(Video by Krishna Narayanamurti)

Waltzing around the dance floor at his best friend’s wedding, 26-year-old Tim O’Brien had in his arms the girl he’d dreamed about dating all through high school. No longer the geek he’d been as a teen, O’Brien felt empowered by his freshly minted law degree, prestigious job and clear complexion.

“So,” he asked his gorgeous dancing partner, “what do you think about me?”

“I don’t,” she replied, not missing a beat.

Years later, his recollection of the crushing experience draws a laugh from O’Brien, the personal branding expert and author of “The Power of Personal Branding: Creating Celebrity Status with Your Target Audience.”

“I never bothered to ask her a single thing about herself,” he said. “Your success in life depends on creating a lasting impression with your target market, but I didn’t remotely understand that then.”

Branding guru Tim O’Brien gives his full attention to a CSUN business student. O’Brien lives and breathes his credo: “Your success in life depends on creating a lasting impression with your target market.” (Photo by Lee Choo)

O’Brien, sought out by corporations willing to pay well for his time, has offered–gratis–a series of seminars to Cal State Northridge business students and alumni. Sponsored by CSUN’s  Association of Business Honors Students, the seminars help meet students’ expressed need for more workforce preparation.

“Mr. O’Brien’s guidance has been of great value to our students as they prepare for the workforce,” said College of Business and Economics Dean William Jennings.

In today’s job market, O’Brien told accounting students, they will need an extra edge unrelated to their academic credentials.

“Personal branding has to do with what others feel about us personally and the value we can bring to a relationship,” he said.

Many seminar students have high grade point averages and will achieve soaring scores on their CPA exams, but so will other candidates against whom they’ll compete for jobs at major accounting firms.

Brilliance is not enough in these times, O’Brien stresses. In 2010, personal branding is no longer an option but a necessity.

“I am not a motivational speaker and my message is not about motivation but about marketing, more specifically, the importance of personal branding in the marketplace,” he said.

O’Brien defines a personal brand as an identity which “stimulates a meaningful emotional response in a target audience about the values or qualities for which you stand.” Your personal brand, he said, is not something you turn on and off but rather an identity which you’re known for practicing 24/7.

Impeccably tailored, O’Brien stresses that his philosophy is not limited to projecting a GQ image. “I pride myself on being well-dressed,” O’Brien said. “If I go into the office on a holiday, I’ll probably be wearing a suit, but the true golden rule of personal branding is to leave the world a better place than you found it.”

As part of the business college’s work force preparation for students and alumni, O’Brien has been leading seminars on personal branding. (Photo by Lee Choo)

— Julia Venkateswaran