You know many brands. Think of a couple. Pepsi, Audi, Nikon… you.

Each brand makes you think of particular attributes. A company leaves no stone unturned when it comes to its brand. The shape of the logo, the color of the logo, the design of the website, and even the user manual carefully shape the brand. Companies spend a lot of money creating their brand in the minds of consumers.

Individuals also have to worry about their personal brand. Recruiters, HR staff, and hiring managers are all consumers of your brand. Fortunately you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your personal budget, however, you will have to be careful with how you build your personal brand.

But why should you care about a personal brand? Here are the top 10 reasons why you should be concerned:

1. Opportunities have a way of finding you. It’s hard enough to go out and find an opportunity. You certainly don’t want to pass up any job opportunity to find YOU. What a concept!
2. You will have an audience to validate your opinions and broaden your horizons. Part of establishing a personal brand is building a professional network and demonstrating your expertise to your network.
3. Your credibility hurts. The more people start to understand your brand, the more they will value your opinion.
4. Search engines become your friends: Your personal brand is usually built through numerous online sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, forums and blogs. These pages show up on search engines and people see your name in a search query. They will recognize your experience.
5. You can get promotions (and more money) than you normally would. You will stand out from your peers. Supervisors (and peers) will notice.
6. You have the opportunity to shape your own brand. You don’t want to let others broadcast your brand for you. You do?
7. The more people you meet and the more relationships you build, the more you will grow as a network.
8. It feels great when your self-confidence skyrockets!
9. Success will come much sooner because you have a network of people who see you as an expert in your field.
10. A friendly network gives you something to fall back on if needed. Your network is there if you need career advice, help finding a job, or just a friendly discussion about an important topic.

Okay, now you care. You should start building your brand today.