Announcing the 2009 Personal Brand Awards: Apply Today!

awardPersonal Branding

It’s that time of the year again. This will be the third year of the Personal Brand Awards and I’m very excited. For all of you who are new to this blog and the personal branding world that powers it, the Personal Brand Awards are awarded to five individuals each year who express what it means to create and execute on their brand value to achieve their dreams.

When I first started the awards, my desire was to recognize individuals who have achieved success through the personal branding practice. Each year, one individual achieves the gold award, two receive silver and three receive bronze. These awards should be embraced and the gold award is the highest honor an individual can receive, in displaying a well formed personal brand.

The gold winner will receive a plaque (see Jeremiah Owyang’s), as well as a spot in the November issue of Personal Branding Magazine!

The 2009 Personal Brand Awards

We’ve already been collecting applications for the 2009 Personal Brand Awards, but wanted to wait to make the official announcement today. For 2009, there are 8 world class judges, who have expertise in area’s such as public relations, social media, marketing, branding and career development.

The judges (excluding myself)

  • Sarah Austin – Sarah was one of the first live streaming, life-casters popularized on Justin.TV and now hosts a weekly live show in conjunction with Pop17 at Mogulus.
  • Jason Falls – Jason is the director of social media for Doe-Anderson and has one of the leading social media blogs called “Social Media Explorer.”
  • Liz Strauss – Liz is perhaps the most influential relational blogger on the Internet and blogs at Successful Blog.
  • Zac Johnson – Zac’s been making money online for over 10 years and been involved in nearly every facet of affiliate marketing and blogs at ZacJohnson.com.
  • Pete Kistler – Pete is a leading Online Reputation Management expert for the Gen-Y audience. He is a young, enthusiastic and active entrepreneur, CEO of Brand-Yourself.com and editor of the Brand-Yourself.com blog.
  • Katie Konrath – Katie blogs at the Personal Branding Blog and getFreshMinds.com.
  • Anthony Portuesi – Anthony is a Senior Sales Rep and Management Intern at Johnson & Johnson and blogs at DrivenLeaders.com.

What am I being judged on?

  • Value proposition – How is your appearance portrayed on your website?
  • Differentiation – Have you been a pioneer in your niche?
  • MarketabilityHow are you compelling?

For more information on this criteria, please see the rules.

Calling for 2009 applications

Applications will be accepted from now till August 1, 2009
Winners will be announced on November 1, 2009

From the judges, to all of you, we wish you good luck!