Branding What You Know
What Is My “Why?
It’s the bane of creative writers. Invoked in books, curriculums, lectures.
The odd fortune cookie. A four-letter word disguised as a proverbial
four-letter phrase.
“Write what you know.”
Write what you know.
Write what you know.
On the surface, “what you know” sounds limitless.
Until you get down to the business of figuring out what it is that you
actually know.
Well, you know your name. Where you live. What you ate for lunch. As you mentally run through your personal Lifetime movie, however, the extent
of what you “know” might start to feel considerably less…extensive. Your vitals, milestones, network, experiences, interests, etc. seem to take up only about one-third of the story.
Then…blank. It’s as if you’ve watched the end of Lost or The Sopranos: you’re left muttering “more, there has to be more…”
And, here is where “write what you know” earns its cred as four of the most maddening words to ever be strung together. Just like that, you’re stuck.
Guess who you’ll stumble on in that same quagmire? Someone on the journey to establishing a personal brand. That’s because the path taken by both writers and personal brand seekers is nearly identical.
If you’re someone trying to create a personal brand, you — like your writing brethren — began by taking stock of yourself: your skills, your credentials, your field of work. And you’d be right; these are the things you intrinsically “know.” You survey competitors to learn their tactics and glean points of differentiation. You study how others have recently used the cult of personality to launch and sustain business empires. Steve Jobs, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah.
There are many opposing forces at work in the personal branding master class of the 21st century. For example; we’re not suggesting you should publish a coffee table book jam packed with selfies. We are, however, emphasizing the importance of getting the right content seen by the right audience at the right time.
Branding is the act of assigning a product or service an identity and, subsequently, transforming that identity itself into an asset. Or, brand equity. As such, it might seem like crafting your personal brand should be the simplest marketing exercise that exists. After all, who knows yourself like you do?
Except, you don’t. The moment you decide to commodify yourself as an extension of your business is like the moment when an embryo splits to form fraternal twins. You’re both cut from the same cloth, as it were, and each possess large swaths of the same DNA. But how you present, look, speak, are often entirely different.
What’s the catalyst for that split? It’s your “why.” In fact, that’s the first question you must answer before embarking on any personal branding endeavor — whether you’re an individual, marketer, or consultant:
“What is my ‘Why?’”
What is my “Why?”
What is my “Why?”
For a personal brand, the “Why” is a compass. It’s the end goal from which strategy, tactics, and executions ultimately stream. The “Why” doesn’t reveal itself until you can answer, plainly and simply, what it is that you want.
Why do you want to establish a personal brand?
Is it to increase revenue for your company? Become a thought leader? Attract investors? Gain a readership? Launch a movement? Turn your life into a capital “l” Lifestyle? Establish a freelance practice?
When it comes to a personal brand, your “why” is the engine — not you. You are the vehicle of delivery for the “why.” In other words, you (as a personal brand) exist to service your goals. Not the other way around.
In branding the “why” is critical. Without it as a north star brands lose gas and sputter to a halt. Or even worse confuse potential customers. You can’t sustain a business on a diet of magnetism and charisma. When it comes to branding, personality without purpose is an empty premise.
So what’s your Why and how has it worked for you? We’d love to know. Reach out to us at Wit & Measure where we truly get the value of smart branding.
