Headed to the grocery store but wanted to call you to ask you about that date and how it went last weekend?!👀
Remind me, was this the guy holding up the big fish in his profile pic? Or guy-with-guitar? Anything is better than that guy who took you tandem mountain biking for your first date…what a weirdo! Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a serial killer Netflix special about that guy in 10 years.
*sigh of relief*
I’m so glad I have James. You know we’ve been together pre-Tinder and as I watch people try to date in the 21st century it looks absolutely exhausting. It’s like every aspect of your living existence must be curated online for a work, social and love life audience. You basically have to run your own personal art gallery and PR agency just to find someone to watch YouTube videos with.
*sheesh*
It got me thinking though, other than the obvious social media influencers, dating apps like Tinder/Hinge are making personal branding more important than ever. Something that used to be for corporations is suddenly relevant to your Chad next door. Personal branding is not just broadcasting yourself.
I believe everyone has a personal brand whether they realize it or not – how you leave someone feeling after you interact with them is your personal brand.
Other than the video series and podcast I do with that guy Blake, lately at OpenView (that VC I work at) I’ve been meeting more with people who don’t want to be “influencers”, but want to improve their personal brands for one reason or another:
Build confidence in their area of expertise
Connect to other people with their interests
Differentiate themselves against other VCs etc.
A common misconception is that broadcasting yourself is the only way to grow your personal brand, when really there are other ways that feel authentic to the 1 to 1 experience (as an introvert, I would know) you can focus on things like…
How you follow-up with someone
Follow-up with a personalized note. Showing you value someone’s time and that you *actually* listened to them is an easy first step to building trust. In a world of distractions and transactional conversations, people are delighted when you remember things about them and provide genuine value to their day.
Make yourself approachable and accessible. Embrace vulnerability in whatever ways you’re comfortable with. It’s often embarrassing stories that resonate the most. And make sure they know how to get back in touch with you. You’re not the main character in their day, week or life, don’t expect them to have your number on speed dial.
How you choose to present yourself with them:
Don’t boring-yourself. Stop trying to fit yourself into the version of you that you think they want. Whether it’s the Patagonia vest VC uniform or feeling like you have to straighten your hair for it to be perceived as “professional”, I promise the best (and only) way to build your personal brand is to be true to who you really are and what you value.
And I know that advice is given through a lens of my privilege as a white Latina woman and not everyone is in an environment to safely be exactly who they are in their professional lives, because people suck, but here’s to hoping for more progressive change 🤞 Oh! That reminds me, thanks for that book recommendation, Just Work by Kim Scott and Trier Bryant. I’m still reading through it because I’m the slowest reader on the face of the planet ha! But did I ever tell you I got to produce a podcast episode with Trier and was lucky enough to meet her a couple of years ago? It was just via Zoom but she was brilliant and so damn cool. Anyways… what was I saying? Oh yeah, don’t boring-yourself.
I used to catch myself doing this all the time, especially when I first started working in VC. When I started at OpenView I filled my closet of clothes I bought for “fancy business office Meg” and now when I try to wear any of it, it makes me feel like I’m cosplaying as a rich white person. Who did I think I was 😂 Nevertheless, here I am years later taking the pledge to never boring-myself for anyone ever again.
And when I think about it these 1-to-1 tactics can then be implemented at scale using things like your email signature, chat bots and other experience overlay tools that curate that experience and build that relationship based on value and trust. You build enough 1-to-1 trusted relationships and then soon you have a community of people who’ve got your back.
All that is to say I’m calling it now, personal branding will be one of the most impactful levers to scale your business authentically and sustainably over the next 5—10 years.
There was that study I sent you on LinkedIn that said “people are 8x more likely to share something from a personal social account versus a corporate page account” (source).
And before social media, even now, most brands try to achieve a sense of uniform throughout their brand (consistent colors, fonts, etc) which is a necessary part of the design system to uphold the integrity of the brand BUT…
Branding is about unifying, not uniform.
What I hate to see are these blanket uniform brands draped over each employee, where everyone looks like a copy and paste clone. All wearing the same color, on the same backdrop, with the same, capitalism-dead-in-the-eyes smile. These brands are assuming every employee experiences your brand in the same way.
THIS IS A HUGE MISSED OPPORTUNITY!!!
Everyone's experience is different, and it’s human nature people need social proof from varying perspectives to trust your brand.
You ever go on a website and see that all of the testimonials look like they were given by NPCs? One of those characters in a video game who has a single line of dialogue they’re allowed to say every time you walk by. What is up with that? Like you’re not fooling anyone into buying your product with John Smith voting it the best thing he’s ever seen since sliced bread.
This got me thinking about how people purchase or commit to anything nowadays. Just the other day I found myself looking up reviews before going to restaurants while simultaneously looking up the most sustainable cat litter.
Noodle doesn’t care
…but I do. And my point is that we as humans need to survey different authentic opinions before committing to anything, even something as small cat-poop-sand.
The missed opportunity is that these blanket brands treat all of their customers/employees the same. Serving up the same brand messaging and format to each audience for the sake of maintaining a consistent brand. When in reality, it’s only pushing them farther away from truly resonating with their audience.
Instead I wish brands (and people in general) would embrace individuality to showcase how you/your team/product connects to the shared memory, experience or pain that brings these people together. Understanding that your target audience isn’t one singular type of person, but a community of people struggling with the same problems is the key unlock for any brand today, why don’t people get it?!🙃
We need to stop building brands based on demographics, and start creating brands led by people for people.
Look at me, I sound like Obama over here. Talking about this stuff just gets me so amped!
Anyways… gotta go, just pulled into the WinCo parking lot. Chat soon, bye!
Personal Blanding | Sorry I Missed You (2)