A few days ago I overheard on Twitter, someone asking Shoemoney, “Does everything you touch turn to gold?” Obviously he wasn’t talking literally, but instead how everything that the Shoemoney brand has a part of does well. It does so simply because of the power of a good brand.

So what’s the difference between a brand like Nikon and Shoemoney? Simple, Jeremy has made a brand not only recognizable by its logo, but also by his face and his name. In essence Jeremy Schoemaker is his own brand. He’s built a reputation as an expert in his field; and continues to build it through his blog and radio show.

Because of the reputation he has, he’s able to build an influx of press attention and visitors for any of his new endeavors. He uses his reputation to leverage people he knows, and people that look up to him, to launch new projects and build a community.

Jeremy is in no way the only person that has effectively branded themselves, Sugarrae (Rae Hoffman) and Problogger.com (Darren Rowse) are also recognizable brands and experts. They each reap the benefits of being a “celebrity”.

Building a reputation and strengthening your brand takes a three step approach. First you have to begin branding your name, and making sure people know exactly who you are. Once you’ve started that you build your image. The goal is to make your face a recognizable logo. Someone should be able to pick you out of a crowd, easily. The final step is building your reputation.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll explore exactly how to brand your name.