Personal branding is going to be one of North American business’s most critical strategic initiatives in the next three to five years. Information is more accessible on individuals than ever before. Social media is making details about people more accessible and creating a ton of data to help people form opinions about individuals. Brand Damage: It’s Personal! deals with the ever-growing importance of personal branding. This book is a practical guide for everyone from teenagers to seasoned professionals. It provides information on how to create and proactively manage your brand, items that can damage a brand, and entertaining stories and illustrations. A must-read guide to understanding the most important issue of our digitally connected world—your personal brand. -- Mitch Thrower, Co-Founder, Active.com, Founder, BUMP.com and Events.com Personal branding books are flooding the marketplace. So, why in the world do we need one more? Because this is the only book on personal branding that you will ever need. This well written, straight-forward informative book demystifies the dark arts of branding and lays them bare for the everyman without the brand witch doctor mumbo-jumbo. Brand Damage uses examples from our everyday lives to help you to quickly develop a solid foundation of fundamentals that you can immediately apply to your personal and professional brand. It strikes the perfect balance between practical advise and knowledge that will allow you to adapt and evolve your brand for the rest of your life. -- Steve Farnsworth, Executive Director, Silicon Valley Brand Forum, and a Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers in the world according to Forbes magazine A deep dive into a complex topic which offers real world advice. A powerful must-read for anyone anywhere. -- Alexander Boylan, Executive Producer, Around the World Productions and Winner of The Amazing Race 2 Whether you are a college freshman or CEO of a Fortune 500, this book is the only resource you’ll need in order to identify, develop and proactively manage a powerful personal brand. -- Roger Looyenga, Former CEO & Chairman of the Board, Auto-Owners Insurance and Author of Take the Stairs This is a book that needs to be read by anybody in business that wants to make a difference. If you think personal branding is the social media equivalent of bragging, get over it.” -- Mike Natalizio, CEO HNI This excellent book is aimed at the 99% of the business people who are faintly befuddled by the strange world of brand building. Aimed at plumbers, hairdressers, lawyers and oil company executives; at people in large corporations and small businesses alike who are dimly aware that their view of their personal branding is about to change. If you are looking for a book that will allow you to into the next business sensation in 7 days you are not going to find it. But if you accept that it will require sustained effort, and want a book which explains how to market yourself better, is full of good advice and gives you a clear path to develop your own personal brand, this is the book to read? -- Patrick Murphy, CEO SiliconCloud Larry Linne is the best-selling author of the book Make the Noise Go Away . Currently CEO and president of Sitkins International and Intellectual Innovations, he owns two companies that are successful globally. Larry’s first book was a Clarion 5 Star top performing book. He has spent over a dozen years helping companies and individuals create and improve their brand, and is internationally considered a thought leader in business strategy and growth. Patrick Sitkins is a partner and managing director at SiliconCloud, which is a leading global digital marketing firm. He is considered a branding leader and digital marketing and social media expert.