Much has been discussed about the “personal brand,” and while some may debate what this is worth and how it evolves, I think without question that the way you show up on the Internet can influence your business success … and your company’s!

In fact what I’d like to suggest is that at some point there is a limit to the whole concept of a personal brand and that instead we need to focus on the idea of employees being “virtual social media beacons” working 24×7 for your company.

• For example, think of your favorite personalities on Twitter or Facebook. Can you name the company they work for? Shouldn’t that be relevant information?
• Do you know how your employees are representing your company on their social sites? Do you have a policy in place to guide this?
• Is it more important to have a personal brand or be part of a larger effort to promote the brand of your company … workforce branding as it were?
• Is there a limit to a personal brand? Does it stop working at some point? I would suggest that even Guy Kawasaki, who has a staff keeping his name out in front all over the web can’t be everywhere. But what if you have MANY employees who act as those social media beacons?

The idea of workforce branding is so new that companies don’t know what they’re missing. But I think the most progressive companies will wake up to this business potential and aggressively harness the cumulative power of employee brands on the web.

Let’s face it, if your employees are on the clock, why are they using the time to promote themselves instead of your company? And why not take a systematic, methodical approach to doing this that optimizes your business presence?