Branding Was Never Described Better
I just read a fantastic post about branding written by Jonathan Mead on the Lateral Action website. He describes branding as “being paid to exist,” which, when you think about it, is how people like Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, and others make their money. They write, people read them, and they get paid to speak. They get asked to “be” at certain places (and get paid for it, of course).
If branding has always been a confusing topic when it comes to your small business, check out Jonathan’s post. It’s quite fascinating. Here’s a little chunk of it:
“You don’t tell people why they want to be like you, or why they want to connect with you. You show them. It’s not about trying to win a popularity contest. It’s about boldly emitting the frequency that you resonate on. Sending the signal “This is what I’m about and why it matters.” When people pick up on that authentic wavelength, if they connect with it, they will naturally be drawn to you.”
This isn’t a mamby-pamby post, either. It gets down to the heart of the matter, of why you have a small business and why you work, because the “why” is an important part of your brand. He even takes you back to the cave-man days, and points out that the old reasons for working (like food and security) aren’t such a big deal anymore. We get food shipped in to us and we could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so who cares about security?
So why should we work? Passion. We should, as he puts it, “give a damn.” If we give a damn about what we do, if we are passionate, then we are halfway to being branded. There’s tons of good stuff in that post and I won’t spoil it for you by spilling all the beans here.
Go read Jonathan’s post and, by golly, give a damn!
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Photo credit: Give a damn: Banned Books Week 2008
