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Something to Shout About - the “A” in IABC

We hear a lot about “personal brand” these days.

On Twitter we get tips for tweeting ourselves to personal brand recognition. On Facebook the personal brand experts tell us how to shape our online friendships to create brand buzz for ourselves. And on LinkedIn the dialogue is peppered with suggestions for building professional reputations.

And, as someone who has worked a lot in brand, I am fascinated with how this discussion continues to evolve.

Social media gives each of us a platform to promote ourselves in ways we didn’t have a few years ago. Yet all this opportunity for self-directed marketing will ring hollow without content to substantiate whatever we may pitch. And, for communicators, there’s no recognition as strong as ABC, to be an Accredited Business Communicator. It is the global standard for our profession.

But it’s not as well known, nor as widely recognized, as it should be. Certainly the scope of the process, the review of the work, the depth of the examination set a bar that, for all who pass, sends a powerful message of achievement and ability. Strategy for strategy, result for result, the ABC is a powerful symbol for the best of what our profession achieves. And, for any of us who want to tell the world what we can do, it should be the leading headline.

Yet, after all these years, many do not know what it stands for, what it demonstrates, what it symbolizes. And that’s our fault. Those of us fortunate enough to put the letters “ABC” behind our names have an obligation to shout its meaning at every opportunity. That’s the only way the profession, and the broader business community, will start to hear what a strong case accreditation makes for quality.

So the next time you read a blog, or a tweet, about personal brand, ask yourself a couple of questions. Am I accredited? If not, isn’t it time I started working on it? And, if so, who have told about it lately?

Because building word-of-mouth is what brands are all about.

by D. Mark Schumann, ABC

IABC Xchange