You are being marketed, whether you realize it or not. You are referenced on websites. Other people talk about you. Search for your name and you will find a lot of people talking about you. Every time someone writes about you or talks about you to a friend they are contributing to the perception other people will have of you. The sum of all this information is your brand. If you don’t say anything about yourself then other people will have total control over your brand. Letting other people take control of your brand is a big risk.
Being your own marketing department sounds like hype, but you are probably doing it already. When you talk about a project you are working on, describe a tough problem that you solved, or help someone else solve their problems you are building your personal brand. You are informing one more person about you and what you do. Next we’ll look at a simple example.