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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the John Michaels personal branding masterclass. Before we dive into today's topic, connect with me on x, as John underlined Michael on LinkedIn is John Michael and Facebook as image Group International said, I will delve into a crucial aspect of personal branding. It's around finding the delicate balance between privacy and publicity. And of course, its impact on reputation. So what I want to say is, of course, in our increasingly interconnected world, you know, navigating this balance is more challenging than ever, because you're constantly bombarded, put yourself out there online, social media, et cetera. At the same time, you might be fairly private, uh, yet, I don't particularly feel motivated to do that. So I want to sort of help you through that, because you and of course, many of our clients are in a similar position. So what I want to do is explain with some of the basics to get you at least from a cognitive perspective, comfortable that maybe this is something you can consider. So number one, I would say, establish and maintain personal boundaries is key, from a digital perspective, no different to the offline world. So while building an authentic personal brand, involves sharing aspects of your life, you know, and some vulnerability, understanding where to draw the line is also crucial. So first of all, clearly define what aspects of your personal life are off limits to the public. And this is important to look at it from that perspective, decide earlier which topics you're comfortable discussing, and which are reserved for private conversation. Now, since, you know, I talk a lot, from a business end of Korea perspective, you got to be really clear what is business and Korea as opposed to something personal, that you would do with your friends, this is very, very important. And of course, the younger generations, you know, under the age of what I would say 30 At times, won't be and meshing all at once. And of course, I don't think that's ever been a good idea to do that. Because from an old school perspective, you normally would never have ever done that before. And I say old school because you can learn a lot of old school wisdom, by tapping into things that have always worked for people. And I'm going to keep on reminding our audience around that, as opposed to picking on the latest trends at some social media companies telling us or some tech company or some somebody else, it's about getting back to foundational level about grounding. 

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So selecting sharing allows you to present a curated, yet genuine version of yourself that fosters trust with the audience. And protecting your privacy ensures a sense of control also be a narrative. And it's important that you have a sense of control because remember, if you can't control your narrative, somebody else will. And this is very, very important to keep that in mind. So privacy acts as a shield, you know, safeguarding you from potential harm or misuse of personal information. I'm not gonna go into the dangers of that today with cybersecurity and Mal information and all that sort of stuff. But of course, that comes into play here as well, when we're talking about misuse of personal information. So it's about proactively protecting yourself and your loved ones, especially if you've got children from unwanted attention or risks. Interestingly, preserving privacy also contributes the authenticity of your personal brand. I don't think people that blurt out everything online, ad nauseam gain any respect from doing that. It's very, it's high level toxic, narcissistic, and at the same time, really, it's a desperate move from my perspective, and definitely from a personal brand perspective, that's not what you'd be doing. I mean, if you want to blurt out everything about your life, go and see a therapist or go and see somebody professional as opposed to actually doing that in social media.

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So, this is very important just to keep that in mind choose what is professional versus personal in your segmentation. So what I would say there is considered maintaining separate accounts also for your professional and personal life. You know, to help manage the flow of information, of course, maintain the privacy, some of the other Things You want to consider are these, you're going to, if you're going to be aligned it consistent messaging. Now what that means is ensure that your public statements, whether on social media, in interviews, or during public speaking engagements consistently in line with your personal brand values. And of course, this relates to business and your Korea, because inconsistencies can harm your reputation and confuse your audience. And what I want to say about that is also choose your platforms wisely. Which ones are you going to use Select social media platforms, you know, that align with your personal branding God's for instance, LinkedIn is suited for professional content. I mean, I've seen in recent times, some other stuff sort of filter through including personal stuff that's not relevant, or LinkedIn, you know, and I think that's probably not so smart to do that, while Instagram might be more appropriate, for instance, was showcasing a blend of personal and professional life, again, depending on your industry, and of course, because Instagram is a lot of bad images, and so on. This is where also then the quality of images, et cetera, that you share also comes into play. Also, what I want to notice, you know, how to engage and how to do that with some caution. When interacting offline, be mindful of the tone and content of your engagements, what you'll discover is that a lot of things can get out of kilter very quickly way in the offline world, it doesn't happen the same way, the role text, the wrong word, in the message, etc, can really fire somebody up, trigger him to the point where they, before you know it, you got all this negativity happening, where I would say, in the offline world, if you were one on one meeting with somebody, and you said the wrong thing, even the wrong word, etc, you can clean it up very quickly. In the offline world, you can't do that as well, or as effectively as you can offline. And I put my reputation on that, contrary to what, obviously, you know, the statements out there, but you can do that, obviously, in most cases, they are selling you something they normally you become their product. So I would say from the perspective of learn how to do that, of course, you can clean it up. That's what we do for clients from a reputation management point of view. But when you're really aware about some of the nuances, and the tones, and so on, that can put you off centre with people, then you'd be a lot more careful in how you do that in the first place. So public comments, likes and shares are also visible, and of course can affect how your brand is perceived. So that means then you have to also monitor your online presence, you know, regularly search for your name online to see what information is publicly available about you. That's also a good thing to do. And of course, tools like Google Alerts to stay informed about new mentions or content plays really well. 

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Another thing you might want to consider is to educate yourself on data privacy, stay informed about data privacy laws and best practices, especially if you're active in multiple countries or regions, especially for instance, in Euro because there are regulations. And if you're not cognizant of that you could get banned. Conversely, we also need to be reminded that in all of these cycle Fi is out there, the publicity is the engine also that propels your personal brand forward. So it doesn't because there is some risks involved does not mean you can also take some risks from the perspective of also moving forward. And when it comes to your brand new business, and of course, your personal brand, you've got to do that. Otherwise, don't get involved whatsoever. There's always a risk involved. Get on getting out of bed every morning, jumping in the shower and jumping in the car to get to work, take some risks go to work takes risks. So don't get put off by the concept of risk risk actually can be really, really effective when you know actually what the risks are. So let's explore why maintaining a public profile from a PR perspective is recommended and would say essential, especially in today's highly competitive online well. A public presence first of all, allows you to build credibility and influence within your industry or community. So provides a platform to share your expertise, your authority, connect with like minded individuals, and of course contribute to meaningful conversations. Publicity also opens doors to networking opportunities, and career advancement. Some wish to change quickly position yourself in a public guy you increase the likelihood of attracting opportunities that align with your personal and professional goals. Now the challenge lies of course, in finding the right balance between these two forces, as we noted before, privacy and of course publicity, so begin by clearly defining a personal battle just be clear on that on paper before you start doing anything online, get clear, what are your personal boundaries? What aspects of your life are strictly private? Where are you comfortable sharing. So be really clear about that. And then you can curate your content, whatever you're going to be sharing. So this is thinking professional, now, be selective on what you post online, and every piece of content should serve a purpose and contribute positively to your personal brand. And I say serve a purpose. Because if it doesn't serve a purpose, why are you doing it? You know, why are you spending all this time and energy and resources, if it doesn't serve a purpose, of course, it has to serve a purpose. So establishing these guidelines will take a lot of anxiety away a lot of stress, and will guide your actions and decisions in a smart way. And what I mean by that, while while you're doing all of that also, you get also the opportunity to create what I would call as a crisis management plan in case things go wrong. So that means you know, you can do scenarios from the perspective, okay, if I do this, and that goes wrong, you know, what's my plan I on that on plan B, now I'm gonna respond to that these are just basic concepts to get you thinking. 

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So having the strategy in place for handling potential privacy breaches or public relations issue is very important. And knowing how to respond quickly and effectively can mitigate damage to your reputation. Now, I gotta tell you, we work a lot with clients. In doing this, of course, most of our clients don't have big reputation issues. But I would say 5% through the year do and what that means is you got to know exactly how to respond. I cannot recall anything in the last seven, eight years that we haven't actually dealt with effectively, to create what I would call is a win win win situation. So the worst case scenario where the relationship stayed intact, and people still did business with each other. But of course, they had to rebuild some trust factors and salt. So you can actually affect an influence, persuade a lot of positivity in trying to rectify all sorts of prices, management situations, if you know what you are doing, because if bottom line, what you're dealing with is human beings, human beings. And like me knew, they basically, of course, have got similar feelings, years of the well communication styles etc, you just got to know exactly how to put that together. This is this is important. This is where a lot of people go wrong without professional help. So considerable risks. And of course, benefits of publicity in your specific context. From my perspective, of course, I'm biassed on this because I know publicity works. Even bad publicity can be great publicity if you know how to use it. And of course, if you look at media on a daily basis, you'll see a negative story that's actually for whatever reason, also can be created into a positive. And in many cases it is, especially with famous people like politicians, celebrities, etc, because part of the negative story was really a deflection to create a positive. But of course, most of the public would not know that because they don't know what they're looking for. So assessing the potential impact on your personal and professional life and make informed decisions based on this evaluation, of course, is important. And that's why you're doing it. So personal branding, overall, as you can see is an evolving journey, and you just don't do it set and forget and never look at it again. Okay, that is a silly concept. This is not an automation job. This is not what AI will do for you. Okay, this is about something that you need a human centred approach to this, because we're dealing with real situations. And of course, a heart centred approach as well comes into play, all the practical elements definitely have to be included as the overall plan.

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So regularly assessing your approach to privacy or publicity is important, as per your goals, of course, circumstances and priorities shift. So to should your strategy. And what I mean by that is, as I noted before, you might need professional guidance. So definitely consider consulting, you know, with a personal branding expert, or a reputation management firm that is human centric, and I say this to you, I'm not talking about automation here. Regarding this, no, you don't want to do that. It's all over online. You don't want to do that. Because that's just not the concept in reputation management. Start out works. Of course, you're going to use automation tools as part of the human century again, but you don't want that to be on autopilot automatic trust you go into dangerous territory. So to develop strategies that align with your knee privacy with your personal persona. This is where of course some professional help can make a difference. Also, by you know, carefully managing these aspects also builds what I would say is our embossed personal brand that respects your privacy, and this is important because privacy has been underplayed, especially in the law. 10 odd years and we know what that's created for people, because virtually your information has been taken by big tech. And it's been used at times against you, while effectively also engaging your target audience. And this is very important in what we're doing, because engaging your target audience is the essential element, and part of why you're unwind. So as we conclude today's episode, remember that the delicate dance, you know, there's a dance between privacy and publicity is unique to each individual. And if you do decide that, you want to build a brand out there and create, you know, the storyline of what you're on about your values, et cetera. Of course, you need to have a real plan around this, you can't do this ad hoc, well, a lot of people would do that on social media, that's not brand building that is just playing with fire on social media. So your personal brand, remember, is a reflection, it's a reflection of you, your values, your aspirations, you know, and the impact you wish to make. This is important because you'll be able to communicate that to the world. So if you if you're into that, and you want to do that, remember, as a reminder, your personal brand is a holistic approach. It's you from a business point of view, or what point of view are all say to you from a personal point of view, and you need to look at that ying and yang model around that it's in and out. It's a representation, totally a view, and how you maximise that, and even monetize that of course comes with a plan. So if you found this discussion valuable tonight, please rate us on your favourite podcast platform. And remember to connect with me on social media, as per the details given at the outset of this podcast, for personal brand coaching love, please email patricia.bosa@imagegroup.com.au - I want to thank you for joining me today and until next time, cheerio.

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.