* How to Monetize Your Passion Online *

Developing your personal brand is key to monetizing your passion online. Whether you're delivering your content by video, podcast or blog, it's the authentic you, the one thing guaranteed to differentiate you from everybody else, including those who share your niche or business model. The thing that most people don't realize is that, in today's world, your business and your personal brand need to be one and the same, whether you're selling organic fish food or financial advice, or just your opinion.

Monetizing a personal brand is not a new concept. A lot of the most successful entertainment figures in the world are personal brand geniuses, like Oprah, Howard Stern and Emeril. They built their empires out of being who they are and never backing down from it. But the major benefits of personal branding are not limited to the A-list celebrities. In fact, personal branding is what gives everyone an unprecedented shot at joining their ranks.

For example, think about what some people might consider second-tier celebrities, like Ashton Kutcher or Kerry Rhodes. Kutcher was already famous from his stints on television, not to mention his marriage to Demi Moore, but there is no doubt that his brand has blown up since he started leveraging social networking tools. Rhodes, the New York Jets football player [now with the Arizona Cardinals], has been using Twitter with incredible success to make his brand bigger. D- to C-level entertainment figures like Wil Wheaton, Brooke Burke, Levar Burton and Fred Durst are building great opportunities that will likely propel them from B- to A-level status. How do I know? Because I can see how many people are following on their Twitter accounts.

Now usually, I advise people to ignore the quantity of people following them and focus instead on the quality of their interactions with those followers- it's a lot more indicative of how well their brand is doing. Many decision makers, however, still aren't aware of this important detail, and therefore the preceding celebrities will benefit from those nice numbers we're seeing. Where the eyeballs go, opportunity follows.

An earlier generation built their brands on television and movie screens, radio, magazines and newspapers, and the new one will do the same online at much lower cost, with no need for a gatekeeper's approval. Get into position, because the big killing is just around the corner. The field may be different, but the game is the same.
By Gary Vaynerchuck

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