--- title: Building a Personal Brand with Mel Carson [DMC Recap] description: Personal branding expert Mel Carson shared his latest tips at DMC 2017 on how to identify & develop a personal brand that connects you to your target audience! image: https://www.utahdmc.org/hubfs/DMC%2017/Mel-3.jpg --- [![Utah DIgital Marketing Collective](https://www.utahdmc.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Utah%20DMC%20Logo.png?width=175&height=175&name=Utah%20DMC%20Logo.png "Utah DIgital Marketing Collective")](https://www.utahdmc.org/) - [Home](https://www.utahdmc.org) - [Events](https://www.utahdmc.org/#events) - [New Online Events](https://www.utahdmc.org/online-events) - [Code of Conduct](https://www.utahdmc.org/code-of-conduct) - [About Us](https://www.utahdmc.org/#about) - [Contact Us](https://www.utahdmc.org/contact-us) - Slack - Jobs Board - Sponsors - Membership - [Blog](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog) # The Utah DMC Blog ## Building a Personal Brand with Mel Carson \[DMC Recap\] by [Bryan Phelps](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/author/bryan-phelps), on Nov 20, 2017 10:00:00 AM ## ![Mel-3.jpg](https://www.utahdmc.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DMC%2017/Mel-3.jpg?width=750&height=500&name=Mel-3.jpg) Mel Carson is the Founder and Principal Strategist at Delightful Communications which is a Modern Marketing, Branding, and PR Consulting Firm. He is also the author of Introduction to Personal Branding and he joined us for DMC 2017 to drop some personal branding knowledge! ## Personal Branding To start off, what is personal branding? It is best described by a quote from Jeff Bezos, the Founder of Amazon.com, “Personal brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.” When taken a step further personal branding can be defined as the practice of defining your professional purpose and being able to articulate your experience and value to your target audience through digital media and in-person. This was evident with Mel’s own experience when he was laid off from Microsoft in 2012 after working for them for seven years. In his meeting with Human Resources he requested permission to share that he was being laid off on his social media, where he also wrote a blog article, and then left for lunch, when he came had gone viral. 60 to 70 percent of the comments were from people he didn’t even know. Many of them were “lurkers” (people that followed but never contributed). From this experience, he developed a process of improving personal branding with three simple exercises. ## Exercise 1 - What’s Your Story? It is important to address the question of what’s your story. Taking a step back, think about how did you get to where you are today. Contemplate the work experience, training, and education. Also consider your strengths and unique qualities as well as identify what you love about what you do. Finally decide what is your driving ambition for what you do. ## Exercise 2 - What’s Your Professional Purpose? The second exercise is to establish your professional purpose, to educate others why you are needed. This is an opportunity to clarify what is your mission. With the knowledge of what you mission is, consider your audience as well as what value you’ll be able to bring to them. There was an example presented on knowing who your audience is with a tweet from Ian Poulter, a rich, professional golfer. He had complained that after purchasing tickets for his family in business class on an airliner that his nanny was downgraded and his wife had to tend to their children all by herself. He had not considered his audience, and continually made the situation harder for himself. ## Exercise 3 - Search For Yourself For the final exercise, it was something as simple as search for yourself. What do you see? In a day and age when everyone is active on the internet, a lot can be revealed about a person. To improve your personal branding, create a basic plan. Take into consideration your current online state, what channels your audience uses, what events they attend or participate in, and any other opportunities to reach your audience. To build your brand, execute at least one new action per day  and document it by writing it down. Also work on owning your name. One helpful suggestion is to purchase your domain name and build a website which you can control. Along those lines, invest in a professional photo. There are helpful tools out there that give great tips and advaice. Another recommendation is to make your business cards stand out. ## Conclusions There were several helpful suggestions and ideas that were presented on improving your own personal brand and with those three exercises, additional success are a likely possibility. Are you looking to build up your personal brand? Head over to the [SLC | SEM SlideShare account](https://www.slideshare.net/slcsem/discoverable-shareable-memorable-how-to-uncover-your-personal-brand-and-learn-to-tell-a-better-story-about-y) and view or download Mel's slides! **[Discoverable, Shareable & Memorable How to Uncover Your Personal Brand and Learn to Tell a Better Story About Y](https://www.slideshare.net/slcsem/discoverable-shareable-memorable-how-to-uncover-your-personal-brand-and-learn-to-tell-a-better-story-about-y)** from **[SLCSEM](https://www.slideshare.net/slcsem)** Topics: [Event Recaps](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/event-recaps) [DMC2017](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dmc2017) [personal branding](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/personal-branding) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### About Our Blog This is where you find event recaps, guest blog posts, and other newsworthy items from Utah DMC. ### Subscribe to the Utah DMC Blog ### Recent Posts ### Posts by Topic - [Event Recaps (113)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/event-recaps) - [Events (40)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/events) - [strategy (24)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/strategy) - [ppc (23)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/ppc) - [DMC (22)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dmc) - [News (21)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/news) - [digital marketing utah (21)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/digital-marketing-utah) - [DMC2018 (16)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dmc2018) - [Blog (15)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/blog) - [DMC2016 (12)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dmc2016) - [DMC2017 (12)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dmc2017) - [marketing (12)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/marketing) - [seo (11)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/seo) - [content marketing (10)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/content-marketing) - [social media (9)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/social-media) - [digital marketing (8)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/digital-marketing) - [data (6)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/data) - [video marketing (6)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/video-marketing) - [analytics (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/analytics) - [artificial intelligence (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/artificial-intelligence) - [facebook (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/facebook) - [paid search (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/paid-search) - [paid social (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/paid-social) - [social media advertising (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/social-media-advertising) - [Google (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/google) - [advertising (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/advertising) - [personal branding (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/personal-branding) - [AdWords (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/adwords) - [Uncategorized (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/uncategorized) - [business (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/business) - [ecommerce (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/ecommerce) - [jobs (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/jobs) - [sem (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/sem) - [social media optimization (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/social-media-optimization) - [Display Advertising (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/display-advertising) - [Guest Post (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/guest-post) - [Members (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/members) - [Programmatic Display Advertising (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/programmatic-display-advertising) - [SEM trends (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/sem-trends) - [Videos (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/videos) - [YouTube (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/youtube) - [agency (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/agency) - [attribution (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/attribution) - [automation (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/automation) - [content (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/content) - [facebook funnels (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/facebook-funnels) - [job searching (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/job-searching) - [quora (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/quora) - [seo tips (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/seo-tips) - [slc meetups (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/slc-meetups) - [slc|sem (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/slcsem) - [snapchat (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/snapchat) - [CMO (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/cmo) - [CRO (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/cro) - [Community (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/community) - [Dungeons & Dragons (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/dungeons-dragons) - [Facebook Ads (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/facebook-ads) - [Ginny Marvin (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/ginny-marvin) - [Google trends (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/google-trends) - [Google, algorithm, Ted Waz, SLCSEM, DMC (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/google-algorithm-ted-waz-slcsem-dmc) - [Growth (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/growth) - [Hiring (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/hiring) - [James Svoboda (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/james-svoboda) - [John doherty (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/john-doherty) - [Justin Rondeau (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/justin-rondeau) - [PR (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/pr) - [Remarketing (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/remarketing) - [Sales (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/sales) - [Survey (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/survey) - [Virtual Events (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/virtual-events) - [West Barnell (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/west-barnell) - [aaron levy (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/aaron-levy) - [branding (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/branding) - [buzzstream (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/buzzstream) - [casie gillette (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/casie-gillette) - [chat bots (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/chat-bots) - [christi olson (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/christi-olson) - [conversion rate optimization (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/conversion-rate-optimization) - [crawling (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/crawling) - [customer experience (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/customer-experience) - [education (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/education) - [events (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/events-2) - [facebook messenger (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/facebook-messenger) - [google data studio (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/google-data-studio) - [googlebots (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/googlebots) - [hubspot (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/hubspot) - [impressions (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/impressions) - [influencer marketing (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/influencer-marketing) - [influencers (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/influencers) - [joe martin (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/joe-martin) - [lead genereation (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/lead-genereation) - [linkbuilding (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/linkbuilding) - [machine learning (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/machine-learning) - [marketing automation (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/marketing-automation) - [marty weintraub (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/marty-weintraub) - [micro moments (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/micro-moments) - [mobile (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/mobile) - [networking (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/networking) - [networking events (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/networking-events) - [online marketing (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/online-marketing) - [reporting (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/reporting) - [roi (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/roi) - [search (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/search) - [social (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/social) - [utah (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/utah) - [visual sale (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/topic/visual-sale) see all ### Blog Archive - [September 2015 (18)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/09) - [October 2018 (17)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/10) - [November 2017 (16)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/11) - [September 2019 (16)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2019/09) - [January 2017 (7)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/01) - [October 2016 (6)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/10) - [January 2020 (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/01) - [July 2020 (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/07) - [December 2021 (5)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2021/12) - [November 2011 (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2011/11) - [January 2012 (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/01) - [May 2017 (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/05) - [October 2017 (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/10) - [August 2019 (4)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2019/08) - [October 2011 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2011/10) - [February 2012 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/02) - [October 2014 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/10) - [September 2016 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/09) - [April 2019 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2019/04) - [September 2020 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/09) - [November 2020 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/11) - [March 2021 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2021/03) - [July 2021 (3)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2021/07) - [December 2011 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2011/12) - [March 2012 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/03) - [April 2012 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/04) - [July 2012 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/07) - [September 2012 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/09) - [November 2012 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/11) - [February 2013 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/02) - [March 2013 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/03) - [April 2013 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/04) - [July 2013 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/07) - [September 2013 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/09) - [August 2014 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/08) - [February 2015 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/02) - [May 2015 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/05) - [August 2015 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/08) - [February 2018 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/02) - [April 2018 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/04) - [December 2018 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/12) - [June 2020 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/06) - [December 2020 (2)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/12) - [June 2012 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/06) - [August 2012 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/08) - [December 2012 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2012/12) - [January 2013 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/01) - [May 2013 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/05) - [June 2013 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/06) - [November 2013 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/11) - [December 2013 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2013/12) - [January 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/01) - [February 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/02) - [March 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/03) - [May 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/05) - [June 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/06) - [July 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/07) - [September 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/09) - [December 2014 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2014/12) - [March 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/03) - [April 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/04) - [June 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/06) - [October 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/10) - [November 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/11) - [December 2015 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2015/12) - [January 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/01) - [March 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/03) - [April 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/04) - [May 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/05) - [June 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/06) - [August 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/08) - [December 2016 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2016/12) - [June 2017 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/06) - [August 2017 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2017/08) - [March 2018 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/03) - [June 2018 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/06) - [July 2018 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/07) - [August 2018 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2018/08) - [February 2019 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2019/02) - [March 2020 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/03) - [August 2020 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2020/08) - [May 2021 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2021/05) - [June 2021 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2021/06) - [October 2022 (1)](https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/archive/2022/10) see all ### Contact **SLC|SEM DBA Utah Digital Marketing Collective** Salt Lake City, Utah  ### From Our Blog ### Subscribe to updates ### Connect With Us © 2026 Utah DMC / SLCSEM ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Bryan Phelps", "url" : "https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/author/bryan-phelps" }, "datePublished" : "2017-11-20T17:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Building a Personal Brand with Mel Carson [DMC Recap]", "image" : [ "https://www.utahdmc.org/hubfs/DMC%2017/Mel-3.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.utahdmc.org/blog/building-personal-brand-mel-carson", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.utahdmc.org/hubfs/Utah%20DMC%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "Utah Digital Marketing Collective" } } ```