Creative Personal Branding: The Strategy to Answer: What’s Next

by Jürgen Salenbacher

In this innovative book Jürgen Salenbacher shares his unique personal coaching method designed to develop creative thinking and innovation. The method, while it originated as a career management tool, it can be used by anyone who wishes to explore what they have to offer the world. In five succinct chapters Salenbacher reveals how to use brand positioning methodology to discover where to go next. Along the way he discusses the origins of today's crisis, the keys to creative thinking, he examines the work of leading theorists in business culture, and sets readers 9 assignments designed to coach them towards realising their assets and skills. An invaluable professional resource, Creative Personal Branding is a fascinating and very practical tool for anyone interested in positioning themselves in the creative economy.

Genres: Business, Design, Nonfiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2010

Reviews

[Elko Born · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buzzwords and blabla without any depth or substance. One of the worst books I have ever read.

[Olesia Shpak · Rating 4 out of 5]

привіт товариству анонімних книжкових прокрастинаторів,
я Олеся і я нарешті дочитала «Creative Personal Branding» від Юрґена Саленбахера. 📘

два місяці назад занурилася в цю розрекламовану книжку наодинці в «Інтерсіті». знаєте, в тій інтимній самотності, яку дає тільки шум потяга, відсутність інтернету та нестримне бажання втекти подалі від поетично абсурдного слайдшоу на екрані. бо хто ж не хоче побачити, як дівчина здивувала інтернет оригінальним рецептом, а юнак поділився цікавим лайфхаком в мережі?

словом, взяла, засіла, проковтнула за дорогу пів книжки, миттєво закохалася, опублікувала хвалебну сторіз, охолола, возненавиділа, забула, облаяла у статті для «Wonderzine», скривилася, помирилася, дочитала.

і скажу я вам, не все так погано. книжка — структурований франкенштейн з усіх аксіом з побудови бренду (як особистого, так й комерційного), які ви й так знаєте, але не проти зайвий раз почути ще раз.

про те, чому важливо будувати особистий бренд у період буму креативної економіки;

про те, що при формуванні стратегії важливо орієнтуватись не просто на цільову аудиторію, а на людей з конкретною ментальністю;

про те, як візуалізовувати суть своєї ідентичності (шрифт, стиль сайту, зображення, шаблони презентації, листи подяки);

та про те, що у Йоганна Вольфганга фон Ґете (саме того, що написав «Фауста») є книжка про філософію дизайну «Теорія кольору» і нам всім терміново треба її прочитати. 💙

книжка-копняк для тих, кому він потрібен.
але потрібен він точно не всім.

7/10

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjunctive, scatter-brained, and disappointing. I kept feeling like I was being led somewhere... but then the topic would change.

By taking snippets and turning them into large, branded pages interspersed with the text, Salenbacher means tip his hat to marketing strategies, but I found this format to be redundant and impatient. Most of the quips and quotes weren't even that insightful, meaning the content is effectively half the size of the book.

To the book's credit, it does promote an introspective moment, whereby one is asked to take a step back and evaluate oneself, including one's talents, weaknesses, etc. These reflections can be turned into objectives and fundamental personal principles which can help one keep the course in perilous times of over reflection.

[Kendra Drischler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book looks beautiful, because the author is a specialist in design, but it is quite poorly edited. The text rambles from platitudes about the financial crisis to stews of buzzwords that never go anywhere, including the potential, I don't know, LIMITS to the idea that a person is actually the same thing as a brand. As a teacher of English as a foreign language it also drove me up the wall that the book is written in an English composed by a native speaker of German and not proofread by someone who speaks English as their first language, or edited so poorly they left in sentences like (speaking of a general case) "How many people went up the career ladder quickly only to find out that the ladder is propped up against the wrong wall?" I couldn't read this without getting out a pen and personally correcting the English mistakes, which was distracting to say the least.

[Rana Zaher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Misleading book... poorly written and embellished to look like some mind-opening self help book for the creative mind. However, the ideas and arguments are weak and stuffed with ‘quotes’ from famous people in order to bring about relevancy and credibility towards otherwise void ideas..
When i first started reading this book i was quite excited, but the more i read the more i felt that the author was leading me up to something like a scam. And there it was, halfway through: the author blatantly writing about how coaching is one of the most important things a creative person should do. seriously? Coaching? What is the author? You guessed it: a life coach.
Nop; didn’t work for me. Deceptive.

[Roman Shaternik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Очень, очень плохо. Претендент на звание худшей книги прочитанной в 2021. Про-креативный буллшит, подача в стиле "я предсказываю будущее" о том что уже давно произошло. Кажется, что даже 11 лет назад, когда вышла эта книга это уже было баяном. Кроме того, набор клише и в мыслях и в цитатах. Советы о поиске себя и своей уникальности примерно как инструкция о том как нарисовать сову ("Нарисуйте круг. Теперь нарисуйте остальную сову"). Наряду с этим - "есть шрифты с засечками, а есть без". Серьёзно? В общем, тотально бесполезно. Хорошо что короткая и не потратил много времени :)

[Siarhei · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buzzword bingo book. Book about everything in general (like business, internet, design) and nothing in details. Full of quotes, success stories and persons it provides literally nothing on it's own.

I wish I could rate it zero stars.

[Max Cherepitsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Не зашло. По ощущениям - школьный реферат про брендинг и пользу интернета.

[Natasha Kareeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Все очень простыми словами, но все по делу

[Michel Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buen libro para darte una idea del camino que puedes tomar en tu progreso como creativo y lograr un sentimiento de continuidad en las ideas que vas generando a lo largo de tu vida, te permite sentar ideas de lo que puedes lograr dependiendo de tu contexto y motivaciones, es un libro pequeño pero con buenas ideas más si no tienes idea de a donde ir. Se lo recomiendo a las personas que desean crear un negocio propio o crear arte.

[Aynur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Далеко не каждый человек задумывается о себе, как о бренде, хотя я считаю это огромной ошибкой. И я частенько выбираю литературу на эту тему. Конечно я не могла пройти мимо яркой обложки данной книги, но ... На мой взгляд, книга #не_оправдывает ни весьма завышенной стоимости, ни заявленного названия. Яркая обложка, нестандартный подход к оформлению и легкость, с которой она читается, могут быть отмечены единственными плюсами.
Но хорошие мысли все же есть:
Ваша профессиональная жизнь — как марафон, который постепенно превращается в десятиборье. Поэтому вопрос не в том, чтобы быстро бежать в начале. Вопрос в том, финишируете ли вы, даже если совершенно выбились из сил, и будете ли улыбаться при этом.
Если что-то не работает — придумай другое название и назначение!
Есть мнение, что, если бы мы говорили с другими людьми так, как говорит с нами наш внутренний голос, у нас бы вообще не было друзей. Так что, пожалуйста, помните: отношение так же важно, как и способности

[Stephanie Handjiiska · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm 60% into the book and there has been 0 information about personal branding.

Simply generic thoughts, like coming out of a textbook about the Creative Industries. These could be useful if you're a freelancer in the field of creativity for business people, for example - you could learn these phrases and sentences and just repeat them, they'll sound very good to your prospective clients.

I think this book proves that if you're consistent enough, you can become an author and have your own business even if you don't say anything valuable. A bit sad.

[A'ishah Kamaludin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love that this book comes with action plan. However, I found that chapters 00 to 02 are unnecessary and lack of context. They are still good for talking points on history of Internet and the needs for creativity and creative thinking.

If I were to give you reading tips:-
1. Start reading on page 76.
2. Read bold texts to skim through certain chapters/sections. They are mostly padded.
3. Do all the exercises, if you haven’t done them before. They are good for guidance and self-reflection.

[Amanda Fay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ouch. This was horrible. It looks great but there is no real substance.

[Anna Andrienko]

Остановилась на 30%. Вроде бы интересно, но действительно - вода. Про креативность много упоминаний, про персональный брендинг за треть книги ни слова.

[Sasha Izhboldin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing impressive. Mix of obvious facts and just a couple of tips or recommendations

[Nicco 💕 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buzz words padded by vague examples 0 discussion of actual branding. More of a self help book for marketers afraid of the internet.

[Nefertari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative personal branding, by Jürgen Salenbacher, is the book that answers everyone’s question “What should I do next?”, with a focus on both job and personal life. The aim is to help the reader with understanding present and future market changes and how to adapt them, while taking advantage of new opportunities and through personal change and growth.

Salenbacher writes in a inspiring way, carefully explaining every passage and sharing his personal experience to help the reader get the most out of the book. He guides the reader though the book, with the assignments and with the last chapter, which consists of a guided tutorial towards creative personal branding.

As a reader keen on details, I appreciate the data that were given all book long, it’s an important scientific aspect that gives the book more credibility. In addition to that, all examples were taken from well-known enterprises’ strategies, another extra for realism. Another interesting detail is the layout of the book, there’s bold characters, there’s quotes and illustrations, all of this makes it a fun and interesting read.

Furthermore, at the end of every chapter we can find an assignment, the writer suggests that the reader completes every assignment as they come by it. This enhances the aim of the book to help individuals understand new challenges and take advantage of new opportunities through personal growth.

I am giving Creative personal branding, by Jürgen Salenbacher, four stars out of five. With its projection of the future market, its inspirational quotes and catching layout, this book will catch every reader’s mind. I feel like recommending this novel to everyone that feels in need of a change and wants their life to take a turn for the better. In the end, I would like to finish this review with a quote from the book, explaining what the author’s aim is: “want to share with you my strategy for answering this question: Creative Personal Branding. Its four key values are substance, style, conviction and grace. It aims to develop creative leadership, helping you to identify where to go, how to get there and with whom.”

[Andréa Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The CPB book has completely met my expectations when it comes to personal growth cause it has brought to light many issues I was facing and how to solve them. It has helped me to achieve my professional goals by helping me to create a clear path to achieve my goals. Overall I would recommend the book to those who need a change in life and are in search of a way to self analyze and discover the next steps in their lives.

[Kara Baney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative Personal Branding is a powerful read that will take you out of your comfort zone to expand your thinking and possibilities! Author Jurgen Salenbacher includes “assignments” throughout the book that allows you to reflect and put his wisdom into practice. This book expands across all disciplines and I firmly believe you will gain a more well-rounded perspective after reading! I highly recommend!

[Mati 'Matimajczyta' · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is interesting and has a lot of good advice for people entering the plot of creating their image. Creativity in the form of catching information, combining fields and different solutions is the basis for helping you create your own style.

We get a dose of information, what was once good, what went wrong, a lot of advice, and interesting information. I work in a close field, so a lot of information is confirmed from my own experience.

Good for beginner image creators :)

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little bit disappointed and confused. The title is misleading. There are some interesting points, and maybe one should do the exercises, provided in the book. I thought the book would be about a personal brand, but it seems that for the author it interlaced with business or other business like project. Still not sure what I read and if I can apply anything to my goal of creating a personal brand.

[Ema · Rating 5 out of 5]

An innovating book about creativity and thinking outside the box. It makes you think more about current issues and how to overcome them with creativity along with 9 exercises to stimulate it better. Personally, I would recommend reading this book more than once to get a better understanding as one reading session might not be enough.

[Oksana Minina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Для себе я умовно розділяю книгу на 2 частини - перша про креативність і ідентичність, а друга про брендинг. Так от, перша частина мені сподобалась більше ніж друга - хороші поради для пошуку свого шляху та своїх цілей і самого себе.
Друга частина про брендинг - поради які ми і так знаємо, але не зайвим буде ще раз собі нагадати.

[Laura-Maria Schober · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful book for everyone who has never dealt with personal branding before. For those people who have, the book might not bring many new insights, since it covers the topic slightly superficially. The book´s exercises are useful for self-reflection.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not the most innovating book, but it helped me understand that the direction I’m taking with my passion project is right! Nice reading for when you feel a bit lost and you want to work a bit more on yourself and your future business.

[Lyndel Yeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relevant to any creative needing a little encouragement and advice on starting their own business or brand.

[Sofiia Ermolaeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Что-то про творчество, креативность и личный бренд. Читается очень легко, можно освежить свои знания и выполнить несколько упражнений для вашего профессионального роста

[Parvu Andreea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book if you plan to launch a business.

[ViSha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга неплохая, но я почему-то ждала, что будет и о том, как его продвигать :)