Branding Yourself Online "We’re in an age when corporate businesses don’t care for you as an individual anymore-you’re just an employee number——Professor David James". London, England (CNN)— (76) The concept of personal branding has been around for more than a decade, but the Internet and social networking have made it easier than ever to sell the brand "you". (77) The basic idea of personal branding is to promote yourself as having certain values, skills or expertise—your brand—so that if someone needs that expertise, they’ll come to you first. (78) While many people are still uncomfortable with the idea of marketing themselves as acommodity, others see it as part of the changing world of work. Professor David James is director of the school of Growth, Innovation and Enterprise at Henley school of Business, in England. He told CNN, " (79) We’re living in an age when corporate businesses don’t care about you as an individual any more—you’re just an employee number. They will outsource you, insource you, relocate you, and delocate you in whatever way they think suitable. Therefore you have to look after number one, and personal branding is really important." So how do you go about creating your personal brand James says the first step is to be clear about your strengths and your core values. Your brand identity needs to be a clear message of who you are and what you have to offer. (80) Next, give yourself a short and long-term plan of where you want to be, what job you want to have, and how you want people to perceive you. Think about the people who can help get you where you want to be——they aye your target audience. In the same way that a conventional brand markets itself to a certain demographic, you need to advertise your brand to your target audience.