Your Personal Brand is Doomed
My personal brand dies with me.
There are dozens of people with amazing personal brands.
- Gary Vaynerchuck
- Ramit Sethi
- Derrick Halpern
- Leonard Kim
These individuals are prolific in their fields and have built enviable businesses on the strength of their personalities.
They won’t last.
Sure, they may last 10, 20, or even 50 years. What happens after that?
What would happen if Ramit had a bad accident and couldn’t put together a cohesive sentence for the next 8 months? Would his brand survive that?
Short answer, it would suffer immensely if it manages to stay afloat.
Note: I hope it doesn’t happen to Ramit. I enjoy his emails.
Personal brands are a double edged sword. You’re more than a simple ambassador or spokesperson the board can fire for unruly behavior.
You are the brand.
Everything you do is a reflection of the brand.
Fall into a public twitter feud? It’s you AND your brand on display.
Bad interview? You and your brand suffer.
It can happen with a business brand, but it’s much easier for them to distance themselves from a spokesperson. Apple can “cut all ties” with a brand ambassador. Try cutting anything with yourself and see how it’ll turn out.
So, where do you go? How do you increase the utility of your personal brand?
The answer lies in your ability to use your charisma to build a tribe then allow the tribe take prominence. You fade into the background as a person and come to the forefront as a business brand.
A great example of this is what Brian Clark did with Copyblogger. At first it was just him, now, he almost never writes on the website. It’s not Brian’s website, it’s Copyblogger.
Before I go on, we need to be on the same page about something.
You’re a media company.
Do you write and publish for public consumption?
Do you create audio Eg., Podcasts, and publish for public consumption?
Do you create graphics/images and publish for public consumption?
If you said yes to any of these then you’re a media company.
As we move forward and technology advances, the media landscape will only become more and more fractured.
This is your opportunity.
The fractured media landscape allows strong, unique, charismatic voices to grab attention. Your voice can grab that attention.
Unfortunately, you voice — your personal brand — can’t hold their attention forever.
There’s a limit to where you can go and the markets you can penetrate as “John Doe.” There’s no limit to the places you can go and the markets you can penetrate as “Esmov” — just made that up.
Esmov can appeal to Europeans, Asians, Africans, and Americans with a voice tailored to each demographic.
If John Doe tried it, it would come off as inauthentic.
Esmov can live for 200 years. At best, John Doe has 50.
Esmov can be in dozens of places, literally, at once. I’d like to see John Doe try that.
Your personal brand is an indispensible asset.
A hybrid of your personal brand and a business brand — when executed well — will take you to the end of the world and back.
Start now to develop a strong voice and empower your tribe to spread your message across the world.
