Thread by @iamnickyates

There's a big debate over personal branding...

Anons have zero personal brand, other than the profile picture and maybe their alias

Other marketers aren't using personal branding to its fullest potential

A brief thread revealing my thoughts...

Let's look at the hip-hop industry to see how personal branding works

Take the following examples...

Gucci mane
Lil Wayne
Rick Ross

How do they personally brand themselves?

One way they all do it (and most any rapper) is by having a certain saying or noise related to their brand

For example... Lil Wayne songs can be recognized by fans when he sparks the lighter

That's instant recognition with his songs

Instant recognition with his brand

Ross has to utter one simple noise.. UHH

and every fan knows who's on the track

Da boss ricky ross himself

Gucci says one thing, his name... GUUUUCCCCIIIII

and everyone knows what's up..

This has even gone more mainstream, "it's gucci" has become a common phrase

Furthering his branding

What do they all have in common?

They brand the SHIT out of each and every track

In almost 100% of their tracks, they are branding over and over and over

It hits us on a subconscious level, you don't even realize it half the time

This is how branding works, it literally INFECTS your brain, and your brain reacts to it

This is how personal branding works online as well

For example, I have stolen sayings and created a persona of "Copy King" around my brand

I say things like..

"Mere marketing mortals will not understand this"

"True Copy Kings will understand..."

"I've come down from my Copy Castle..."

This is branding

and honestly, it's totally douchey in my opinion

It's a created persona, I'm not walking around my real life saying bullshit like this

I'd look like a total jackass

It's an online persona and mentality towards this digital game

But it does one thing for me...

This creates a distinct line in the sand for my email subscribers

You are either on my list as a free sub

or you are a Copy King, and you've paid to become an upgraded sub

Make sense?

Things to think about for your brand...

What persona can you create?
What type of sayings can you use?
How can you brand yourself?
What do you want to be known for?

"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man"

Jay-Z