Just What is Personal Branding Anyway?

For a few months now I've been contributing to one of Dan Schawbel's websites, Student Branding Blog.  The blog helps students and those early in their careers build and use their personal brand.

Whenever I explain personal branding to people there are usually a few scenarios I find myself in.  Some people right away 'get' what a personal brand is all about, some people see it as 'selling out' - and - some people have no clue why a person would want to be a brand.  Just to set the record straight I thought I would include this tweet that Dan sent last week.  It's simple, to the point, and probably one of the best descriptions anyone could ever write.

Dan is pretty widely accepted as the preeminent figure in the personal branding space - he was named to the Inc. 30 Under 30 last year and writes for BusinessWeek, and Forbes.  He is also the Author of Me 2.0, Revised and Updated Edition: 4 Steps to Building Your Future.

Dan's sums it up nicely. What do you think?