I'll add one - it's not about you, it's about your X - replace X with company, firm, clients.
Too many people in Web 2.0 land forget that. Yes, personal branding is important, but it should come after whomever cuts the check.
SpaceyG
· 2 years ago
1.) Pimp your good stuff in (local) media. 2.) Blogging is a great way to do this. 3.) Comment (a lot) on other people's blogs. Almost the best way to brand it seems. 4.) Be in local parades with blowup dolls on the hood of a yellow Corvette. 5.) Good old-fashioned method? Sleep with all the right people. This one ALWAYS manages to backfire at some point , mostly when you least expect it. Consider yourself warned.
Christian Scholz / Tao Takashi
· 2 years ago
What about being honest and transparent? Don't pretend being an expert on a topic if you aren't, don't present yourself as open if you don't share and so on.
Should help on the long run.
Regarding attending conferences and things like webmondays, barcamps etc. I just noticed it yesterday when I was at the webmonday cologne and met some guy from Aachen who's living just 50m from our office ;-)
Marty Daniels
· 2 years ago
Be passionate but not obnoxious about your pov. When I visit a blog or a site I am looking to learn, not be abused.
If you are angry at the "other side" of your passion, cause, product or argument you may want to wait to blog about it so you can better communicate with people who may not think the exact same way.
Greg
· 2 years ago
Be nice to people.
Michael Bailey
· 2 years ago
I'll just extend it a bit. After you have mastered doing ALL of the above, be sure to follow up.
If you say that you are going to get with someone you've just met about something, then make sure that you actually get with them.
If you are just so far behind that you know it's going to be a few more weeks, send them a one-line email letting them know.
There's no point in getting someone 'in the door' only to forget about them the next day.
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
The "brand" is what is "burned" into the "hide" (and seek) of the customer As They Use Product to (1) solve a problem, (2) gratify a desire, (3) enhance a lifestyle (health, entertainment, news, skills updates, training, etc.).
Your brand is never what you wish or dream or say it is. Your brand is not your tagline, slogan, mantra, jingle, ad campaign, or a feeling your marketing pretends to create or convey.
Your branding is composed, exclusively, of what customers are and have been and will be saying about you to their contacts and confidantes, online and offline.
That's your entire lesson on legit Word of Mouth, also.
Rather than manipulate online social media tools and communities, simply be Seth Godin style "astonishing" in quality, promotion, service, etc.
Brand Loyalty is easy in markets where companies take customers for granted, slight them, provide poor after-sales service, and high pressure sales tactics.
Be sure to put All Contact Info on all communications: for example, business cards *must* have:
*email *land address *land phone * cell phone * web site URL * blog URL * Twitter URL * VoIP code * fax (for the Luddites I guess) * ...and any other ways to reach you that you don't mind making public.
Have secret channels, with unguessable file extensions (like for me "/vaspersX7yTTN") to keep trolls and spammers out, on Virb, Tumblr, Terapad, Jaiku, or some status update/micro-journaling service, for Inner Circle announcements.
The #1 Gurus on Branding: Al and Laura Ries.
"The Origin of Brands" book is the best IMHO on this subject.
SpaceyG
· 2 years ago
@vaspers follows me where ever I go.
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
jeremy pepper: you are so correct, friend, but allow me to add a little tweak to it:
Branding is not about you, flush all corporate fluff "we" and "our" copy down toilet forever.
Branding is not about your company.
Branding is not about your products.
Branding is not about your customers.
Branding is about how problems are solved when customers use your product from your company.
Just deconstruct the norm by topsy turveying, and the Truth about Branding is sitting there, smiling in cone-flowered grandeur.
Kevin Kennedy-Spaien
· 2 years ago
Listen carefully to others and be a connector. Become a valued resource for referrals.
Not just for gigs, but for common interests. In the land of Web 2.0, the next cool show or blog to blow up could just as easily be about Sicilian pizza as about the newest gadget or vlog monetization strategies.
How cool is it to be known as "the one who introduced Bill and Mike of PizzaCast to each other." A reputation is built on a thousand of these small kindnesses.
Also, be generous about doing favors for people (within reason; be helpful but not a patsy).
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
Vaspers the <strike>Grate</strike>Tail Wagging Puppy Dog of Spacey Gracey, Southern Bellicose Belle Rose.
Jeremiah Owyang
· 2 years ago
These are great tips Chris. The Chris that gives great tips.
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
Branding is not about being "cool".
Branding is about being so simple, sleek, sizzling, speedy, about solving.
Solve a problem, enhance a life, in a provocative, innovative, creative, unexpected manner...and "cool" will be slapped on your product by happy users and ecstatic media.
Jeremiah Owyang
· 2 years ago
@ jeremy pepper
Yeah good point. But a brand (whether personal or corporate) is what will get you that check in the first place --be harmonious
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
Kevin is correct. Altruism Triumphant, especially for the new geeky generation.
Kevin Kennedy-Spaien
· 2 years ago
Jeremy:
All branding is personal branding in the same sense that "all politics is local politics."
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
Be like steel in the face of rejection. "Set backs" may be lessons to propel us even higher than our intended trajectory.
Be soft in sales, hard in ethics, sweet in charity, aggressive in defending friends, cautious with rumors, slow to speak, swift to hear.
Share your expertise in thousands of relevant blogs, forums, and status update channel communities like Twitter, Jaiku, YouTube, Digg, etc.
Use tons of Free to attract future Market Dominance and Sales.
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
Is the personal branding of McDonalds the gal who takes your order and bags your sandwiches?
What is the personal branding of Bush Admin? Of Iran? Of North Korea? Of Christianity? Of Buddhism?
vaspers the grate
· 2 years ago
communicate in multi-way conversation zones, using all media: podcasts, text, video, web conferencing, Twitter, google chat.
Assemble a complex array of RSS/Atom feeds using your own scrapers or Yahoo Pipes, to configure updates from the leading experts and innovators in your field...keeping you ahead of all competitors.
I think Scoble does this. heh. damn it.
chrisbrogan
· 2 years ago
I liked the reminded that branding only works when you're being genuine.
And yes, there's company branding, too, but as Robert Scoble pointed out, branding one's self is often beneficial to one's organization as well.
Finally, if you can't back up whatever you're saying, how good is that?
Josh Kenzer
· 2 years ago
Do good work. With the fast lines of communication available today, it's never been easier to get referrals and others doing your branding for you. However, nothing can tarnish your personal brand more than dropping the ball or producing rubbish.
Bill Streeter
· 2 years ago
I've found that a wire coat hanger and a cigarette ligher seems to work very well when branding myself. I've only done it once and it was very painful. But it worked, and seems to be premanent. Also taking my shirt off at events so people can enjoy it seems to make a lasting impression. Your milage may vary.
Great pointers- But the most important point is always Mitch Joel's Be Yourself- You are the best You you can be, and be proud of that. Actors may be able to slip into someone else's skin, but in this world, you need to have the core of yourself (or business or whatever) well defined before spreading the message out further.
Try Kevin Carroll's The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball- great little book, touching on this subject.
You can get Gaping Void cartoons on the back. They come from England they are really awesome!
Jeff O'Hara
· 2 years ago
I love the tip: tighten up your message, i really have to do that.
David Finch
· 2 years ago
Chris, I like the tip - "Tighten up you message." Like others who have commented I needed to be reminded of that.
Personal branding has to be about adding value to others not just me, me, me. If adding value to others is important hopefully trust and transparency will be communicated with it.
Great Stuff!
mike1630
· 2 years ago
I *finally* bought business cards :P
Jason White
· 2 years ago
I agree (whether I like it or not) with Vaspers, it is all about the problem you solve, or the excellence you provide. It is not about your product, or about YOU per se, except for the part where we are gently moving into a society where the most valued jobs are jobs that simply require you to share your personality, it is ultimately about the action you represent.
nick
· 2 years ago
Good ideas.
A challenge to this group: Any branding advice for a 'serious' kid blogger, not an adult or company?
I can't go to conferences yet. Can't attend 'barcamps', (I'm only 13). Biz cards don't fit in the 7th grade, though I've just put up posters asking for guest contributors to my KidReviewer.com blog. I've thought about using free press release to announce launch, but open to other ideas just for a kid.
There are hundreds of blog rolls for adults, momblogs, herblogs, dadblogs, but not so much with kids. Thanks, for the tips above, and other ideas I can use.
Summer's almost here, so I'll have lots of time to work on my blog (and personal brand).
PS - my language teacher gave me extra credit for printing out my kidreviewer posts. That rocks.
Clintus
· 2 years ago
Great list man.
Mugure
· 2 years ago
I am getting into the Personal Branding world now and Chris, your blog is proving to be a great resource.
Great information on Personal Branding. Check out www.qAlias.com . This site allow individual to create a web view.
victory
· 2 years ago
Very good information on branding i would say that branding is about being oneself in a sophisticated manner no else has ever viewed u from or a perspective people have never seen you with before and taking into detail every strength u have to accomplish your set goal
All Comments
Too many people in Web 2.0 land forget that. Yes, personal branding is important, but it should come after whomever cuts the check.
2.) Blogging is a great way to do this.
3.) Comment (a lot) on other people's blogs. Almost the best way to brand it seems.
4.) Be in local parades with blowup dolls on the hood of a yellow Corvette.
5.) Good old-fashioned method? Sleep with all the right people. This one ALWAYS manages to backfire at some point , mostly when you least expect it. Consider yourself warned.
Don't pretend being an expert on a topic if you aren't, don't present yourself as open if you don't share and so on.
Should help on the long run.
Regarding attending conferences and things like webmondays, barcamps etc. I just noticed it yesterday when I was at the webmonday cologne and met some guy from Aachen who's living just 50m from our office ;-)
If you are angry at the "other side" of your passion, cause, product or argument you may want to wait to blog about it so you can better communicate with people who may not think the exact same way.
If you say that you are going to get with someone you've just met about something, then make sure that you actually get with them.
If you are just so far behind that you know it's going to be a few more weeks, send them a one-line email letting them know.
There's no point in getting someone 'in the door' only to forget about them the next day.
Your brand is never what you wish or dream or say it is. Your brand is not your tagline, slogan, mantra, jingle, ad campaign, or a feeling your marketing pretends to create or convey.
Your branding is composed, exclusively, of what customers are and have been and will be saying about you to their contacts and confidantes, online and offline.
That's your entire lesson on legit Word of Mouth, also.
Rather than manipulate online social media tools and communities, simply be Seth Godin style "astonishing" in quality, promotion, service, etc.
Brand Loyalty is easy in markets where companies take customers for granted, slight them, provide poor after-sales service, and high pressure sales tactics.
Be sure to put All Contact Info on all communications: for example, business cards *must* have:
*email
*land address
*land phone
* cell phone
* web site URL
* blog URL
* Twitter URL
* VoIP code
* fax (for the Luddites I guess)
* ...and any other ways to reach you that you don't mind making public.
Have secret channels, with unguessable file extensions (like for me "/vaspersX7yTTN") to keep trolls and spammers out, on Virb, Tumblr, Terapad, Jaiku, or some status update/micro-journaling service, for Inner Circle announcements.
The #1 Gurus on Branding: Al and Laura Ries.
"The Origin of Brands" book is the best IMHO on this subject.
Branding is not about you, flush all corporate fluff "we" and "our" copy down toilet forever.
Branding is not about your company.
Branding is not about your products.
Branding is not about your customers.
Branding is about how problems are solved when customers use your product from your company.
Just deconstruct the norm by topsy turveying, and the Truth about Branding is sitting there, smiling in cone-flowered grandeur.
Not just for gigs, but for common interests. In the land of Web 2.0, the next cool show or blog to blow up could just as easily be about Sicilian pizza as about the newest gadget or vlog monetization strategies.
How cool is it to be known as "the one who introduced Bill and Mike of PizzaCast to each other." A reputation is built on a thousand of these small kindnesses.
Also, be generous about doing favors for people (within reason; be helpful but not a patsy).
Branding is about being so simple, sleek, sizzling, speedy, about solving.
Solve a problem, enhance a life, in a provocative, innovative, creative, unexpected manner...and "cool" will be slapped on your product by happy users and ecstatic media.
Yeah good point. But a brand (whether personal or corporate) is what will get you that check in the first place --be harmonious
All branding is personal branding in the same sense that "all politics is local politics."
Be soft in sales, hard in ethics, sweet in charity, aggressive in defending friends, cautious with rumors, slow to speak, swift to hear.
Share your expertise in thousands of relevant blogs, forums, and status update channel communities like Twitter, Jaiku, YouTube, Digg, etc.
Use tons of Free to attract future Market Dominance and Sales.
What is the personal branding of Bush Admin? Of Iran? Of North Korea? Of Christianity? Of Buddhism?
Assemble a complex array of RSS/Atom feeds using your own scrapers or Yahoo Pipes, to configure updates from the leading experts and innovators in your field...keeping you ahead of all competitors.
I think Scoble does this. heh. damn it.
And yes, there's company branding, too, but as Robert Scoble pointed out, branding one's self is often beneficial to one's organization as well.
Finally, if you can't back up whatever you're saying, how good is that?
Actors may be able to slip into someone else's skin, but in this world, you need to have the core of yourself (or business or whatever) well defined before spreading the message out further.
Try Kevin Carroll's The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball- great little book, touching on this subject.
You can get Gaping Void cartoons on the back. They come from England they are really awesome!
Personal branding has to be about adding value to others not just me, me, me. If adding value to others is important hopefully trust and transparency will be communicated with it.
Great Stuff!
A challenge to this group: Any branding advice for a 'serious' kid blogger, not an adult or company?
I can't go to conferences yet. Can't attend 'barcamps', (I'm only 13). Biz cards don't fit in the 7th grade, though I've just put up posters asking for guest contributors to my KidReviewer.com blog.
I've thought about using free press release to announce launch, but open to other ideas just for a kid.
There are hundreds of blog rolls for adults, momblogs, herblogs, dadblogs, but not so much with kids. Thanks, for the tips above, and other ideas I can use.
Summer's almost here, so I'll have lots of time to work on my blog (and personal brand).
PS - my language teacher gave me extra credit for printing out my kidreviewer posts. That rocks.
These tips and all the comments, totally great!