Sphinn - Personal Branding is BS

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Personal Branding is BS

Went Hot: October 11, 2008 - 8:02 pm
Posted By: graywolf 90 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.1938media.com)
Category: Social Media

Straight talk from Loren Feldman of 1938 on why personal branding is a made up term and a complete waste of your time.

12 Comments

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from CameronOlthuis 90 days ago #

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I'm sure GaryV would beg to differ

from scottparent 90 days ago #

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Yes, in addition to GaryV, I'd add Scoble, Jason Calacanis, Chris Brogan, and Guy Kawasaki to that list. Should we go on?

from Skitzzo 90 days ago #

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There are exceptions to every rule but I would argue that there are a LOT more examples of brands that succeed than the "personal" brands. Also, the reason Guy Kawasaki succeeded was because of his BRAND evangelism for Apple. Calacanis is popular because of his success with Weblogs Inc.

Another item that should be mentioned is the inability to sell off personal brands or personal branded sites.

from johnandrews 89 days ago #

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A rare glimpse of the "real" Loren. A few takeaways:

"personal brands don't scale" -- I'm reminded of Bruce Clay... but was that a positive thing?

"I'm one of the biggest assholes on the Internet.. that's what my brand is about"

"Most of you out there don't have the chops to be a personal brand"

"it's all a front for 1938 Media"

"none of you know anything about me.. that's on purpose. I'm not the brand"

"half the shit I say I can't even believe people believe...."

"I did a lot of standup, alot of improv"

"The point is, you do it because you have to do it, you're driven to do it, or it's a marketing device for something of greater value"

Conduct an on-the-street survey in Silicon Valley and ask people who Shel Israel is... of course they all know Shel Israel is a puppet 0wn3d by Loren Feldman. The guy knows how to execute.

from shoemoney 87 days ago #

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@cameron I think Gary would agree with this... he has branded his winelibrary business not really himself.

So many people are trying to brand there name and it just does not work...

from SEMSpot 87 days ago #

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Gary did talk about personal branding in the first minute of this video. He did state he would not go into personal branding, but I would love to see his take on it. Gary has branded his winelibrary site more then anything. Anyhow check out the first minute of this video by gary talking about Oprah and Paul Newman. The big difference is these people are/were HUGE celebrity which takes personal branding to a whole new level. I personally think branding a business name is by far more powerful then branding your name. You can only go so far with your name, but with a business brand the sky is the limit.

http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/10/07/word-of-mouth-has-changed/

from nBridges 87 days ago #

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On the blog, there was a comment about why johnchow.com can never be 1938 Media, My reply is, it was never meant to be. Personal Branding is done for different reasons IMO with different goals in mind. As long as you are clear about your goals, I think you should be fine, whether its company branding or personal branding.

from Sharkyx 87 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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Dude, Loren, you fucking role!

from JamesDuthie 86 days ago #

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I agree that a personal brand is far less scalable than a business. A personal brand cannot be sold. .. but so what? That's not the only income opportunity. Amongst other things, establishing a personal level of authority can lead to authoring/publishing opportunities. And last time I checked books could definitely be sold. How about public speaking/conference opportunities? The list goes on...

from Fitz 86 days ago #

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Loren Feldman is one of those guys who just takes unpopular stands on topics to generate controversy and gain publicity. It's a lame PR tactic but I guess it works. Does he really believe the stuff he says? I doubt it but it get's people talking about irrelevent crap for a few minutes and thus gives him a few seconds of fame.

from SamFreedom 86 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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Well, it works, if you really BELIEVE what you're saying... it's ok to take an unpopular stand, even to generate traffic, if you really BELIEVE some of what you're saying. My suggestion to you is, instead of putting that statement in a comment, put it in a blog post and, essentially, give him a taste of his own medicine.

from MikeDammann 85 days ago #

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What we witness is someone branding himself by attacking someone, branding that person in the meantime as a dingbat pretending branding doesn't work. Great strategy. What doesn't work is lame or too obvious attempts to brand yourself. Of course when you attack branding itself, you get away with doing it.
Whoever doesn't realize that should stick with linkbuilding and leave the business of branding to others.

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