Branding is 🔑

A Break from Failure Porn

Daily Blog #9

Not really a break, but a light in the tunnel from all the times I’ve fell flat on my face.

Branding, your brand, is key.

Everything you do is based on branding, personal branding, the branding of your product, it is the basis for the success of your product whether your product is a literal product or it’s yourself. Developing a strong presence in whatever market you’re in is the key to success.

Trends that I’ve noticed in modern branding are the use of already successful archetypes. For example, the minimalist aesthetic popularized by Apple in the mid-2000’s has been adopted by companies large or small. Archetypes are safe, implementing ideas that are already proven to succeed is your safest bet, following trends is safe.

But being genuine is what makes you iconic. It what allows you to carve specific space in your market. This extends past selling your product or creating a personal brand online, this is how you get a job, this is how you create relationships, it’s the basis for every interaction you have. How people perceive you, the value you present, that is key to keeping people around, whether they be the hiring manager at your new job, your significant other, your friends — genuine branding wins over the cookie cutter bullshit any day of the week.

That’s where self awareness and execution come into play, those are trickier trial and error concepts, but they can be summed up as such. Know yourself, know your product, know your skills, know your value and show that to the world in the best way possible. Be the most honest you can be because for some reason the world loves it. If your honesty, is minimalism or maximalism or some aesthetic that we’ve never seen before, understand it, execute it and run with it. You most likely have a niche.

I’ve run two businesses, a podcast and my whole being into the ground in the span of three years because of dishonest branding. Trying to mimic the successes of others, not accepting what it is that I have to offer and the inherent value in it. People like honesty, all the trends and buzzwords are here today and gone tomorrow.