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Ten minutes in the shower this morning brought many things into sharp and sudden focus. Discrete, almost random thoughts suddenly snapped together to form a startlingly clear picture.
It Was Like I Saw “The Truth”!
The moment was incredibly exciting. In my hurry, I nicked myself shaving. Rushing out to my computer, I called out to my wife and daughter, “Don’t say ANYTHING to me for the next ten minutes!”
And in a frenzy, I jotted down notes that became this blog post.
What’s in it that makes it so important? Go on. Read it. You’ll see.
It all began in the private TIMIC forum with something David Schwartz said about the ‘Thirty Day Challenge’. David stated that Ed Dale wasn’t selling anything.
However, I knew WHAT Ed Dale was selling in the ‘Thirty Day Challenge’. I knew because I BOUGHT it. Not only that, I even SOLD it to others.
But… WHAT was it?
Read on, and you’ll learn what – and why.
The foundational thought underlying this message came from something Adam Urbanski said on his recent ‘Contacts to Contracts’ teleseminar series. It was this:
“People do business with people. You don’t borrow from a bank, you speak with a person who helps make it happen.”
People are at the core of any business activity. Yes, even in a Fortune 100 company. And in the socially networked space we all occupy, this fact assumes serious relevance.
Mari Smith, who FAST COMPANY calls the ‘Pied Piper of Facebook’, says:
“Solopreneurs should not fear competition. You are unique. There is only one YOU.”
As you probably know quite well, every business needs a USP. A Unique Selling Proposition.
And YOU are unique.
Think about that for a moment. Then, read on.
Here’s a startling question for you.
Assuming the price was affordable, would you BUY me?
Yes, ME.
Dr.Mani.
Answer the question before moving ahead. You can only vote once, so pick wisely! 
Click here to vote (poll is on the right side bar)
Now, no matter what your answer was, consider the next 2 questions:
* What if YOU were a ‘product’?
* Who would buy YOU? Why?
John Counsel, in a very nice report, taught me the valuable distinction between marketing and selling.
Marketing is finding what an audience needs – and giving it to them.
Selling is making them want it – because otherwise, they’re not buying.
So, knowing YOU are unique – and knowing that business is always about people, isn’t it natural that the one thing you should ALWAYS keep selling is the ‘product’ – YOU.
If YOU are the ‘product’, then you should be filling a need. And because you are selling yourself, you should learn to position the product ‘YOU’ as something that your audience needs – and then wants.
When you do both, it becomes easy to market yourself!
That’s exactly what Ed Dale is doing in the ‘Thirty Day Challenge’. He’s selling ED DALE! The person. And the brand.
It’s also what everyone – including you – now has the power to do… through social media and networks.
Social media marketing is about revealing and sharing your personality. Authenticity and transparency are its currency. By aligning your brand with your personality, you maximize your every social media interaction.
Your identity is who you are. Your image or brand is what you want to be perceived as.
Think you’re too small for ‘branding’? You’re wrong. In a thought-provoking post, Hugh McLeod of GapingVoid.com introduced me to the concept of a global micro-brand.
With a well planned micro-branding strategy, you can create and strengthen what Tom Peters called “The Brand Called YOU”.
Deborah Micek, who was also on the ‘Contacts to Contracts’ teleseminar, referred to our moving from the ‘Information Era’ to the ‘Recommendation Era’. In a nutshell, it means more business is driven through personal networks and referrals than by impersonal advertising or promotional efforts.
Never before has it been faster or easier to seek and find ‘trusted’ referrals for anything. Anywhere. Any time.
That’s the big impact social networking has made on the business arena.
How can you take advantage of this paradigm shift in business and marketing?
It’s simple. Make it easy for others to recommend YOU.
Do it by making YOU the product and brand, instead of an impersonal business.
Now, with this structure in mind, look at how you might engage in social media marketing.
Will you go out there and ‘pitch’ to a random crowd? Or will you strive to grab the attention of an audience that matters to you, develop a relationship with them, and then attract them into your fold?
How will you do it?
More to the point, how do you want to be SEEN doing it?
Because, remember, YOU are the brand.
And the product.
And the person.
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Excellent commentary.
So David Schwartz got you thinking. He is always doing that to me. I always enjoy talking with him about Internet Marketing.
I would agree we need to sell ourselves. What makes me unique? Why would someone chose to do business with me instead of my competition. I know what makes me standout however I have not thought of marketing or selling myself in that way.
Thank you for your thought provoking article.
Hey There Dr Mani
Sounds like you are on the same track I was in this blog post http://allisonreynolds.com/blog/2008/07/01/the-most-unique-niche-in-the-world/ . You have fleshed it out more than I did with some great links, but I think we are both recognising the same thing. Brand YOU is vitally important.
Dr.Mani
Thank you for enlighting me on the subject of branding.
I’m happy to say that now I know the essence of what
it is.
Up until now I mistakenly thought that branding was
trying to come up with some unique logo or web site
Header.
Because of of that It has been impossible to come up
with some kind of unique branding for me and my business.
What Logo or symbol could possibly convey what I am
all about ?
Now I know that it is me that I need to brand so that
when people see my name they will no what I am all
about.
So much easier to do.
Thank you again.
All the best
Dave Trevino
Thanks for this post! I think you’ve really hit the nail on the head – especially regarding the 30DC. In the month and a bit that I’ve been involved in the pre-season, I’ve certainly come to like and trust Ed – because he’s done a damn good job of marketing himself. It encourages me to do the same in my niches.
Gotta love those in-the-shower insights!
@Judy Vorfeld – Thanks, Judy
@Blog Software – David does get you to think, doesn’t he?! Glad you liked the post.
@AllisonR – Nice post on your blog, yes, I notice the similarity in our way of thinking
@Dave Trevino – I hear you, spent YEARS trying to figure it out – and still don’t know if I’ve done it right!
@Jess – Think I should spend longer in the shower?
Ed liked the post too 
And I’ve modeled many things based on how Ed uses social media to build his brand.
All success
Dr.Mani
Very good post which focuses us on both how we “sell” ourselves and also how people “buy” us. As a rule what I like to call the PLUS principle applies here. We buy from People Like US and if we can identify with the brand and see ourselves in it then we are more likely to buy.
Take care
Paul
Glad to see this post. I have always maintained that YOU are the product, whereas I see some saying different.
I’ve long advocated putting your picture on all websites, letting people see who you are, being transparent. Good post.
Hello Mani, you should shower more often, don’t take that the wrong way (LOL).
I have long battled with this concept. One thing Mark Joyner has taught me is that you should always start a business with a view to selling it. Consequently the problem with self- branding a business is that the value of the business will diminish if you are not with it. This if you are looking to sell a business and move on to pastures new then the sale price of the business will be adversely affected. Many people say that they want a business that can run itself and doed not need them…
Anyway, I thought I’d just throw that into the melting pot and I look forward to you thinking about this in the shower…
Cheers
Digby
Hi, Dr. Mani, following those who follow others who follow others on Twitter is a great example of what you are referring to here. I have been privvy to conversations and links to some of the best marketers, copywriters, tech people in the world, just because of a free social application! Sifting through these interactions and links is the ‘buying’ to see the authenticity, genuineness and TIO of each.
Great insight, Dr. Mani, there’s something about water and aha moments! I so often receive my most creative thoughts in the shower and run to write them down.
Seeing myself as unique, and able to contribute to the marketplace in a way no one else can, has freed me up to develop a plan without pressure for a solopreneurial business. Seeing the world as one without competition, only collaborative opportunity, has opened my world up in unimaginable ways.
This process for me is slower than some.
So far, I have nothing to sell (lol) – except my passionate view that working @home is the best, that developing myself will result in developing my business and creating a lifestyle by design is possible!
Thanks for this blog post, see you on Twitter…
Best for now,
Mary
love this. I have been coming to terms with my “brand”, struggling and struggling. Your post reminded me of the obvious – I am my brand. I need to be comfortable being uniquely me and I’ll attract the people who would naturally be attracted to me. Thanks for the reminder.
I get some great insights while showering also – I wish someone would invent a waterproof pad or waterproof voice recorder.
For Infopreneurs, this is a very powerful concept. Thanks Dr. Mani for shining the light on it. This is always a tough one for me, because my vision for my company goes well beyond it being about “Me” the brand.
Honestly, I still have not arrived at the perfect branding plan. Do I create a “Company” brand, or a “Product” brand, or a “Me” brand?
Considering that my exit strategy is to create a sellable company, I feel that the company brand is important. But it is a lot easier and more profitable in the short term to create a “Me” or product brand.
In any case, none of that matters if the person or organization doesn’t “get” the fact that everything still comes down to people helping people get what they want.
Dr. Mani, this is much more than a blog. It’s a statement about how to live your life in our society. WOW I’m very impressed.
Thanks so much. oldbarnwood
Hi Dr. Mani –
When I read the intro in your email, I instantly recognized the genesis of your post from your comment to David on TIMIC.
And it reminded of something I repeatoften, something that my late optometrist father frequently told his kids as we were growing up (and, actually, as it turns out, I’ve mentioned to
David in a pm) “There is one profession that we are all in: sales”.
Yet that idea still separates the doer from the doing — and that’s a very important distinction.
My background in NLP (at least as I was trained) carried the “you are the product” message — tho’ far more subliminally (of course!).
As for your comments to Dave — that you’ve been working on your brand for years — ohmigosh! I remember we were working on that a few months back, weren’t we?
@Dave — It’s not easy to summarize all who we are in a short tagline. Part of the secret, I believe, is to focus on the benefit (or what Dr.Mani says — “a need” [that you fulfill] — though I might quibble on the “need” part; maybe “perceived” need).
@Paul — after spending some 18 mos in an excellent but now (defunct, succeeded by other programs) program with Mike Filsaime, Tom Beal, Donna Fox & Paulie Sabol called i5gold — my ears ring with Tom Beal’s gentle but continuous repetition of “People buy from people they know, like and trust.” I’m sure I heard it at least once a month on the call-in days.
And Tom is an excellent exemplification of the message.
And, finally, back to Dr. Mani who quotes Adam Urbanski: as saying “You don’t borrow from a bank, you speak with a person who helps make it happen.”
Well, maybe if we’d have had a bit more of that going on ala “It’s A Wonderful Life” we wouldn’t be in the worldwide subprime/credit crisis we find ourselves in.
(Musing). Isn’t it odd, how they sliced and diced the mortgage instruments so the financial reit-type investments that were sold ended up having micro-slices of hundreds and thousands of mortgages — in order to spread out risk — became one of the riskiest investments (in hindsight) ever.
It could be a real lesson in what happens when the human beings are factored out of the equation and transformed into some statistical representation of “risk”.
Now I’m off to listen to someone else who I’ve bought (Leo LaPorte.)
Oh, and Dr. Mani — of course I’d buy you! Isn’t this post a representation of that fact?
Live JoyFully!
Judy Kettenhofen, Profit Strategist/Copywriter
NextDay Copy
PS — love all the links, too.
PPS — sorry about the ps’s; job proclivity, y’know ?
I love your style, Dr. Mani!! You’re so enthusiastic and authentic. And, isn’t it funny how those flashes often come in the shower?!
Branding, marketing, selling – all interesting topics with many definitions, models… and confusion! I’m glad to see you’ve sparked a great convo around branding in particular here. Indeed, we’re all unique individual brands.
People often call me the “Facebook Queen” which I very much appreciate and enjoy… yet, I have no plans to go out and “brand” myself as just that. Every time I try to come up with “The Xxx” it doesn’t fit. My husband and I brainstorm for hours… yet, I keep coming back to the brand of me, Mari Smith. I’m a relationship marketing specialist with expertise in internet marketing and Facebook among other things. Only I can do what I do the way I do it.
I totally agree with what you say here:
“…grab the attention of an audience that matters to you, develop a relationship with them, and then attract them into your fold…”
It’s all about the relationship. It always was. Yet it’s *much* more pronounced in our new web 2.0/social media world. People don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.
Cheers,
Mari
@marismith
Doc, congratulations on the epiphany!
This is EXACTLY what I’ve been teaching on the Entrepreneur group website (The Entrepreneur Community Network on MSN) for close to the 10 years that I’ve been the general manager there and teaching “No BS Entrepreneurship” – without expectation or condition. It almost seems like you and others have finally been reading our archives! (Déjà-vu all over again?)
Selling yourself is the first priority in building a credible and successful business. People buy from people – ones the like AND trust. If folks like and trust you – and you can provide the right solutions to their problems – the odds of them purchasing whatever you’re offering as a solution are indeed very high. (Products and/or services!)
And… If you do that relationship marketing well, chances are also very good that they’ll give you a gift in return – precious ‘word of mouth’ advertising. They’ll tell their “personal network” about you – and maybe even brag about you too! That’s not only the BEST marketing tool, it’s the one that brings in the most new (and highly qualified) clientele for your problem-solving solutions.
There’s and old adage that applies quite nicely here about the best way to “sell”…
“Sell it by a zealot!”
It’s up to you to create those zealots… and you do that by being great, both in products, and in the way you treat (and market to) your customers.
Here’s hoping you have a few more epiphanies Doc… Good venturing!
Nick (Aka: Old Nikko)
Dr. Mani…
Another “thought provoker” from you! Excellently expressed. What I’m mostly in awe about is your ability to pick up million different pieces and weave them together into an elegant and thought provoking post.
Just to add to your thoughts… I just caught a tail end of a re-run of a show called “Project Runway”. For those who live outside of the USA and aren’t familiar with the show, it’s about aspiring fashion designers competing to get the top prize and the money to get their career on the fast track.
All these designers were amazingly great at conforming to completely different requirements put upon them with each task – except for one.
The one task they had the most challenge with was when they were given complete freedom to express who they were as designers.
Your question, “Assuming the price was affordable, would you buy me?” rises an enormous challenge for most people – having to discover who they truly are!
So my point is this…
Who we truly are is – most of the time – desirable by at least some group of people, and therefore it’s brand-worthy and sellable! But discovering that information, for too many entrepreneurs, is much harder to grasp that it would appear.
A couple of resources that, in my opinion, should be in every budding entrepreneur’s library:
1) Two books by Marcus Buckingham: “Now, Discover Your Strengths” and “Go Put Your Strengths to Work”
2) Two programs from Dan Sullivan, the Strategic Coach: “How The Best Get Better” and “Unique Ability: Creating The Life You Want” (http://www.strategiccoach.com)
Dr. Mani… If, as Deborah Micek says, we are in the “recommendation era” – than you truly are “recommendable”.
Very good insight Dr. Mani.
Since I have a network marketing orientation I would refine your emphasis on selling yourself by stressing the value of having a teaching/mentoring relationship with your contacts.
Of course in this rlationship you want to FULFILL NEEDS and SOLVE PROBLEMS.
Could be done via ezine, opt-in list, social networking sites, forums, or other alternatives.
One need ALL of your contacts will have is the need to make productive use of their TIME.
Being a constant and reliable source of good information means you are saving your contacts a lot of time where they don’t have to dig out said information themselves.
When you adopt the teaching/mentoring mindset and act acccordingly, you may make yourself virtually indispensable, because your contacts have reached the state where they HABITUALLY use and rely on you as a reference.
The rest is easy.
Thanks for your insight.
Best of success,
Robert A. Kearse
Dear Dr. Mani,
I loved this! It made me realize that I have never actually tried to sell ME! At this point, I have nothing to sell BUT myself. After reading this post I am aware that “selling myself” is just allowing others to get to know me and entering into a relationship with others similiar to myself. How could I ever become a part of the infopreneur family without selling or giving myself
As always, I always perk up my ears when you speak. You have a great mind, a loving heart, and a man of your word. That is why you have so many followers. You are trusted. You allowed us to know, love and respect you. That can be difficult for some of us.
What happened to you in the shower this morning was inspiration from somewhere in the universe and as always, you share it with us. That is what Dr. Mani is all about; giving and sharing.
THANKS, DR. MANI!! Someone said they would like to post your picture on every website. Well, I have your picture posted all over my house to remind me to never give up on ME!
Your friend from afar,
Mary Kathryn Donachy
@Paul Duxbury – Thanks, Paul. You sure are a glowing example of this very principle, and do it exceedingly well across multiple niches
@Kevin Riley – At times, I feel we both share the same brain! btw, I was just curious why you might want to put MY picture on all websites, instead of your own?!
@Digby – Given our perpetual water shortage, you don’t understand how controversial your ’shower more often’ remark could be!
@Digby, @Doug Hudiburg – As for the issue of branding a business, I posted a note on Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge forum explaining the use of a ‘persona’ for each specific and distinct niche or business you might be building. Just make sure each ‘persona’ has a PERSONALITY – because that is key.
When you sell the business, you also sell its assets – and the persona that’s the brand goes with it. What the buyer does with it is up to him/her – but that asset DOES have real value!
@MaryGallagher – That’ll be my next research project, then – “Water and Thinking”
Almost accidentally, I stumbled upon the absolutely best branding distinction I had – myself! It took years before I consciously realized it, but even before then, letting passion run its natural course, I had been building that valuable brand. You’ve got the core ingredient – PASSION. The rest will follow in time. It’s a given.
@Lee Ann – Glad you got some value from this ‘reminder’
Oh, and do let me know if you come across waterproof stuff for ’shower idea’ use.
@Gordon Reynolds – You are very gracious. Thank you for the kind words.
@Judy Kettenhofen – You’re perfectly right, “You are the product” needs to be expressed subtly and subliminally, not in an ‘in your face’ style, that completely defeats the purpose
Oh, and refining and re-orienting my own micro-brand is a continual ‘work in progress’. The exercise from a few months back deserves a lengthy blog post in its own right (maybe soon)
@MariSmith – You’re simply impossible to fit into any one slot, Mari. You are such a versatile ‘brand’, relationship marketing specialist is probably the one broad category that encompasses many of them (but is by no means exclusive).
Your energy, passion and enthusiasm in helping people understand Facebook is what first caught my attention, and turned me from ’stranger’ into ’subscriber’, then ‘customer’ and soon ‘evangelist’ – all within a few HOURS!
And since then, I’ve had a chance to observe how your passion to help people extends far beyond Facebook marketing – and have marvelled at that energy and drive, which to me is what defines the ‘brand’ named Mari Smith.
It’s one of the reasons I passionately and unhesitatingly recommend ‘Facebook for Professionals’ to anyone who asks!
Thanks for dropping by and commenting here
@Old Nikko – Maybe your message found its way into my extensive reading material somehow, directly or through one of your students. I see the resonance, though, in our styles of thinking.
And I take absolutely no credit for ‘inventing’ or ‘discovering’ these ageless and timeless concepts. I’m just a messenger, sharing an insight that hit me like a ton of bricks all of a sudden. And am glad it has touched so many people and helped them make some decisions for their business.
WOM (word of mouth) is truly the ‘Holy Grail’ of marketing, with zero cost and ‘zealots for sales-people’ maximizing impact. Thanks for your comments that extend the depth of this message, Nick
@Adam Urbanski – Yes, I did weave together almost a million pieces – and a fair share of those bits came from you and your wonderful team who partnered on the ‘Contacts to Contracts’ teleseminar!
You make a lovely point about needing to ‘discover who they truly are’.
The next step, of course, is to integrate that ‘Unique YOU’ into your work and business, make it a part of your ‘micro-brand’, and thereby set yourself apart from EVERYONE else. There’s no more ‘competition’.
You are so completely right in that it is NOT easy to grasp the essence of that ‘uniqueness’. I struggled with it until very recently, when I polled a section of my list – and was surprised at the common thread that underlied their response.
It was NOT anything I could have guessed at!
But because so many of my ‘tribe’ perceived THAT as my core strength, I was able to re-work my marketing message to include it – quite easily. That’s the power of authenticity – your brand flows from the ‘REAL’ you, naturally and smoothly.
The books you listed will surely be of help too. I’m adding them on my ‘to buy’ list
Thanks for dropping by to comment, Adam.
@Robert A. Kearse – Great perspective from the viewpoint of network marketing. Thanks for sharing that, Robert. I can see the power of adopting such a strategy in relationships, even outside network marketing.
@Mary Kathryn Donachy – Mary, thanks one more time for the great comment. You are one amazing person, and selling that brand is a piece of cake. Just that newspaper story you shared with me has made me look to you for inspiration and encouragement… and I’m sure anyone who comes into contact with that facet of your life will benefit from your rich wisdom and experience of decades.
Just do it, Mary. The world can do with many more inspiring stories of 70+ year olds who can ‘get’ technology and master the ‘World of the Web’ through sheer determination and a burning passion – people like YOU.
All success
Dr.Mani
I have always been pretty transparent – even when I didn’t mean to be
.
I also believe in giving before asking.
What never seemed to sink in, however, was how to monetize that. So I gave and gave and gave. And when I offered solutions, I was told by some that they didn’t like me marketing to them.
Well, no surprise, I had trained them to expect to receive (from me) without any expectation of return on their part. My problem, not theirs.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with marketing (or selling). We would be lost without it. How would I know how to find what I needed/wanted if I wasn’t able to find the person who had what I need/want?
I am not ashamed to have great solutions. So, I’m no longer ashamed to offer them. Without the “call to action”, you are transparent to the point of not existing.
When you have something worth promoting, then do it. And if people aren’t happy about that, let them find someone who is willing to keep giving and giving and giving. With all the variety in the world, there are plenty of folks who are willing to play each of the parts.
I like that you (Dr. Mani) are clear about keeping it all real. Walk your talk. Talk your walk. Let people know about you and the value you bring to the mix.
And for goodness sake, stop hiding your light under a bushel basket. The world really does need to know about the unique contribution you have to offer. If you don’t step forward, how in the world will we recognize you????
Katie
Great principles you’ve shared here Dr. Mani. They’re rooted in the formulas and strategies we shared in our authoring of ‘Secrets of Online Persuasion.’
Since I read this by the light of Online Persuasion and Tribal Seduction — and in respect to what Adam said in his comment re: “Who we truly are is… is much harder to grasp that it would appear” — I’ll expand on 3 points.
1) Your statement; “Social media marketing is about revealing and sharing your personality.”
True. Marketing with New Media is reliant on personality. And it’s necessary to win ANYWHERE — online or off-line in today’s marketplace.
2) On your follow up comment though; “Authenticity and transparency are social medias currency.” — I have to disagree with that.
Authenticity & transparency are buzz-words. That doesn’t make them inherently bad. But as such, they do tend to lead people to think they are the end goal. They’re not. There are billions of POOR “authentic” & “transparent” people around the world who struggle to survive every day.
A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of goods and/or services. Authenticity & transparency cannot be exchanged, stored or compounded as currency can. They are merely the LENSES by which people determine congruence.
The real goal?
Having the ability, like an optometrist, to control and adjust what people focus on through those lenses. That is what will make the difference between success, struggle or failure in today’s marketplace.
That is the power of influence and persuasion. That is the power to focus people on the value you can provide them, without directly saying it. When you have that, you have the ability to attract, stack, and spend as much REAL currency as you want.
3) And one final thought, when you said; “By aligning your brand with your personality, you maximize your every social media interaction.”
That may be true for those who have a magnetic personality at their core. But the fact is that everyone has personality flaws. And some people’s personalities just plain stink. So if they align their brand with their personality without knowing what to magnify and what to suppress… they will lose!
They’ll flail away blindly trying to use New Media to market. And when they fail to achieve monetary gains, they’ll give up. And worst — they’ll think it was the channel’s fault, not their own. And so they’ll go on to keep making the same fatal mistakes elsewhere, over and over again.
To solve this problem, Adam gave some good recommendations to start with above. And chapters 11, 12 & 13 in Secrets of Online Persuasion are targeted on this issue.
But if one is serious about making not just friends, but money (and lots of it) using New Media, no book on it’s own will do the job. You need a complete scientific system for creating a marketing platform that will last you the rest of your life.
It’s something we take pride in being recognized by top persuasion experts, (like Kevin Hogan and Dave Lakhani) for doing. And it’s something that is truly humbling when we see our students and clients create entirely new lifestyles for themselves based on solid platform. I only wish the same for every other entrepreneur and business owner willing to step up to the challenge.
It’s all about authenticity and identification. When I’ve worked with people on their resumes, I encourage them to somehow present a picture of who they are by being sure to have a community service area (if appropriate) that indicates volunteer work, interesting hobbies, etc.
So you were a Scout leader for three years. Perhaps your prospect had children in scouting, or was also a leader. You volunteered for 10 years for your city’s voter registration. What does that say about you? You’re in it for the long haul. The possibilities are endless. We need to understand that we may be very interesting to people who want to hire someone with a great work ethic. Etc.
It’s not so much blowing your own horn as seeking common ground. The same is true in a website. If you can somehow present those parts of your life having to do with community service, hobbies, special interests, etc., you give the visitor more opportunities to identify with you.
When I started my home-based business, I wanted to paint a picture of myself with as many facets as possible. So, even if I worked somewhere for a year or so, I’d throw that into the mix, knowing that in some cases, I’d get work because the prospect could identify with me.
There’s so much more, but others already have an incredible grasp of this issue, and it’s exciting to discover how they’re reacting to this thread.
It is almost there, but there is a missing piece.
You can sell “you” forever and a day, and not make any money.
Thus you might need to think of there being 2 “yous” – “you the person” might be looked on as part of the traffic funnel, and “you the product” or products.
It could also be argued that whatever you produce, every word you speak or write is your “product”, whether you place a price on it or not.
The humans-as-products premise has always been interesting and has made sense to me. I understand and appreciate your perspective on it. Your definition of marketing-vs-selling was interesting. I always thought of it as marketing creates the need and selling fulfills it. Your take was slightly different and noteworthy.
Thanks for a thinking piece.
I love the times when everything suddenly pulls together to present a picture!
I think you were the first person who got me truly thinking about selling myself when you wrote about Brand You several months ago. Since then, the idea that I’m creating a brand has stayed in the back of my head regardless of what I was doing.
But a brand isn’t any good without a product behind it. And this article brought that into focus for me!
Unconsciously I’ve been turning myself into a product for a while, since taking the TDC last year.
It wasn’t until I started turning my blog’s focus from StumbleUpon to Social Media and building a name for myself as a Social Media Explorer that I’ve realized how important it is to sell yourself. My goals to do that are to be real (I’m even changing my profile pic, slowly but surely), be honest, be true in actions, and stand up for what I believe in.
On Plurk and Twitter both, I’ve seen both the positives of selling yourself and the negatives of only broadcasting a product (even if you’re a big name trying to do it). I think there is a revolution building up on the web, and being real has become one of the best compliments you can receive.
Thank you, Dr. Mani, for this article. It’s brought into clear focus some thoughts which had been brewing at the back of my mind and given me more to think about. (But you have a tendency to do that anyway!)
Magnificent insight Dr. Mani!
You are an inspiration to us all
as demosntrated in this quote:
“Try not to become a man of success
but rather try to become a man of value.”
– Albert Einstein
Your thoughts reminds me a lot…
a friend of John Harricharan
for whom I have great respect:
Rick Beneteau.
Rick wrote a few years back:
“Branding YOU and Breaking the Bank!”
Cordialement
Tempus Fugit
FIAT LUX
Joel Bomane from Sunny Sudden France
P.S: Dr. Mani: Happy “14th of July” from us here in FRANCE…
fireworks, music tonight:-)
I had a feeling linking here directly from the discussion, and sharing it with Ed would generate a good conversation, and bring deserved attention.
It is not without reason that this commenter assigns many precious hours to Ed Dale and Dr Mani.
They give more than they take.
They give before asking for anything.
Their names are synonymous with trust for me.
That’s a brand I’ll buy.
VERY interesting indeed, and *all completely true*!
BUT..there is a serious flipside, which *can* be a downside, which you need to consider..
If you are so intertwined with your business that you make yourself indispensable – if *you* are what you are selling – then, you can never leave or the business will collapse. You make the business unsellable, unless you go along with it. You can only retire if you save enough – not retire by having someone else take over, or buy you out – because *you* can’t be replaced – it has become *you* (not your company brand, but *you* as the brand) that people want.
That’s a fine line that I walk, and think about, every day. And, in fact, I’m very pleased that as we make more and more of a name for ourselves – our *company* name – that my own involvement, while still critical, has become less personally immediate – people trust the company because I am there, but I am no longer “the company” in people’s eyes – and for *our* business, that’s a good thing. If I took ill, or decided to sell (and we have had purchase overtures, which would never have happened when ISIPP SuretyMail = Anne P. Mitchell), or heck, just wanted to go on a 3 month vacation, the company would still thrive, which it couldn’t do nearly as well if it truly relied on the me’ness aspect.
I know people who have successfully made themselves into the brand – the *only* brand – my good friends Chris Pirillo and Joel Comm come to mind – ask them when they last were able to take a vacation with their families – a *real* vacation.
I’m *not* saying don’t make yourself the brand – I’m saying that if you *want* to make yourself the brand, you should be aware of all of the aspects of success.
Good points, Anne Mitchell. Perhaps anyone starting a small business should investigate the type of branding s/he wants to pursue, based on the projected role of the business.
I’m meeting someone tomorrow for a mentoring session, and I will bring this issue into the mix. Thanks for pointing out the pros and cons.
Excellent points, Anne Mitchell.
And it brings up some interesting points about our “brand” and what it means “to do business with”.
A small story is in order.
I worked at Apple from 1987 to 1994 — during Steve Jobs’ hiatus. There were things about people at Apple, the managers, that puzzled me (I forget exactly what, now.) One day I realized that this characteristic came from the stamp of Jobs’ personality upon the corporation — still there, even though he was not. It was imbued into the personalities of the managers who had worked at Apple while he was there.
The other strong influence on the Apple culture — in fact the man who deliberately created the Apple “corporate culture” –was Mike Markkula. (Without Markkula, there would have been no Apple.) And I have no doubt that Markkula’s influence extends well beyond his direct presence at Apple, just as Jobs did.
So that brand, “what it means to do business with”, is what that branding is, as it extends through a company that you start and that may carry your name. It means that there’s an expectation on the client’s part of being treated in a particular way, a way that represents the values of the founder. And when the values permeate the organization, the namesake founder can take a vacation, also knowing, as the organization’s clients know, that they will be cared for in a consistent manner.
Live JoyFully
@Katie – by giving, you probably sold your tribe on yourself. Now, they trust you – and turning that trust into profit is, imho, easier than building that relationship in the first place. I’ve been there, and done it. So, I know from experience it can be done – and without too much trouble. Just value your knowledge and expertise, educate your tribe on that value, and they’ll turn into paying converts
Try it.
@John-Paul Micek – Awesome comments, thanks for sharing them, JP. Your analogy of comparing ‘authenticity and transparency’ to lenses indeed makes a lot more sense – and is more widely applicable. And the focus you refer to is kind of what I’m telling @Katie above – that once you hold the controls, you can move the vehicle to where you want to go.
I also like your view about the role of one’s personality in success at social media marketing. Thanks for taking the time to add to this discussion, JP.
@Judy Vorfeld – Great points about showcasing elements of your identity to create resonance with your audience. It helps even more when one is as multi-faceted as yourself
@Andy Beard – You put your finger right on the one ‘missing piece’. The way I think about this is matter for another full blog post, but in a nutshell, what I believe is that you first sell the ‘YOU’ – and once that trust and following is built, it can be leveraged in any number of ways and combinations to sell and profit from.
But when you miss selling the ‘YOU’ – the rest is just a house of cards that can fall down all of a sudden.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts, Andy
@Chris Brogan – Thank you very much for your comments, Chris
@Teeg, thanks for the kind words and I’m glad the bits and pieces of the picture I shared on this blog earlier were of some help to you in formulating what is now revealed as a winning strategy in making you the ‘go to gal’ for most social media things!
@JoelBomane – Thanks, Joel. John H is a good friend and one of my biggest inspirations, the moving force behind my ebook, The Emotion Prism
Rick B and I go back quite a way too, from his ‘Internet Toy Drive’ days
@EdShaz – I deeply appreciate your kind and gracious words, thank you
@Anne P.Mitchell – Anne, thanks for sharing your perspective. While I do believe developing YOU into a micro-brand is a good strategy, it isn’t necessary (or maybe even advisable) to make it by default your business brand too. It’s a choice – like Joel and Chris have chosen to make it.
But there are others, like Chris ‘Sparky’ Knight, for instance, who have kept the Ezine Articles brand distinct – yet by being the ‘human’ face of the business, has grown his micro-brand in parallel. Another person who comes to mind is Tom Kulzer of Aweber.com
The *other* flipside (what do you call the flipside of a flipside, btw?!
) is that you don’t want your personal brand so closely identified with (or dependent upon) your business to the point that once you sell off your business, YOU lack an identity!
Thanks for a most stimulating and informative discussion on this interesting topic. Please keep the conversation flowing by sharing any thoughts you may have had since posting the last time!
All success
Dr.Mani
I’ve been thinking about this one for some time. I wanted to respond immediately as I read this blog because I got all stirred up. I read it before there were even any comments made – I do enjoy your blogs so as soon as I see a link from you, I try to take a quick look and you never disappoint!
This one bothered me for some reason. I felt and said out loud – “I’m NOT selling me.” Yes, I get the need to be a product of your brand and even to Be the brand and all of that. There was still something about me being the product that disturbed.
It clicked last night. If I’m the product, then it all depends on my physical presence. We’re trying to build a legacy – something black folks in America need to do more of, btw. We’re passionate about this in our home, family and community. We want to be able to die without the brand and business dying. How do you build in longevity while being the brand, personally? I often wonder about what happens to the Oprah companies and good works when she dies. What a shame and an even greater loss if they die too.
The definitions of marketing and selling…interesting. I’ll have to follow that link and see what is really being said. On first read, it didn’t seem to settle well.
This blog was indeed a huge blessing. It sparked many debates and is rich with meaning and significance.
Thanks for living your life with such intense integrity.
All the best.
Divine Greetings, Dr Mani
It is interesting how when we go into Alpha (brain wave frequency) that we receive insights. Being in the shower has the effect of calming us and getting the brain into Alpha as you probably already know.
The issue of Branding oneself for effective marketing hinges on the principle of authenticity. In life are we authentic people? Are we aware of the need to develop sterling Character on an ongoing basis?
How do we do this? By practicing Truth and Right Action in ALL that we do including MArketing and making money or friends for that matter. So Branding ought to be a natural process. HOWEVER,most people appear to negate their need for Character Development, particularly in business and undermine who they really are just to make a quick buck as our American brithers and sisters might say!
The above translates to having a PURPOSE that encompasses one’s personal and financial goals. In this way Authenticity and Character will be demonstrated as an integral part of one’s PURPOSE on the way to knowing who we really are.
In marketing this means that we must be HONEST, TRUTHFUL and do what is right so that our clients are best served even if we have to sacrifice profits from time to time.
Thank you for a thought provoking article.
May you and yours enjoy a Vibrant, happy and Peaceful life.
Omrajesh
A good friend of mine took the thirty day challenge and raved about it. My schedule is so hectic and I am trying to see how to fit in in. Business and family life is very hectic. But my friends have me really intrigued.
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