I’ve been thinking about my “brand” a lot lately. I didn’t realize I had one before the past year or so but now, or so others tell me, I do indeed have a brand. My brand is my blogs and building community, and really, I can’t argue with that. Here’s the thing though, this branding thing has me worried. I mean, now that I now I have a brand I can’t screw it up, right?
So riddle me this:
What is more important, your brand or your job? Please don’t tell me my brand IS my job, because that’s not true at all. My job is pimping someone else’s brand.
Which brings me to another question. What happens when your job interferes with your brand? What if, for instance, your association with your place of employment does damage to your brand? Or, what if (gosh forbid) bad things happen within your place of employment you’d rather not have your name associated with? And if that isn’t enough, what happens if the line between your brand and your job’s brand becomes blurred, and everyone forgets about your vision because your employer’s overpowers it?
I worked hard to build up my brand. It took me a while to realize it, but a lot rides on my good name. I’m sure it’s the same for many of you. What do you think? Is your brand more important than your job?
Are you confusing brand and reputation? They aren’t the same.
A brand is the combination of mental associations people make when they think of you. Warm, fuzzy, caring, community-minded…
Your reputation would be something like, professional, calm, good worker, etc.
My brand is suave, cool, cocky, expert… My reputation is friendly, casual, fast…
There’s a difference between the two. Brand is what people immediately think of when they hear FWJ before they know you. (And if you have branded YOU versus FWJ, then that’s a business mistake, in my mind). Reputation is what you get from your actions.
Also, why would your brand damage your job potential? Your brand is a marketing tool that BRINGS jobs – the kind of jobs you want and desire, and the kind you want to be associated with.
@James – I do understand the difference between brand and reputation though I believe there is sometimes a fine line between the two. However, what happens for instance, if folks see my brand as the place I work for instead of this network of blogs? What if, instead of seeing a coffee cup as my logo, they see a microphone? Does working for someone else confuse your brand?
I shall tell you, because this happened to us:
http://menwithpens.ca/how-a-great-reputation-can-hurt-your-business
We’d unwittingly branded ourselves as the Revolution theme go-to guys. We could do MUCH more… but people associated our skills with the work we were doing at the time.
Misbranding. Solution? We had to work to dismantle that branding and create an image that encompassed Revolution with All Things WP.
But I’m confused again – are you worried about FWJ’s brand? Or your personal brand? Because I believe they are distinct as well.
Thing is, you have promoted the microphone heavily, while not promoting the writer part. People came to make the association you built. It didn’t happen on its own. Do you not want to be seen as the microphone? Do you not enjoy that type of work?
(*drinks lots of coffee)
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy building a community, especially starting something from scratch. And when I do a job for someone else I like to give it my all – thus heavy microphone promotion. My question to everyone is – is this a bad thing? In this line of work and in the web 2.0 world is it a bad thing to get so heavily involved in someone else’s brand you – and others – lose sight of your own?
Just some food for thought.
My job is more important than my brand, because whatever job I’m doing is a building block to the brand. For example, my clients associate me with “simplifies concepts and information into digestible bits.”
Over the years, my jobs and freelance assignments included making sense of new laws affecting telecommunications companies (locally and in the continent), explaining technology developments and what they mean to business/consumers/NPOs and making sense of a new income tax law affecting the non-profit sector (in South Africa). Lately, I’ve been looking at issues affecting software development for super-computers ….And yes, I did find a consumer story out of that one!
Maybe it’s because I’m not a well-known name, but I don’t give my brand a thought when taking on assignments. I just want a gig that improves on what I’ve done before ( I learn more, earn more, exposes me to more people or new to me people) and I enjoy the work. There are jobs that bring in the bread, and do nothing for my brand. If I like the assignment, that’s fine too.
As for clients whose reputations are damaged while I work for them, I believe I can survive them. There may be people who associate me with the company, but the one thing I’ve learnt in this business is that time is my friend. Down the line, it will dawn on people who condemned me out of hand that I am not the company I write for, I simply help them have their say more effectively.
As for the lines blurring between my job and my brand, my lines are continuously blurring and it doesn’t bother at all. Sooner or later, I take some action that realigns things, or the situation clarifies by itself. Also, I personally don’t have a lot to say to the public ( maybe in future?) and i’m happy for my clients to use me to have their say. So we’re not competing for centre-stage. So, for the most part, my message is to prospective clients ( about what I offer them) and to current clients’ target audience, about whatever it is they want to say. So there is little room for conflict.
Also, I think when you first start in the business, you build your name among a certain group of people, and as you add more offerings to your repertoire, your brand expands. James elaborated on that more fully re Men with Pens being seen as “Revolution theme go-to guys” and then later expanding on that to include “All Things WP.”
To add – I also realise that the situation is different for people who juggle client work and developing their own products. Your situation is a good example, Deb, because you have the microphone and the blog network.
@ Deb – If you have become associated with someone else’s brand, this could be detrimental to your personal goals and business dreams. If the brand that people associate you with is one that fits what you want from life, then by all means, adopt it! If the brand is your client’s brand, and that type of work or job isn’t what you prefer to do, then dissociation is the smarter option, I feel.
@ Damaria – I feel that not caring about your brand is a mistake. Your brand is a marketing tool that works for you to draw in clients. If you have no brand or are neglecting building a good brand, then you are working harder by having to go out and find clients.
A brand can create a mental image that makes you the person to go to. You *want* to be associated with a good brand. For example, if someone says, “I need website copy… hm… Oh! Damaria!”, then they come to you. You didn’t have to look for them.
Alternatively, people will think, “I need website copy and don’t know anyone. I guess I’ll post on Craigslist.” Then you have to compete with others, go after the job, spend time looking for it, negotiate, pitch… that’s a lot of work when a brand could have done it all for you.
@ Deb again – I feel a new post coming on…
@James – I can also see a new post coming on…
The majority of my work comes from referrals. They think of me when they want copy in certain niches to be written, and refer me to their business associates, friends, even a brother. But as I said, I haven’t really cared much about branding myself / my business. Which makes me wonder:
- What is it that I am unconsciously doing to build my brand
- How can I improve on it to get better results
- What am I unconsciously doing to damage my brand, and how do improve the situation
And yet, there’s a tiny voice that whispers in my ear that, surely if I take on increasingly prestigious assignments and do my work well,the brand will take care of itself?
@ Deb – sorry didn’t mean to hijack the discussion and direct it to whether writers need to develop a brand or not.
My brand and job are equally important.
Each job I take builds my brand. If it’s a new area, I’ve expanded my brand. If it’s a prestigious client, I’ve improved my brand reputation.
If my client gets negative attention, it’s not necessarily going to affect me. Is the negative attention directly related to my work? Or can I use it to create more work by offering to help get them back in the public’s good books?
I choose my clients to help build my brand, and use my brand to help me get the right clients. The two go hand in hand. It’s just another reason to be very picky about which projects you work on. There’s more to consider than pay – how will it affect your brand, reputation, portfolio, etc.
I have had issues with brand vs. job when I worked corporately. My brand is “Canada’s Fat Ann Coulter” – a scary right wing extremist who thrives on hyperbole. My job was dull paralegal for major corporation. My company was aware from the early days who I “was” but we all tried to keep business and brand separate. There were times, however, when I was written up in the papers or whatever, and the company’s spin doctors had to be notified in case of fallout (thankfully there never was any).
Since making the move to freelancing, brand and job get along a lot better, because now I only answer to me. Some people who contract me know who I am, some don’t. Most don’t care as long as they get a good product out of me. I would for example identify myself to those who offered me a government contract or some other type of thing where everyone from the VIPs down to the coffee boy are under scrutiny. But the average company just wants a well written product.
Again though, but in the reverse, I probably wouldn’t be writing brochures for Planned Parenthood or the Canadian Islamic Congress (as if they’d want me!) based on my brand as well as my own personal beliefs. It would kill my street cred and also keep me awake at night.
Wendy