Don’t listen to anyone about personal branding (including me)

The National Institute of Personal Branding recently concluded a year long study and published the results in a 47 page document.

The biggest takeaway: You cannot fail.

Ok, there is no institute, study, or document. The takeaway is my own and you needed to hear it.

Personal branding is a moving freaking target. Some say it’s about your expertise. Others argue it’s your reputation. And then there’s the idea that it’s simply how you want people to perceive you.

Spoiler alert: you don’t have to fit into one definition. All of those can be right. All of those can be wrong. Personal branding is all of those things and none of them at the same time. At its core, or rather your core, it’s the intersection of how you show up, what you know, and how others experience you.

But even though the magic happens when all three align, you don’t need to have it all figured out right now. Like you, I am a progressive uncovering. Every single day has its new set of experiences, ideas, epiphanies, and distractions. Combine all of that and multiply it by 365 and you’ll feel closer and closer to absolutely nowhere.

Think of it this way:

• Your expertise is what you do.

  • Mine is Video Podcasting

• Your reputation is what people say about you. (Especially when you’re not around)

  • People have told me I’m helpful, caring, and have the gift of exhortation. Some people have also said I’m impatient, unfocused, and … I forgot lol. It’s all true!

• Your intentional image is what you want to be known for.

  • It is a deep desire of mine to be known as someone of service and also always seeking to improve.

I hate hacks, but here’s one for when we’re unintentionally chasing the “perfect” brand: Focus on how we don’t want to show up. That usually comes very easy to us. Work on demonstrating the parts of you that are the opposite of those ugly perceptions and you’ll be on your way.

Mr. Beast feasts on the NFL

Somehow my family and I got caught slipping and fell in love with watching Beast Games on Prime. Challenges, prizes, sabotage, friendships, storylines - all of it. Love it or hate it, it’s entertaining!

It’s football playoff time and that means you gotta watch on regular cable with commercials. I saw one commercial for a game show which has Rob Lowe as the host (I loved him in Parks and Rec). It looked so random and desperately attempting to be exciting.

I said to Ann Lee (my lovely wife), “There is no way a show like this could ever outperform Beast Games.” She instantly shook her head in agreeance. “No way.” she said.

It’s because this guy is the biggest Youtuber in the world for a reason. It’s not a coincidence that in the last 28 days with just 2 long form videos and 3 short form videos he got 2.54 BILLION views on Youtube.

For simplicity that’s 508 Million views per upload. (You can find those stats and stats for other channels on a website he made for all of us here.)

To put that into perspective the NFL playoffs average nearly 40 Million views .. a weekend.

I’m telling you this because Beast Games is simply an extension of what he has already doing on his channel for years. He KNOWS it works. Amazon knew it would work. Whoever came up with Rob Lowe’s show probably doesn’t.

So naturally it’s been the top show on the most well known brand on Earth’s video channel since being released.

Content you should see

1. Want to build your brand or podcast by guesting? Check out this short IG Reel

2. My two cents on the hesitation to promote your podcast