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ne of the hottest topics these days right up there with Big Data is personal
branding. Since technology is automating many jobs out of existence and
altering traditional career paths in the process, the competition for
remaining jobs has intensi#ed exponentially.
In addition, the internet has changed the way we live, work, and shop. This
disruptive technology has also contributed to the birth of social media, and
along with it mobile marketing. The recent introduction of smart watches
has created minute-by-minute alerts on our wrists, and in combination with
smart phones, allows for the ultimate in one-to-one marketing.All of these smart devices have functioned to tether us to them with constant
updates on what’s happening in our lives, as well as the rest of the world. These
smart devices also allow for us to be tracked wherever we go, and transmit
information on what we buy into the cloud so that sophisticated algorithms can
generate predictive analyitics as to what we are going to do and buy next.This con$uence of technology has also changed the nature of work substantially.
We now have a variety of new jobs with titles like “data scientist” and
“knowledge worker”, while many of the job descriptions of the past have
disappeared. As a matter of fact whole swaths of traditional middle management
jobs have evaporated, replaced by automation that provides more accurate,
usable, and timely management and marketing information.All of this is the driving force behind the evolution of personal branding.
Historically, people got a job and worked for one company or another for their
entire careers under the security of the “corporate umbrella”. It was kind of like
an extension of their childhood where Mom and Dad took care of them. No one
worried about having to market themselves, as the “company” would watch out
for them.However, these days the security of the corporate umbrella is disappearing as
more and more companies are automating their operations and becoming one
variety of a virtual corporation, or another. Pro#ts are up and wages are down.
We read about thousands of employees at one company or another being
terminated every month, along with a continuum of corporate consolidations.
Amazon is continuing on the path to achieve Je" Bezos’ vision of the “everything
store”. Almost anything that you need can be gotten with just the click of a
mouse. At Apple stores roving product experts with pads can get you any Apple
device you want and produce a receipt on the spot. Even groceries and meals
can be ordered online and delivered at your convenience.What’s it all about?
Professor Robert M. Donnelly34 GETMONEYMAGAZINE.COM