LinkedIn and Branding: What we have forgotten

When critically acclaimed self-help guru and philosopher Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich in 1937, there was no such thing as social networking. The buzzword “personal branding” also did not exist yet, however Napoleon Hill was the first person to publish a written work that expressed the basic principle behind it. For those of you who don't know, Napoleon Hill was born during the turn of the century in 1883 and he is famous for his philosophies regarding success and positive attitude. You see, Hill was a journalist and in the early twentieth century, he learned the secret to success. He interviewed the world's most successful and influential people of the time includeing (but not limited to): Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell and John D. Rockefeller. By interviewing these individuals, Hill came to understand what they had in common and why all of them were successful. He found that the secret to being successful and getting people to like/hire you (the primary motives behind “personal branding”) was surprisingly simple.

Here it is, the secret to success:

1) Have a positive mental attitude

2) Have a passion for what you do

3) Continue to persevere, even in the face of defeat

Everyone should read at least one of this man's books

What exactly does this have to do with LinkedIn and social networking? Here's the bottom line: Success is earned by genuine, hardworking individuals who want to see their dreams become reality and LinkedIn (along with other social networks) has little to no effect on these things. Trying to get a job on LinkedIn is like participating in a shouting contest with millions of people. You aren't going to get noticed simply by listing a bunch of skills that you supposedly know and talking yourself up over the internet. LinkedIn has millions of users doing just that. Success happens when you start taking real world actions to move yourself forward. I'm talking about working hard and enjoying every minute of it!

Now, before I finish up, I'd like to clarify that I don't think LinkedIn is bad. I am simply saying that standing out (in a good way) to employers on social networking sites is nigh impossible and the effort would be put to better use by doing more work.

It's a shame that most young people today have probably never heard of Napoleon Hill and it's painfully obvious that a large chunk of humanity has forgotten the virtues that he described in his books.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite computer scientists:

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code” -Linus Torvalds