If you are an independent entrepreneur, such as an artist, musician or designer, your brand is essentially that face in the mirror you look at. Most independent contractors don’t have the luxury (or money) to have their own PR person, so it’s important for them to be aware of their personal brand and how to take care of it.

My college mentor once advised me to treat myself like a brand. Ask: If you were a brand (like Air Jordan), how would you take care of it? What would you do to protect the image and let people know about it?

So now that it’s in your head to market yourself like Nike does with Air Jordan, you wonder how you go about taking care of your brand. Here are some insights I’ve learned in my six years as a professional visual artist:

• Don’t be a douchebag—Probably the best advice I’ve been given. Branding yourself doesn’t mean you have to post links about your work 24/7, but merely being aware of you as a person in relation to your product.
• Think before you Tweet—No better way than destroy your image/brand in less than 140 characters. Avoid emo tweets, drunk tweets and anything else you might say to the world. Now with Google and Bing indexing tweets, be extra careful as potential employers and clients can search for you.
• Put your game face on—Whether you’re just out with friends or at a networking event, put your game face on and best foot forward. This doesn’t mean you can’t be yourself, but think about professionalism, as if you’re going for an interview.
• Something to remember—This can be a business card, something with your logo (or even your photo) on it. Start creating brand-recognition. For me, I avoid using my face!

If you want a great example of a person-as-brand, I suggest you follower Justine Ezarik, aka ijustine. She does an amazing job branding herself, simply by being herself. You never see tweets from her that are too personal, but you do get a glimpse of her personal life. I’ve had the honor to meet and hang out with her in person, and can tell you that ijustine in the public venue is the same ijustine in the personal venue.

David Hoang & ijustine: Two brands that happen to be people.

You might get some haters if you treat yourself as a brand though. I’ve had some friends think I was pretentious or self-centered because I treated my name as a brand: davidhoang.com, atDavid. You know what? Screw them. Like Hugh McLead says, “ignore everybody.”

You are your own brand…deal with it and don’t listen to people’s criticism: even if it’s from your friends.

What is your brand? How do you go about taking care of it? I’d love to hear from you.