Three years ago, I was working on what would be the biggest consulting contract of my career. It was a potential deal with a U.S. government agency and as part of the bidding process I had to be interviewed by their senior procurement professionals via Skype.

It was a bit intimidating. The stakes were high and I was facing a table full of people I didn't know.

I started to introduce myself but two sentences into my presentation, the procurement director interrupted me. "Oh Mr. Schaefer, we all know who you are," she said. "We've read your blog for years."

At that moment, I knew the competition was over. I was going to get that contract, for this simple reason: I was known, and the other bidders were not. Of course I was capable and competitive, but all things being equal, being known provides a powerful edge in the business world. I knew this contract was going to come my way ... and it did.

This is a powerful example of the critical role your personal brand can play in the world today. Whether you just want more doors to open for you, you want to write a book someday, or speak before an important industry event, if you're known, you're going to have more success. There are so many personal and professional benefits that depend on becoming known today.

And it might mean something more than that very soon. Being known might mean "relevance" in an imploding world of white-collar employment. Economists say that technology could kill 5 million jobs in the next three years -- mostly "knowledge worker" positions. Things are going to get competitive out there.

Becoming known may be the only permanent, sustainable competitive advantage we have in this tumultuous world. But where do you start? How do you do this? What is the role of social media? Blogs and video? Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat? How much time does it take?

This seems so overwhelming.

Well, until now. It does not have to be.

In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, I give the inside story of my new book. How I wrote it, why I wrote it, and how you, too, can become known.

Please enjoy a FREE CHAPTER of the new book > Free chapter of KNOWN

Now, on to the podcast -- KNOWN, or "GNOME," as Tom refers to it, lays out an actionable plan to develop a profound digital presence that is accessible and achievable. Let's dig into this together, shall we?

Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity.

Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com.

BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!