor Swift at the award show, suggesting that her prize for best female video should have gone to Beyoncé, a contrite West appeared on Leno's new NBC show to deliver an apology. (He was also there to support Jay-Z, who performed his single "Run This Town," which features West and Rihanna.)

"It was rude, period," West, dressed in black, told Leno on Monday. "I don't try to justify it 'cause I was in the wrong."

He added that he would take time off to analyze how he's "going to improve."

Here's a hint Kanye: stop being a part of Zoolander moments at awards shows. It is pretty easy when you lay off the booze. 

So, how can you build your brand if you're not an awesome celebrity who can jack a microphone from a 19 year old singer on a second rate awards show? The company I just started working for (MeritBuilder) has a great solution if you:

1. Don't necessarily want to start a blog (it's tough work, I know).
2. Don't want to build your brand through Facebook or Twitter.
3. Aren't interested in a static virtual resume or building a website.

Your profile can be used to share the thank yous, achievements and skills of your life as they happen with the whole world. I know KD likes talking about dipping your toes into social media if you're new, and MeritBuilder is an app that can help you get more comfortable with social media and personal branding. And, if you're a pro, you can integrate the merits and achievements into social media profiles you already have. 

And Kanye, if you want any help rebuilding your brand, just drop me a line. Just don't interrupt me on the phone this time though. It makes you look like a ... well, you get the point.

Note from the Capitalist #2: Lance Haun is the VP of Outreach at MeritBuilder (Surprise, right?) and the sometimes foot-in-mouth blogger at YourHRGuy.com. He should mention that he has no dog in this fight as he isn't a fan of either. All he knows is that Taylor Swift sings about wearing T-shirts and Kanye West sings about Golddiggers. That's cool, he likes T-shirts.

Comments

[tlcolson]

Love the post, Lance. I suppose its tough to rebrand yourself when the President has weighed in on it.
Poor guy. Needs a better publicist (and perhaps AA?)