It’s easy to neglect one’s personal brand, or even the very idea of it. From childhood we are conditioned to dislike the idea of being self-promotional. Even our popular culture reflects the negative perception that we have about selling ourselves or being boastful. Movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, The Devil Wears Prada, or the modern classic, Jerry Maguire portray the dark “promote at all costs” perspective that most of us are repelled by. But nowhere does it say you have to create a personal brand that is distasteful or something you can’t be proud of. You have to remember that your personal brand already exists. People Google you when they are considering hiring you, or they look for references online when they are thinking about buying from you. If nothing exists, that can have as much of an impact as having the wrong information show up. Just like the clothes you wear, how you communicate, the ideas you share, and the things you create, your footprint in the world represents you regardless of what you think. This infographic was a collaboration with our friend Barry at Feldman Creative. “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” — Jeff Bezos