Continuing Series on Branding

CEO of ME, Inc.

Branding

YOU

So what do people think when they say your name?

If you cannot answer this question then you have an ineffective brand. The good news is: You can create a Brand of ME, just like Oprah, with little or no budget on the great-equalizer playground called the Internet. With Internet and Social Media outlets, a little computer skill and writing savvy…the only cost is your time.

We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. It’s that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable. The good news — and it is largely good news — is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.

Here’s what the Web says: Anyone can have a Web site. And today, because anyone can … anyone does! So how do you know which sites are worth visiting, which sites to bookmark, which sites are worth going to more than once? The answer: branding. The sites you go back to are the sites you trust. They’re the sites where the brand name tells you that the visit will be worth your time — again and again. The brand is a promise of the value you’ll receive.

BY: TOM PETERS FAST Company Article

The Brand of ME!

• What is your purpose?
• How do YOU stand out among the millions of artisans and indie entrepreneurs…even if they have the same niche as you?
• Why do YOU do what you do?

Everyone is special…if there are a million artists each is out there differently and how their art connects to people is different…if you are trying to copy someone else, or worse be someone else, people will discover you to be a bad imitation of somebody else… and your integrity and reputation and the Brand of ME is shattered in the process. You do not have to be like anyone else…you must value who you are and you must own your personality, voice and values.

Know that you are brilliant. You have a unique and special role to play in this world. People are waiting to see what you have to say with your special art works. The things you love and can speak passionately about are clues to exactly how you can play that role. The more connected you are to those things, the more joy and fulfillment you will experience in your lifetime and the better you are able to put forth the Brand of ME!

The most important things you need to know to establish your personal art brand are…who you are and what you stand for. Start by thinking about what inspires you, what motivates you to create…then take this and wrap it around your brand story and bring your brand to life.

The key to answering the what is to get in touch with the essence of who you are (your own core essential messages, gifts, passions and truths), what makes you special…and then, when you know your uniqueness, you won’t have to be worried that there are millions of artists because you are you and… you are special. As a bonus, this will create your niche…the business advice that everyone is so pushing today and people will identify with the Brand of ME!!!

Most importantly, when you accept that this uniqueness is exactly what you are supposed to put out into the world…you will flourish, people will come to you, people will be drawn to you…your audience will find YOU!!!

Why is it So Hard to Do?

People fail to find the Brand of ME because they don’t do the necessary work and take the time to clarify, identify, understand and become familiar with their own strengths and weaknesses.

If you don’t do the work you will be losing out on becoming the person you were meant to be…the art you were destined to create. Your natural talents, passions and the things that you love to do are in your story to explore and discover and create with. Sadly, most people do not do the work it takes to tap into their essence and explore their core…sothey  are left feeling lost, confused and overwhelmed…

Nothing can take he place of knowing your purpose and who you are…everyone has an important vocation and an important mission here…and you must carry out that mission…your gifts were given to you in order for you could complete this assignment. Your art is meant to be shared with the world.

I find it really sad when is see someone who went from cradle to cubicle to casket without ever knowing who they are and what they were meant to do while in this one wildly delicious thing we have called life! They die with their art still inside them.

I encourage you to take action today so you can uncover your story and your essence and create the Brand of ME!! It will help you ROI…Return on YOUR Imagination!!!

Other posts in this series:

Working from the Essence of Who YOU Are

Artists Personal Brand…Is It Really ME?

Curate YOU

Be Different…Act Normal

please let me know what you think by leaving a comment…

You, amplified (a poem about marketing)

Marketing
is not yelling.

It is not even selling.

It is not bears
dancing around a cereal box
or yellow highlighter pixels
on top of BUY ME NOW pixels
or naked juggling smash-cut ladies on fiery unicycles.

It is not taglines or jingles,
one-sheets or tri-folds,
slide decks
special offers
or branding branding branding.

Marketing
is offering.

It is talking to people
with words
and sounds
and gestures
and pictures
specially chosen
so that the people who need to hear
what you have to share
can
and clearly.

Marketing
is the truth of you,
translated
into the language of them:
in the room
on the page
over the air.

It is you
giving of yourself
to the people
who are ready to receive.

And that thing you say
that hand you shake
that ad
that tag
that special bonus extra
is really you, amplified.

Loud enough so they can hear
soft enough so they can hear themselves think
and feel themselves feeling
and find themselves connecting
with you.

It is a thing
of poetry
not a practice
to abuse.

Express yourself
with love
and no fear
and you will find yourself
surrounded by the best
the world has to offer:
“them.”

Your “them.”

Drawn to you
for what they need
and not what you are trying to make them want.

You, amplified,
do this.

At just the right level
in just the right time
with truth
and honor
and love
and fun
and heat
and light
and fart jokes,
depending.