LOL… I have a problem.  I like buying books. It’s this impulsive thing.  I can’t walk into a Barnes & Noble without walking out or wanting to walk out with a book.

The book I’ve gotten myself into recently is Rohit Bhargava‘s new book “Personality Not Included: Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Brands Get it Back.” I have to say that it’s a real gem.  GO BUY IT!!!

A lot of PR books today advise you on new and more effecient ways that you can sell your soul for the sake of advancing your company and your product.  This book posits the exact opposite thesis.

Rohit talks about how if you want to really endear your customers with your company, brand, and product,  you have to show your personality (or open the kimono as Merlin Mann likes to call it.)  This is SOOOO true.

Hmm… what are the brands, companies, or people that I’m excited about?  As my readership, you can probably identify them just as well as I can because I talk about them A LOT.

Murky Coffee (I’m sitting here right now)…  It reaks of personality.  Whether it’s the eclectic collection of tables and chairs, their Arlington location’s house-turned coffee shop, or their amazing coffee.  It’s personality.  Just look at their slogan, “Totally committed to serving the people of Washington with the best damn coffee there is.  Yes, we said damn.”

Gary Vaynerchuk/Wine Library TV…  Yeah, there is LOTS of personality.  If you don’t get what I mean, tune into any of the episodes of Gary’s shows.  Meet Gary in person and HELLO there’s personality.  You can’t help be endeared to him and what he’s doing.

Fun side note: Coincidentally, the one time I’ve met Rohit was at a game of Werewolf that was initiated by Gary at this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas.  Had a GREAT time.  Wish I could have stayed longer.

Leo Laporte/This Week In Tech…  Seems like I’ve been listening to Leo Laporte’s podcasts forever.  I think it started in college when I first saw Call for Help on Tech TV.  I instantly became a fan.

Now if opened up my iTunes podcast section, you’d see most of the TWiT podcasts.   There is something about listening to Leo and his merry band of brethern which is just really fun.

On one show they gave out an AWESOME t-shirt idea that I’d totally buy, “I hear a voice in my head and his name is Leo Laporte.”

Rochester Institute of Technology… My alma mater holds a special place in my heart because of its great level of personality.  It’s just different.  The people, place, and personalities are just different.  My favorite professors were the ones that let their passions and personalities show.

Capitol Hill… Of all the places I’ve lived, it is by far the favorite.  Why? It has personality.  You walk by a building and it will have a plaque saying “Established in 1820.”  In the distance, you see things like the US Capitol Building or the Library of Congress Jefferson Building.  You get to walk through things like Eastern Market.  It’s the kind of stuff you can’t get any where else in the country… PERSONALITY.

There are so many others that I could talk about, like BarCamps, One Laptop per Child, Apple Computers, Naked Smoothies, Twitter, Flickr, Iron Chef, and many many others.

What brands, organizations, or people are you passionate and excited about because of the personalities that they exhibit?  How do you exhibit personality?

On my post yesterday about starting to think about your personal brand early my friend Samantha Warren left a very wise and true comment.

Students should also be aware of the repercussions of damaging their personal brand while in college. I don’t think some students realize that potential employers will Google them during the interview process. I have seen some less than flattering pictures of candidates at previous employers.

We live in an age where we live our lives online.  We broadcast our every thought and desire via things like our blogs and Twitter.

We also hang out with people who are happy to broadcast our lives for us.  I know that when I hang out with some people, I’m almost guaranteed there will be a photo of me on Flickr or Facebook or both later that day.

You can’t live your life in fear of saying something stupid.  If I did that, I’d probably never say anything.  I’ve said plenty of stupid things on and offline.  BUT…

You do have to think about what you say and what you do. Once what you’ve done is out on the Web, it’s really out there forever.

Samantha Warren recently wrote a blog post “How Many Pieces of Work Should you Include in your Web Portfolio?“  When you  live your life online,  your life is your portfio.  Everything you’ve done will be there to represent who you are and what you do, for better or for worse.

The Google Search Engine Results page for you almost becomes as representative of you as your resume.

How does that make you feel?  What do you see on your Google page?  Embarassing college party photos or a body of work that you’d be proud of?