Google has 3,360,000 results for my name Rob Abdul.

I was so proud when my name appeared in Google suggest.

I’m Number 1 for my name on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, AOL and many more!

It may not sound like much but at least 60 to 80 people Google me a month.

It is nice for the Ego, I must admit!

I am an “ebusiness specialist” for which I can also be Googled, Binged or Yahooed for.

Good points. I do understand where your questions are coming from.

Think about it this way. Your personal brand is a new term for what was your reputation or good name. Before the internet, you had TV, radio, print and outdoor media and word-of-mouth which makes up part of what you call the “physical reality.” On those communication platforms, fewer ordinary people’s personal brands were featured beyond those of politicians, leaders, celebrities etc. Ordinary people did not have direct access to these platforms, and thus, they could only really promote their own individual brand, reputation, good name (i.e. unique and differentiating value) in person, through advertising on a much more local scale, or via word-of-mouth.

However, even then, while they could not track it often or consistently, if someone learned that their personal brand had been miscommunicated, misrepresented or misperceived, I can bet you money that they were not happy with it and that they did whatever they could do in their power at that time to counter/change it so that their personal brand or reputation was protected and maintained.

The internet has given almost everyone access to same powerfully-connected communication platform. Local is quickly becoming global as we become more and more connected and accessible to one another. Therefore, more people and their brands are now featured and searchable on this platform which means that more people can track their reputations and how they are being portrayed by others. If you don’t keep tabs on your personal brand via the globalized internet today, it could be just as dangerous or harmful as letting someone taint your good name in the local paper or within your local community decades ago.

Does this mean that you should be an extremist and check the status of your brand every single second of the day? No, not at all. However, net reality is as real as physical hard-copy newspaper reality. It’s just the communication platform of today.

Personal branding is simply creating, communicating and maintaining a unique, memorable and valuable reputation in the spheres in which you choose to exist and be active.

Hope this helps!

is it so wonderful to google yourself to ensure your “net image” appears as you desire to appear?

is it so necessary to “brand yourself”? why?

are you so unsure of yourself and your own identity that you must affirm it via ephemeral and artificial ‘net tools?

why does the populace care *so much* that they use the ‘net to link so heavily to others… and place such incredible value on “who they are linked to”?

is this ‘net “reality” really so much more important than the physical reality?

good point. You need to keep up on how people perceive you online.