Why I was wrong about personal branding
Whether it’s a client I haven’t delivered-for, a project that didn’t go quite right or an opinion I made that was just plain wrong, I’m not afraid to make a call on something where I missed the mark. So in this series of four episodes I’ll be taking a look at things I got really wrong, and what I learned from them — and you might learn something too.
This edition of my “I Was Wrong” series is brought to you by Personal Branding.
This is a topic area of marketing, that a year ago, I hated with a passion. I saw a world of bling-bearing, Lamborghini driving, Emirates-flying tossers and bleach blonde pouting boob flashers flooding social media feeds and Facebook ads with really dodgy online courses that they’d made with no qualifications or experience behind them, but the fact that they had attended some business growth-hacking douchebag’s seminar telling them that this was the way to make easy money.
All I was seeing was a bunch of attention-seeking women and men posting material with no substance, no data, no proof, and distracting from that by looking amazing with big hair, big teeth, wildly gesticulating hands and practically yelling at everyone from the opening second of their Facebook Live video.
And this is the problem with personal branding. It tends to be dominated by these people. Even more, by people trying to sell you something. An ebook. Their consulting services. Their software. Their guaranteed six-figure-income-in-90-days-program. Their health supplements. Their essential oils.
But for every one of these types of personal brands, there is a graphic designer quietly sharing her skills. A mechanic quietly having fun showing you the challenges he faces in his work each day. A public speaker who has a story and a small following.
What it means is, that for every Kerwin Rae, there is a John Mackenzie. For every Kim Kardashian, there is a Amy Hetherington. For each and every big branding, loud and influential global player, there is someone just trying to do something good in their own local market.
Understanding then, that most personal branding is done by people who have the courage to stand out from the crowd in a tough market where people are going to look at them as “wankers” or “tossers” because they do dare to stand up and stand out, changed my thinking on what this whole personal branding thing is about.
Then, when a couple of clients asked me to help them with raising their profile, I realised that I was starting to be considered a bit of a personal branding authority around my market. Not because I had written blog posts or produced podcasts about personal branding, but, because I had unwittingly been doing personal branding on myself for the last 18 months.
That led to the horrible realisation that all the advertising, business networking, industry groups, speaking engagements, openings I had attended, blog posts, podcasts and guest spots on live videos had been doing exactly what I had considered distasteful a year and a half before.
And that meant that everything I had assumed about personal branding was wrong. It wasn’t about sticking your professional headshot on every post you make or sticking your head in front of a camera five times a day to carry on about your opinions. It is basically networking. Turning up to meetings. Doing what you said you’d do. Making sure you introduce yourself to people. Put your face on an ad here and there. Producing a podcast. Writing a blog. Helping someone out for no gain apart from the joy of helping them. Hosting a seminar or workshop. Doing a little stand-up comedy if that’s your thing. Singing the National Anthem at an event. Making speeches. Visiting clients in hospital.
Basically, being an active, empathetic, delivery-oriented, nice, approachable, human being.
So if you’re starting on a journey of personal branding, perhaps step back for a second and ask yourself whether you need to work on your ability to be a good, kind, humble, empathetic, more listen-less talk, helpful person first, before you start booking the photographers and merchandise and studio equipment.
This was originally published at Clickstarter.
