Issue #4 - This Personal Brand Thing of Ours

Omertà always applies to Personal Branding

Feb 09, 2024

I’m writing this from the comfort of my gaming chair, while covered by my favourite blanket. Not very dignified for a man my age, I’ll give you that, but it makes me feel safe.

And I need to feel safe because I’m about to break the social media Omertà and tell you the real, as of right now unpublished, story of… Personal Branding. The repercussions could be grave. Not “never being employed again” grave, I took care of that all by myself, but grave nonetheless.

See, I knew Personal Branding back in the day. He was a sweet Sicilian boy who always said hello when meeting strangers. But he fell in with the wrong crowd, killed a big shot’s son, and he was deported to America. Soon after, he befriended a Mafioso, became a mobster himself, and the rest is history.

But he got old. And soft. Pudgy around his waist. He could not compete with all the new social media mobsters and knew he had to bow out before they took him out. Killed him, as it were.

So, he did what every self respectable mobster does, he cut a deal with the BIB (Business Investigation Bureau) and he joined the Business Protection Program. He was saved from a life of crime, but forced to change his name and live the remainder of his days in shame, under the guise of… yuck… Personal Branding.

But the fellas in the old country know his real name. They whisper it late at night when there’s no social media guru, fake-ass coach, pod boss or Bali based copywriter around to hear them.

They think about him and whisper his real name:

REPUTATION

Before the online age, we simply called it Reputation. What people thought about you and said about you when you weren’t in the room.

Now, we don’t call Personal Branding by its real name. It all has to be flashy and pizazz. Rizz. Visuals and bullshit.

But, at the end of the day, it’s pretty scummy. Selling the same old thing with a new disguise. And we’re all sworn to secrecy.

Ups, you already have one

Since we’ve established that Personal Branding is just Reputation in disguise, I have some even better news:

You already have one.

You don’t have to create a Personal Brand, in the same way you don’t have to create Reputation. It just lingers around, kinda like a fart. So be very careful what kind of food, as in content, you consume. Or put out.

Because once you get stinky, there’s no way back.

But what is it, really?

OK, for the people who woke up later or are simply sleeping on the whole marketing and branding game, Personal Branding is:

How you come across as an individual.

NOT what you think about yourself. NOT what you say about yourself. It’s what OTHER PEOPLE think about you.

If you ask Google (trust me, you should not) it will tell you that Personal Branding is:

“Personal branding is the process of defining and promoting what you stand for as an individual. Your personal brand is a culmination of the experiences, skills and values that differentiate you.”

And that it has four Ps:

Perfection, Passion, Proactivity and Perseverance.

HAHAHHAHAH… who the fuck writes this crap? Underpaid corpo drones, most likely.

No, mate. Personal Branding is not what you do. Personal Branding is how people perceive you.

Hence… Reputation.

Now, there are ways to influence your Reputation, but I’d say it’s a losing game. Because when you try to hack Reputation, you end up with an askew version of who you are.

A mask. So it’s better to just be who you are. Start from there, and the “Personal” in personal brand will become a walk in the park.

Uhhh… it’s not like Reputation can be someone else’s.

*By the way, I just discovered the funniest thing: if you look up the word “askew” on Google, the craziest thing happens. See, it’s for tips like this that you read my comic book/newsletter.

Don’t believe me when I say that Personal Brand is the result, not the process?

I wanted to be perceived as a professional hater on LinkedIn. You know what people think about me? That I’m just a professional with strong views who is also sometimes kind.

Big difference.

**And he curses. A LOT.

My Experiment

- We interrupt this section of the newsletter with a little announcement:

“Vlad’s mostly going to suck his own dick for the following two Headings of this newsletter, so you’re welcome to skip to the ‘Should you get intentional about it?’ part.”

Whew. Having warned you that this next part will include some old-fashioned self-promotion, I feel confident to continue.

I’m talking about Personal Brand, and the only brand I feel comfortable talking about (that’s a lie, BTW) is… MY OWN.

To this end, I carried out a little experiment a while back. I asked LinkedIn (my followers) about their opinion of VAI (my name and also my brand).

Specifically, I asked them to use ONE or THREE words at most to describe me and my Personal Brand. This is what I uncovered:

Gabriela I.B. a digital marketing fellow with a focus on SEO copywriting: “Most LI writers+copywriters feel like a TV commercial for laundry detergent. You're like a commercial for Carl Sagan. Dang. That's 20 words.”

Illya Shapovalov, the world's only email copywriter for info products: “Honorable”

Evgenios Zogopoulos, a People & Tech Enthusiast. Avid learner: “Refreshing for LinkedIn”

I won’t bore you with other details, but the consensus was that I’m direct, honest and I don’t bullshit people.

See, I couldn’t put that on my profile. But that’s how people perceive me.

OK, but that’s just how peers perceive you, what about clients and people who have closely analysed your writing? Say no more:

I’m going to save you the reading time. The common thread is “no-nonsense”. I’m like a hitman for the Mafia. Efficient. I get in, I get out, I get the job done. I don’t bullshit you.

Now, I could say I’m a no-nonsense writer. Takes me three seconds to put it up there on my banner.

Would that be a Personal Brand/Reputation thing?

No.

But when other people say that about you?

Aha.

PB or Reputation is not what you say. It’s what you can prove and what others think about you.

Should you get intentional about it?

Welcome back, my jaw hurts. So, should you get intentional about your… fuck, I’m tired of writing the whole thing out, and I’m not trying to rank for SEO (badly) so I’ll just use PB.

So, should you get intentional about your PB? Absolutely.

Now, people have many different ideas about what “intentional” means, so I’m going to be as direct as possible:

Show yourself. Show the personal part of who you are and what you do. Let us in.

HOWEVER

There should definitely be a limit to that. The personal in PB does not mean that I want to know every little thing about you. It’s not relevant, and sometimes it’s not even decent.

I have a personal TOP about what should not constitute content for the PB, and it goes like this:

Photos of your children online. No, just no. Pets are cool. Kids don’t need a social media presence. At least cover their faces if you can’t help yourself.

Drama. And by that I mean weaponized drama. You can tell me you’ve been having a bad time, sure. But don’t try to make me feel sorry for you. Fine line there, tread it at your own risk.

Acting. This is by far the most common. People act a certain way online and then, when you meet them face to face, they are a completely different person. What’s up with that?

I write A LOT about my personal life. I talk about my GF, my mom, my family, my in-laws, the works.

But, most people don’t know who my GF is and if I ever have a kid, I’m not writing about him/her/they.

Matter of principle.

Stunts or mission?

So you’ve been reading so far, and you want some actionable tips on building that PB.

Just be yourself is a little on the nose, right?

You have two ways to go about it:

Choose a mission. That’s on you. Choose to be better than X, to change something, to stand for something, to stand against something. Whatever makes your blood boil, I don’t know. But it has to be important for you, otherwise it won’t be powerful enough to support you when the going gets crappy.

Stunts. For the record, I don’t advise going this way. While the mission is based on resonance, stunts are based on reach. You whore for an algorithm and get attention. That’s not a PB, it’s a circus act.

And you’ll get the Reputation of a trend humper.

What about an example?

Ah, Romanian people definitely know Ana Udriste, the Avocatoo chick. I’m not saying anything, but check her Instagram in the beginning and now.

Early days - interesting talks, professional.

Now - boobs front and centre, talking about Personal branding, acting like a BOSS and riding trends.

Her content went from being serious and professional to being just right in your face. Kinda like her boobs. I’m not shaming anybody, I’m just stating the facts.

Or maybe you need an international example. Lovely copywriter (was it ghostwriter?) Paul Pirie. I would have shared the post in question, but he blocked me. Go figure…

The reason me and him got into a spat was because he was telling people that the best way to success was to emulate what big creators were doing in the early days.

Do I really have to explain why that’s Reputational suicide for people who want to build their OWN BRAND?

Does a PB evolve? Should it evolve?

Absofuckinglutely. Your body produces new cells, and you’re basically a new person once every seven years. So I’ve heard. But your ideas and ideals change and evolve. Let your brand evolve with them.

What I want for my own brand is to evolve positively. For example, I started out by being ANTI stuff. In the coming years, I want to move towards being PRO stuff.

*That’s why I’m using MadVlad to vent my frustrations and leave them behind.

I got this idea from Tim Minchin (brilliant comic) - You can check out his Brilliant life lessons here.

If you liked that, you can listen to more of Minchin on this link. I’d advise you to watch this one ONLY if you’re not a religious person. Or, if you’re a religious person who can take a crass joke about God and religion.

Finally, I’ll provide a link to an article about artists selling out. It’s an absolutely horrible piece, but it blends in nicely with my Mission vs Stunts argument.

Going forward

Whoosh, that was another long-ass newsletter. These things get longer and longer, don’t they? Gotta give you props for reading all that.

If you loved this issue, you might be interested in

Previously, on B00ls: Issue #3 The Writer/Marketer/Founder’s Biggest Dillema

Et tu, Brute? Who do you write for?

Next time, join MadVlad as he takes on…

Issue #5: This “Stupid Audience” Myth

Thinking Your Audience Is Stupid Only Makes YOU Stupid

You can get access to the full archive here if you missed any other issue.

In the meantime

If you liked my stuff, this is how we can work together:

I write for you. Check out the Experience section on my LinkedIn
I consult marketers and founders. Ask about my no-nonsense approach to marketing
I consult writers. Ask about my no-nonsense approach to writing

Are you a writer/marketer/founder who wants to learn how to build his Reputation? Reply to this e-mail if you’re interested in the above.

Know somebody who’d also like that? Share my newsletter and point them in my direction. I’ll give you a beer if you’re ever in Bucharest.

(I’m still working on offers 2 and 3 so watch this space for updates)