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August 5, 2005, written by Jeremy. Read the commentary.

Yesterday, Hugh posted on trust and blogging. He said that he’s increasingly reluctant to do business with non-bloggers — that cog in the trust wheel needs to be there.

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Seth Godin recently wrote that “the only security you have is in your personal brand and the projects you’ve done so far.”

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One of my clients is in communications and media and last night he was pointing out how much room he still sees for improving blogs, podcasts, and vlogs. There’s a niche, he says, for excellent and high-quality communication in these forms.

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In all things there is a baseline. It used to be that a high-school diploma done you good. Now we’re skittering between Master’s degrees and Ph D’s. The education baseline is rising.

At one time, the people I knew from church were sufficient to guarantee a reasonably sustainable flow of local business. Then we started networking. And now we’re blogging. Our personal set of relationships is growing exponentially.

The baseline to sustain a “personal brand” is hopping levels and broadening to encircle a wider range of skills — but that’s obvious. What’s catching my eye is the average sheep. Those people that ignore these changes.

Before you could finish high-school and stay in Sunday school — done. In between then and now, you could spend two years and catch up. But now — the gap is huge (the gappingvoid is hugh, heh). To be near the top you need a high-end degree from a prestigious school, a huge sphere of relationships across a wide swath of the economy, and a personal brand so deliberately constructed that it can withstand the torturous strain of a non-linear career.

Now you can’t catch up — you can either do it or you’re out — permanently.

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