May
Personal Branding Vs Business Branding (And What’s Your Exit Strategy?)
“We’re building a business, not a job” seems to be one of the latest catchphrases amongst bloggers right now – along the same lines of “I’m building an asset, not a job”. That very often then leads to a discussion about personal branding versus business branding and which one is better? (Answer: It depends upon your goal and strategy to reach that goal)
It’s very good advice – the “asset/business, not job” bit. The only problem in the blogosphere is that bloggers don’t quite seem to know how to implement and execute that strategy.
Example: Choosing not to use a photo or image of oneself
Thinking that by doing this, it means you can choose to sell/walk away from a blog/blog-driven business and it will still survive without you because your face (and even your name) isn’t on the cover…but believing that the voice, the attitude, and the beliefs make up the brand.
I think that’s missing the point though…yes those things help define your brand, but they’re essentially, still uniquely “you”. Sure you can walk away and be replaced by someone who shares the same beliefs, values and attitudes as you but if your blog sells what you do using your voice, your attitude and your wit then it’s the “you-ness” that has attracted followers and prospects in the first place. Will the business survive if this essential element walks away?
Maybe – but it’s not really the most effective, sure-fire strategy for building a business asset that can survive without you. Secondly, I personally think it’s missing a trick to create and build a business that doesn’t have a clear face to it visually (and not just a logo). Why?
What is one of the biggest advantages that social media gives to a big, faceless corporation? (big clue there!!)
It’s the face – a human, personal element that enables them to connect with their consumers and customers in a way that they’ve never really been able to before. Blogging and social media tools give bigger businesses a way to put a face to a faceless brand.
Take this away from your small business and you’re definitely missing a huge advantage you have over the big corporations (and there aren’t always that many!!).
“But if the business is branded around ourselves with our faces plastered all over it, we’ll never be able to walk away from it or sell it, will we?”.
Yes and no; and I guess it depends upon your exit strategy for your business – you do have one don’t you?
- Do you plan to sell the business on?
- Do you plan to stick around?
- What is your growth model?
- Have you thought about how the business could work as an asset for you with you still at the head of it but not working in it as a job?
I don’t know that I’ve got the *best* answer to the whole issue of building your personal brand alongside a business brand yet; I do know we have a very clear growth and exit strategy for our current roles in the business – one which allows us to still own the business, make money from it but does not require us to have a ‘job’ in it 24/7.
And I do know that building my own personal brand alongside all of our business projects is important – just as important as the branding of each project.
But if you really want to know how to reconcile building your personal brand alongside your business brand, do what I’m doing…
Look at how some of the most successful entrepreneurs have done it…people like Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Armani, Calvin Klein and the late Anita Roddick.
It can be a tough call, but I say put your name and face all over your blog and business for these reasons:
1) Authenticity is scarce, you have a commodity that big companies aspire to. You also have a built-in marketing story.
2) When you sign your real name to something, you’re much more likely to do it with passion and integrity.
3) It’s unlikely that someone will buy you, so you’re better off doing whatever makes you more likely to stick with it.
Some blogs I used to read were sold and I quickly lost interest. I didn’t even know they were sold at first, just the tone changed. Sometimes this happens when a blog loses its voice by having too many guest writers or by becoming a “network”.
Personally, I use my name and picture on my blog, even though it may cost me some “focus” mojo in the short term, because I’ll never get bored of “myself” but I easily get bored with “topics”. Also, I fully intend to die a blogger and leave my progeny a body of work spanning 50 years… if I make it that long :~)
A corporate logo or tagline isn’t human. A company relies on it’s talent to get the messages across because people can understand, associate with and connect with people who share emotions and characteristics, rather than a company.
I agree with Dan. People connect best with other people. We believe a person over a company any day. If you are setting out to build a brand, whether on a personal, professional or corporate level, you need to build trust. You need to build something personal to build that trust.
Its something I struggle with – I tend to use my name – basically because I never thought to use anything else ROTFL I guess now I will have to use it to my advantage – but I find to imagine my nae as a brand :-)
@Nathan – I agree that even when people don’t use a face, it can be pretty easy to tell when the “voice” of that blog changes – and for loyal readers it can be pretty annoying, can’t it? Good luck blogging for 50 years ;-)
@Dan, @Greg – I agree completely – and that’s why I think bloggers who don’t use their face and connect it with their blog (at least a little) are losing out.
@lissie – LOL!!! So what does the “lissie” brand stand for?
I have my face on our company blog and the blog is certainly very personality driven. But, I find with user drive forums and twitter that the space allotted is so small that photos end up looking unrecognizable. So, for those smaller formats, I generally choose a clear photo of something that interests me (usually soap since that’s my area of expertise).
I like adding the names and faces of those who are contributing to a corporate blog because it gives the audience someone to connect with. I trust these contributors to exercise good judgment and I don’t want them to be constrained to “marketing speak.” However, I don’t want our corporate blog to take on too much of the personality of any one contributor, including the moderator. I think a company is more authentic if it’s not hiding behind the face of just one person. Of course, my own personal blog is all about me!:-)
@Anne-Marie – You’re right that avatars are often too small to be useful in extending your brand across forums etc. – there’s something to be said also for using an eye-catching, bright visual for these so they stand out from the rest (esp. on something like Digg).
@Melissa Paulik – I tend to agree and having one strong corporate “voice” speaking on behalf of a large corporation can lead to false expectations and unrealistic impressions in the market. That said however, I think one clear, strong voice and “brand advocate” is better than none…