Book Review: ‘Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding’ by Cynthia Johnson

Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding, a new work by personal branding expert Cynthia Johnson, teaches readers how to build and manage their own personal brands, guiding them as they seek to establish and maintain what will likely become a key ingredient of their long-term professional and personal successes.

Platform arrives at an opportune time in which there is a tremendous dichotomy when it comes to personal branding: Never before has the power to build influence been as available to everyone as it is today, and, yet, at the same time, never before has the need for every person to build and control his or her brand been as great as it is now.

Many folks, however, tend to use influence-building tools in an ad-hoc fashion, and, as such, fail to successfully brand themselves per their desires; as Johnson shows in Platform, preparation, planning, and foundation building are essential when it comes to personal branding.

Platform explains how readers can take ownership of their own personal brands before others inevitably do – explaining techniques for discovering what brand-impacting material already exists about a person, as well as how to influence which elements of that data are likely to be seen by others. Johnson also educates readers about establishing one’s own narrative, and controlling how one appears to the world.

Johnson covers four important elements that comprise a personal brand: personal proof, social proof, recognition, and association – and discusses how she leveraged them to transform herself, in less than 3 years, from an unknown social media manager to a well-known influencer and thought-leader with millions of followers on social media. She explains in detail how readers can implement a proper personal-branding plan and transform themselves into major authorities – amplifying their voices and opening many professional doors along the way. She covers how to use social media, blogging, and many other techniques to both enhance one’s credibility and expand one’s reach.

All in all, Platform is an excellent read for people interested in personal branding – which, in today’s world, should include essentially everyone.

Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding is available on Amazon.