Five Branding Errors That Make You Look Dumb
- Written by Neil Patel on June 16th, 2007 |
- 27 Comments »
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Let’s face it, we all make mistakes. Some of the mistakes we make are small while others are quite large. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes, in fact if you aren’t making mistakes then you aren’t trying or learning. However, if you make one of these personal branding mistakes you better fix it fast or you’ll pay later.
- Turning on autopilot – Once you become a bit famous, you might start getting a bit lazy and stop putting in as much effort into personal branding. At first I did this but after awhile I felt that people might just forget who you are. When people start recognizing who you are, you need to put in more effort so you can get that exponential growth and the payout you’ve been working so hard for.
- Concentrating on one market – If you are well-known in a specific country, it doesn’t mean you are going to be known throughout the world. Even if your industry is small, most likely the people who are overseas that are in the same industry have no clue who you are. To truly be a recognizable brand, you need international stardom.
- Branding your name – You can’t just brand a name, you need to brand an experience and image with that name. The way you act, dress, and talk can tell people a lot about you. You need to create an image that goes well with your name so that you become more memorable. If you have a generic name like John Smith, you really need to create an image because when someone says “John Smith” they won’t be talking about you. However, if you have this great image someone maybe thinking of you when they hear the name John Smith since you created that brand experience and truly ingrained that in people’s mind.
- Staying within your clique – As the saying goes, “networking is the key to success”. You may like staying in your cool little circle with all the popular people but you need to start networking outside your little circle if you truly want to brand yourself. To some extent, it is probably more important to network outside your circle because those people (the majority) determine how you will be perceived within your industry.
- Becoming greedy – Let’s face it, not everyone can become famous. If everyone was famous then there would be no point in trying to brand yourself because we would all be seen as equals. At some point, you are going to have to be satisfied with who you are and the level your brand is at. Once you start getting too greedy you start thinking only about yourself and end up forgetting about the key elements that got you there. Helping others first comes to mind, but there’s far more to that story.
Hi Neil,
Just one question, where and how do you get your information It amazes me that how do I overlook so obvious things (Well obvious only after reading your blog).
Vijay
To be honest, I have no clue.
Neil..
It’s “clique”, not “click”.
Thanks Brian!
Fixed
you are so lame who cares about spelling? for reals….
Actually a lot of people do. With me, when I read a blog post with a lot of mistakes, it makes it harder for me to enjoy the post.
Do you mean “URL”.
Please learn to write correctly. I found 5 errors in your first paragraph.
I do apologize for the errors. If you have some spare time feel free to point them out so I can correct them and more importantly learn from my mistakes.
Thanks!
Your comment about “there would be no point in trying to brand yourself because we would all be seen as equals” kind of reminds me about that first Apple commercial years ago…where everyone generally was an equal and then they came along. I have to go over to Youtube and see if I can find that commercial…
Probably the one thing that I personally need to work on more is getting “out there” more and start networking on other sites besides the ones I’ve been hanging out on.
Great article/post, by the way!
Neil,
I would add to this list:
6) Pretending to be somebody your are not. Let’s say you want to brand yourself as an expert in gardening, but you don’t know much about the topic. That would be dumb.
7) Sending the wrong message. You say that all news is good news. I wouldn’t want to be associated with negative of bad news.
Hamlet, thanks for the input.
I am not sure where I said all news is good news… but I personally don’t believe in that.
Neil,
Here is where I found that reference:
http://www.quicksprout.com/2007/05/09/on-neils-success-what-ive-observed-from-the-sidelines/
“Any press is good press
Neil is a true believer that any press is good press. Most people would be horrified if there were pictures of them dressed in princess costumes or taking shots from a transvestites lap floating around the Internet.”
I am glad that you don’t really believe that.
Ah, that post was done by Cameron Olthuis. He was writing about me from what he noticed over the past year.
I think blogging is one of the best platforms where people can just put themselves out there. Nobody, or a rare few would be as outgoing as they are in the blogging world. It’s a very easy way to network.
@ Point 1:
I think that is true if you become too successful too fast also. Bootstrapping and making a lot of mistakes is a great way to grow and learn even if you can afford to go bigger.
A lot of these points are analogous to many other facets of business. Strong post!
Good points… I am a personal brand marketing advisor specifically for lawyers, accountants, financial planners, real estate, and health experts (they all have compliance & ethics obligations).
I find that way too many try to be “all things to all people” and take the World Wide Web too literally. To counterpoint #2: To focus limited time, money & energy resources — and to be more than just a familiar face (and an “experience”), professionals are wise to CONCENTRATE on a single market or community.
Once established, we can then leverage our personal brand through products, platforms, and by helping to brand others.
And to be a pain, I’ll counter #5 too: Everybody can become famous
… within their specific target market niche Community.
I agree with your rebuttal for #2, but I was trying to point out that after you are well known in one industry or country, you need to move onto others.
As for #5 I personally don’t think everyone can be famous. If everyone was well known would there even be such as thing as “fame”?
Sound, solid advice Neil.
This is my first visit. I’m going to have a look around, and then I just might subscribe
i too have a blog in my personal brand, i just want your suggestion about my site and the do’s and dont’s i did in my personal branding
Feel free to contact me, I would love to help.
Dumb idea to dis President Bush.
No need to continue subscribing to this blog.
Sorry you feel that way. I just took a random image from Google… next time I will pick better images.
ah, sometimes you have to crack a few eggs, break a few balls, and piss off the mighty 30% to establish your personal brand
Yea, you can never please them all.
Hey Neil,
Great advice! I’m hoping supports your own personal branding effort. Its all in good fun!
I think this is a good start for me.
I’m trying to brand myself and I found some useful points in here :).