Branding… stop BS-ing it!
You’re an entrepreneur that consults for various organizations, one of my key focus points is making sure the “brand” is seen in a respectable light. No controversy, no questionable posts and so on. For me, I feel like its pretty straight forward.
However, when it comes to the individual it is not so black & white. You are you, what makes “you” the brand? Recently, I have seen “branding experts” put on workshops on how people should build their brand, social media this… social media that and quite frankly it is all… a LOAD OF CRAP. Here is what builds your brand in one sentence.
“Your brand is a reflection of your body of work and nothing else”.
What does that even mean? Well lets look at a few examples first…
The Jordan brand, Michael Jordan does not sell ONE pair of sneakers for $200+ in major stores all over the world, if he doesn’t dominate on the court like he did for 15 seasons. Do you think if MJ had an NBA career that lasted 4 years, the Jordan brand ever becomes the Jordan brand? Please.
Serena Williams, my prediction is that she will retire from the game of tennis is about 5–7 years. However, she has started to lay the foundation to be the next black female billionaire. Such as partial ownership of the Miami Dolphins with her sister, clothing line and many endorsements that will more than likely last for the rest of her life. Again, none of this matters if she doesn’t win as much as she wins and maintains the elegance that is Serena Williams.
Okay, what about some non-sports examples??
Jay Leno, a big time car enthusiast, he did extremely well in the late night circuit for many years and only used the money from his stand up to support his lifestyle. Needless to say, the man has done well for himself and there is a reason Jay Leno is a household name all over the country.
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and he did well very well in the tech space, where he grew his fortune. Made a name for himself again being the brash “youthful” NBA owner that annoyed a lot of people. I personally liked it because it was REAL. There is a reason why people love to focus on him during Shark Tank, the man knows what he is doing!
Oprah. Her body of work literally speaks for itself. If you don’t know at this point, I can’t help you.
I can go on with hundreds of examples locally, nationally and internationally of people that did well in their field and now they are a household name in their respective fields. You cannot create a brand out of thin air. There has to be a body of work… a resume… a result that can be negative or positive that precedes the brand.
You can have the logo, the amazing website, perfect Facebook, Instagram and Twitter execution, it doesn’t matter. You still need the body of work. Let me tell you a secret that is not a secret… the bullsh*t meter of the internet is very accurate and it has no problem calling people out.
Now here is the problem: A lot of people want that sexy TED talk that gets millions of views so then they can get the fat $30,000 paycheck to speak at a business conference every weekend… yet they have no brand equity that even justifies either of those opportunities. Riiiiiight. Remember, even if you do have that magical presentation, you still need to show people what makes you so great.
You need to be able to back it up. “How do I fix my brand? How do I build my brand? How do I get 40,000 followers?”. Quite frankly are all foolish question. You build you brand by laying down those bricks in the foundation of your body of work. As you keep laying those bricks down, there will soon be a structure that will be the representation of your work and ability. Behold, your brand!
I leave you with you with one last example:
The beautiful pyramids of Giza, have been around for thousands of years and have stood the test of time, weathering, erosion, looting and more! Yet they still stand. Those structures are a representation of the ability of the ancient Egyptians; how those buildings were constructed is still an enigma to this day.
However, but we know that the scientific knowledge and execution of the Egyptians of the day was extremely advanced and highly respected. You can’t even say the word pyramid with immediate visualizing those beautiful structures in your mind!
Now thats branding.
