Branded With A Hot Iron

I was going to write a post all about branding, particularly personal branding, because, well, that’s a thing that’s being talked about at the moment. I was going to give lots of detail and examples. But then I thought: I can’t be arsed.
So instead I’ll give you this instead: My Top 5 Tips for branding.

1. Want to reach more readers? Use all the assets you have at your disposal, but use them well and use them wisely. This is the ‘less is more philosophy’ – use what you have access to and use it to the best of its potential. Focus on what works and get the most out of it – but be clear about what you want out of it. Doing it this way will create a perception of professionalism about you and your work – branding!
2. Brands are built through interaction between customer and product. There are two main ways a writer does that – providing books to be read and being on social media. Social media is about being social. It’s not about building up squillions of followers who scroll past your tweets or updates because they only vaguely know who you are. It’s about – and forgive the analogy here – length and girth. It’s about depth of interaction with those that you do interact with, but done in a way that makes them remember you and want more from you. Got that? Penetration, and stimulation.
3. Want to sell more books? Write the best books you can. It really is that simple, quality counts. Quality will bring people back for more.
4. Branding is for products not people. Don’t consciously try to build a brand. If you do that then you’ll probably fail. Instead try to get yourself/your book in front of the right people at the right time to promote what you do. (Instead of brand building be the best you at marketing and communicating about the books that you’ve created).
5. People can sniff out inauthenticity a mile off. If you are trying to be someone you are not then you’ll get found out eventually. Save everyone all that hassle and just be yourself. It’s far more appealing, sexy and valuable – oh hey there isn't that the goal of branding?

It really is that simple.
Remember that companies have to create brands out of characteristics, values, tone and interactions that they apply to their products - they are creating a persona for their products - because the products are things. You are already a person, with all of those things. Personal branding isn’t about creating those things, it’s about how you use what you already have.
So if you choose to be inoffensive and bland in order not to offend, your personal brand is going to be seen as inoffensive and bland. Who wants to read a book that’s bland? We read books for the excitement of other people’s lives, for the fantastical elements, and maybe for the escapism that they offer. I’m not going to spend my hard earned cash on a bland world populated by dull people doing uninteresting things that don’t offend others. Instead I’ll spend it on a chocolate bar with more nuts, or a bottle of beer that’s both super trendy and effortlessly cool at the same time.

Now the next person to talk about branding gets a hot iron to their flesh. That really is personal branding.