Exclusive Video Interview with Dan Schawbel - Author of Me 2.0
Contact: dan.schawbel [at] gmail.com
Twitter: @danschawbel
Websites: http://personalbrandingblog.com/
Career: The leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. Author of Me 2.0, blogger, speaker, publisher & social media specialist at EMC
Author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success
I can usually pin-point the exact moment I first met a blogger. I met Monica while searching for someone friendly to meet on Brazen, I met Rebecca when she responded to my “Flirt With Your Interviewer” controversial post, and I met Matt when he commented on my blog a couple months back. However, I can’t pin-point the exact moment I met Dan Schawbel. It was as if I saw him at so many places at once that I was just overwhelmed by the “expert of personal branding.”
When a person becomes as big and successful at such a young age as Dan has done, I am very skeptical in my approach. I hold the person up to very high expectations and expect to be wowed everytime I see a video, interview, or article published by him.
I’ll be perfectly honest with you. My goal was to stump Dan during this interview. I came in thinking, “If this guy is truly the personal branding expert and expects to publish a best-seller, then he better be ready to defend himself with all his might today.”
I shot him difficult questions comparing his methods to those of Penelope Trunk’s, I drilled him about being “too professional” with his persona, and I asked him about what he thinks of image consulting vs. personal branding.
I have to admit, I was highly impressed with all of his answers. Not only did he thoroughly answer every question I shot at him, but I also learned a great deal about how to publish a book, and how to build a strong community around a blog.
Dan is the real deal, and you’re going to learn a great deal from him. I truly hope that you enjoy my exclusive video interview with him!
This is by far the best video yet. I especially like his thoughts on brand association and applying those methods to your blog. Dan also mentions how everything you create and put out there is an asset. That’s priceless advice and thinking in those terms really help building a strategy on getting yourself out there.
Dan seems extremely humble and very insightful. I’m glad i spent the time to watch it even though I initially thought it might just be the same social media jargon.
Great interview. 49 minutes well spent!
Three points:
1) I completely agree with the point you make on networking, you mention that 80% of the work is networking with people in the field your interested in. Shooting out resumes and browsing through Yahoo Hotjobs can only get you so far. Most of the companies that I would be interested in working for don’t even list jobs online, they only hire based on recommendations or people that go the extra mile to reach out and inquire. I am going through this process right now, I currently have a full time gig but I am moving and am looking for work in another state, so over the past couple months I have been a networking maniac! It’s a lot of work but I know it will pay off in the end!
2) Persistence and pro-activeness. Dan, you exemplify what it means to show determination and grit. You’ve been turned down countless number of times, yet you’ve held your chin up and used adversity as a motivator. That’s what it all comes down to, that’s where this Gen-Y ‘entitlement’ comes from - it’s about realizing that even through extreme adversity, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel that we’ll all get to if we stay active and remain persistent. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, right?
3) A question for you. On the topic of your writing style vs. Penelope Trunk (just as an example). Do you think she, or maybe not so much Penelope but those who follow in her footsteps, write for the sake of controversy? Sex (in this case sex represents anything that goes against the norm) sells. If you write a blog called ‘Sex and Social Media’ - people are going to look at it before they’ll look at ‘The History of Social Media’ - buzz words, bold statements, all that jazz - it sells, I get it. But I think there is a fine line between writing with a unique and entertaining perspective and writing just to get cheap attention. What are your thoughts on this?
Awesome interview guys - really enjoyed it. And I look forward to reading your book Dan!
Great interview! Jun and Dan are quite impressive. I surely learned a lot from it and will incorporate it more into my life. Keep up the good stuff!
@yukai_chou
Wow, great interview - At first I saw that it was 49 minutes and I thought that there was no way I would watch the whole thing, but I did. Dan made some great points about blogging and social media in general… I could go on here, but just wanna say well done to both of you.
Damn, I learned a lot from this interview. 7 different articles in the morning? That’s crazy. I loved the interview because it gave you a real look at what it takes to absolutely kill it out there. That’s what Dan is doing.
Keep hustling guys, but most of all focus on where your biggest payoffs are going to come from.
Yea, hustling is something that will really make you stand out from the pack.