Journalists can build a brand like a rock star

Sure they can!

In the top story on BusinessWeek's Management page this afternoon, Dan Schawbel writes about how anyone with an Internet connection and some ambition can develop their own marketing platform.

Schawbel points to the results of a study conducted on July 20 by Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group which shows that the most engaged brands on social media saw their revenue grow by 18%.

His examples are celebrity brands: Kathy Ireland, MC Hammer, Gary Vaynerchuk. All of them quickly saw impact on their brands after using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and video blogs.

Journalists can do the same thing. Of course, revenue is counted not by sales but by loyalty, readers, viewers, story tips and, perhaps, longevity in the business.

• New York Times' Brian Stelter has 11,750 followers on Twitter.
• All Things Digital's Kara Swisher has 116,000 followers and drives a lot of traffic to her All Things Digital blog, which is part of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
• Michael Banovsky, who covers the auto industry in Toronto, has nearly 4,000 followers.
• And Miami Herald tech reporter Bridget Carey has 1,800 followers.

All are respectable business journalists, but none are household names. They would not expect to attract followers in the numbers that Oprah or Ellen or Ashton would.

But they are just four of hundreds of business journalists using social media to develop their brands and to reach an audience they may not have had before.

Whether you are a freelancer or get a regular paycheck, you are your brand. And you can always take lessons from the stars. It's Hammer time.