How to Sell Your Brand Without Selling Your Soul
Who wants to be a sellout?
Nobody goes into a self sufficient lifestyle with that sort of attitude (at least not those who actually care about what they’re doing). However, this is an easy pitfall to stumble into with poor planning and an aimless perception.
Too often it is the self-starter’s swan song to envision themselves in their dream life without taking action to own it.
This ultimately comes down to being honest with yourself, your brand, and your financial situation.
What we are talking about here ideally is your baby. Your brainchild that has grown as you have, has overcome the same obstacles and tribulations.
Developing your brand in today’s world is closely equivalent to the resume of ten years ago. It lists your successes and what makes you unique in your field, romanticizing your life in a manner that makes sense for you.
We’re living in a world of instant gratification, and too often consumers forget how much goes into their weekly podcast. How can you make people care about you? How can you make your clientele see you as the uniquely invaluable resource you can be?
As you are building a brand, you should know your audience.
What do they value and what do they genuinely gain from your content/product?
Nobody likes to suffer through unskippable ads that target your browsing history to appeal to your tastes. That’s why services like Adblock and Privacy Badger were invented. This mentality of side swiping advertisements is all too common on the internet and I will be the first to say that large corporations spying on consumer habits are all too Orwellian.
However, the era of an internet content free-for-all has gone the way of both the dinosaurs and of Limewire.
If consumers want their favorite brand ambassadors to keep on creating, they must be able to support them in their own small way.
Being upfront with your audience is key. Consumers have grown wise to dishonest, money hungry brands. People want to support brands that tie into both their lifestyles and their beliefs.
Being upfront about needing support from your audience is the surest way of maintaining their trust in you, and in generating income from their support.
It is crucial to reinforce the fact that the relationship between a brand and their audience is an intimate one.
When it comes right down to it, backing brands is about the consumer and the brand supporting each other for mutual gain.
Which consumer doesn’t want higher quality products from their favorite brand? Reinforcing this message when making backing-related announcements will make your audience truly think about the power and potential for change that their brand consumption truly has.
That being said, targeted and ethical advertisement is also a great way to sell your brand.
If done correctly, you will be able to maintain your audience’s trust and loyalty, while earning a healthy profit. The key to this is choosing ads/sponsorship from companies that your audience may actually like.
It may sound simple enough, however brands too often fall into a pit of promoting products they do not genuinely value. Their audience might buy into their sales pitch, receive the product, and hate what they bought. This process is not practical in terms of growth, as the brand looses the most expensive commodity from their audience: their trust.
If you choose ads, you should choose your own. And by choosing your own, you must remain transparent in your sponsorship.
By stating at the beginning of your post, video, etc that you are receiving payment for your honest feedback on a product or service, the audience will be able to to determine if this will be something that appeals to their own interest.
Crucially, your transparency will keep you humble in the eyes of your audience and keep your hands clean.
