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Seneca on citing an author

"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good."

And so Senenca, I thought I'd repost my most popular post of 2005 titled Tom Peters on "The Brand Called You."

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called 'You.'"

Erblog I'm getting a kick out of these silly little Technorati-based value boxes popping up everywhere. The one to the left is from Evelyn Rodriguez's blog. Here's the irony of her blog's "value," according to Evelyn:

"Ah, now if only I could cash a fraction of this blog's net worth to fund the tsunami anniversary artisan journalism trek to Asia!!"

Most people get this "personal brand" thing all wrong. They think that awareness equals a strong brand.

"I got it! I'll start a blog, befriend A-list people like Godin, post comments, link to big shots, blah, blah, blah and the traffic will come rollin' in.  Game over."

Far from it. Being the head marketer of brand you is NOT about being interesting (Seth's bald head and Hugh's cool cartoons notwithstanding). It's NOT about cosmetics and "promoting a persona." It's about being interested in the dreams and desires of others. It's about creating an expectation and delivering on that expectation, such that people will trade their attention or money for it.

Some bloggers - like Seth and Hugh - feed your dreams with inspirational blog posts. "You too can become a global microbrand phenomenon. And here's how."  And because you keep coming back for more, they can eventually monetize your attention. Either with a new business model (squidoo.com), with Google ads, or by selling their blog attention grabbing expertise (e.g. Stormhoek and English Cut). And as they say on Seinfeld, "There's nothing wrong with that."

Others resell the gained attention to larger advertisers interested in a particular audience. Still others sell (or gain commissions from the sale of) products and services as part of their business model. And that's cool, too. I'm simply saying that your blog's economic worth is directly related to the value others get out of it.

So if you want to refer to yourself as a "brand" - if you want to play that "game" - then you must understand and accept the realities of the marketplace. Most importantly, the cold, harsh reality that the marketplace doesn't care about you. We care about how our association with you is going to benefit us. Will it make me feel smart? Will it make me feel right? Will it make me feel more connected? Will it help me do my "job?" Will it give me something to talk about? Will it bring me more blog traffic? Will it make me feel less alone?

Am I suggesting that you play the personal brand game? That you try to figure out how to "monetize" your blog writing?  Hell, no. Write because it turns you on. Write because it helps you understand. Write . . . just because.  Or better yet, go for a walk. Play catch with your kids. Relax under a tree. Make a whistle from a blade of grass.

Posted February 7, 2006
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Comments

Hi Tom - hope you are well - I'm with you

Blogs are wonderful and a brilliant way of expressing one's views but if one wants to get on then nothing beats hard work and doing your homework.

My Blog makes me no money and making money is not why I do it. I do it 'cos I love writing and what my Blog does is create business relationships and links - even friendships. Then I have to work damn hard, do my homework, and if I am really lucky something might just come of it. Most of the time nothing comes of it in financial terms.

Anyone going into Blogging thinking it is a way to make a quick buck is barking up the wrong tree.

Nothing ...repeat nothing will ever beat hard work.

I don't believe in overnight successes!

Posted by: Trevor | February 08, 2006 at 04:55 AM

I never could figure out how to turn a blade of grass into a whistle. I think I got close once, but then I accidentally lost the grass in the wind. B-(

For me, blogging is about being able to own what I write without bothering people on forums or the like. It's about expressing my ideas on an almost daily basis, keeping the habits of thinking and writing alive. It's creative self-expression, and I never went into it thinking that I could make a quick buck. I think it is fairly obvious that anyone who is making a lot of money through blogging is also working hard to produce something of value for that money.

Posted by: GBGames | February 14, 2006 at 03:17 PM

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