The Dangers of Personal Branding
Establishing a brand when you’re a freelancer is a great idea. You create an image about who you are, what you stand for and what you promise to customers. A brand provides consumers with an image and a set of emotional and mental associations that represent you – and that’s what you sell.
Your brand influences people and their decision to work with you based on their perceptions of your image. They may need a page of sales copy, but they’ll want to work with you because you convey a brand image as being the superhero of sales copy, able to vanquish any argument and rise to glorious conversion victory! Or, perhaps your brand image conveys sharp corporate savvy, the ability to hone in and target sales like an archer hitting the bulls-eye every time.
No brand? All you sell is a commodity, just words on paper. Pretty worthless, if you ask me.
Like a Virgin?
The problem with branding is that you have two very simple choices: You can brand personally, or brand your business. Most freelancers and creative types leap to the first. “I’m the artist here! It’s all about me and my name. I’m the one doing the work, and people should recognize me. Just look at Madonna! I am my brand!!!!”
That’s quite valiant, and it’s all very nice, but it’s a dangerous line of thought.
Personal branding can become a restrictive cage. It can turn into a prison, more limiting than Alcatraz. It can create extra work, marketing issues and a ceiling on growth. It can even sometimes create a guilty conscience and issues about morality and ethics.
Not fun, that.
Working For the Chain Gang
You aren’t Madonna. You aren’t Rembrant. You aren’t Dan Kennedy. You aren’t Steve Jobs. And let’s be realistic – right now, you’re a freelancer trying to earn a living. That’s what counts.
Of course, your brand can certainly help you earn that living. You can be successful, yes. It’s also very easy to develop a personal brand – you are who you are, right? No act, no show, no required ‘brand policies’, no fear of slipup. Personal brands are easy to create, easy to promote and easy to keep up over time.
A personal brand also helps you in other ways. The more popular and famous you are, the more opportunities come your way. You want and need those opportunities, so you do have to have an image working for you.
I’ll repeat that: You need an image working for you – because you don’t want to be working for you forever.
All You Need Is Love
Customers don’t want anyone else but you – and that’s a good feeling, when you are your brand. You’re famous! You’re popular and they love you. Everyone knows your name. But a name’s no good when you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted, you can’t get sick, you can’t sell your business, you can’t take on partners, you can’t have a family emergency, and you can’t get help.
A personal brand traps you into always being present in your business. You will be at the mercy of your clients and your career. Step away, and no one can replace you, not even for a vacation. Your business crashes. Work caves. It’s the end of the gravy train.
You have to do everything, all the time – or you have to lie about who’s really doing the work that you’re tired of doing so that you can get a break or pursue other projects.
You are it. There’s no one else.
“Oh, well, that’s alright, James. I don’t want to do this forever. I don’t want to have a business or hire other people. I don’t want to be big. I’m quite comfy on my own, and I really don’t want anything more than this.”
Really? You have a crystal ball to see the future? You’ll never change your mind? You’ll never have an accident, fall sick or burn out, develop RSI, need extra income, desire multiple income streams, decide to grow and expand, or want to change careers?
You’ll never want a business that makes money for you while you work less? You’ll never want to sell your venture for a tidy profit? You won’t have kids that may want to continue your business for generations to come? You’ll just dissolve a great asset and lose out?
Do you really want to decide today what the rest of your life will be like?
What’s in a Name?
A business brand offers you a plan B and a backup safety net. It gives you a way out, an open window through which to slip free, an exit strategy and options for the future.
Personal branding doesn’t offer you that at all. It’s not scalable. You can never do more than your own capacities allow you to do. You can only take on as many clients as you can do the work. Limiting, don’t you think?
Of course, there’s also the problem of reputation. A personal brand means that it’s all about you. Your values, your beliefs, your stances, your policies, your promises. You, you, you.
That means your personal reputation is at stake. One bad day, one slip, a job gone sour, an unhappy client spreading rumors, and your reputation is tarnished. The damage lands squarely on your shoulders, your integrity and values come into question, and you can find yourself bearing the brunt of negative associations with your name.
Not your business name – your name.
Of course, the debate about whether to brand personally or as a business rages, and there are people who take both sides. Most opt for personal branding, because it’s fast and easy.
But do you want to be fast and easy, or would you rather be free and clear?
About the Author: James Chartrand is the branding expert and copywriting gunslinger over at Men with Pens, where you can get more great freelancing advice on how to earn a decent living online.
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Great article! I just went through this as I was contemplating a new business name (as in made a final decision yesterday). My first instinct was to go for something that screamed “MEEEEEEE.” Something I could use to design amazing sites, cool t-shirts and prints of art… Then I realized that I wasn’t trying to sell my services… I wanted to sell me! So keep a level of separation and do all the “me” stuff on its own. Besides, I can’t scare away the bread and butter! Now to remove the whole “i am a one man shop” stuff from my site haha.
This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot of late, but for one reason you don’t mention: I’m getting married and plan to change my surname. Obviously putting a lot of effort into branding under my existing surname would be daft but I also don’t want to use the new one yet.
I’ve considered just using my first name and had actually pretty much settled on using that, and then I read this. *sigh* Back to the drawing board to have another think about it all. Great post though.
Great post! I had to deal with this problem a few months ago. I basically sat back and made the decision that branding myself would eventually hit a peak. So instead I started using a business name. It is true that some clients might run away thinking your a big company that charged high prices. But as long as you communicate in a friendly way and provide good customer service, it’s all good.
Great article, I was debating this very topic in my head the other day. Ultimately I decided in favor of business branding before personal.
Some great pointers, as per usual, James.
What I enjoy about having a personal brand is that more traction can be applied to new projects, such as my second blog, Logo Design Love. In a month or so from now, I’m pretty sure it’ll overtake my personal blog in subscriber count, even though it’s less than half the age.
Would the same level of success be achieved without my personal brand? Perhaps, but, I know my original subscriber-base helped a great deal, and there’s a fair amount of cross-over, with people subscribing to both.
I certainly agree that it’s those follow-up projects, or ‘business branded companies’, that can offer the most flexibility, but I don’t agree with your concluding sentence — “fast and easy or free and clear”.
Ah, I was hoping you’d stop by, David. Every time I think of personal branding in the freelancing world, your name inevitably pops into my mind. And you’re a great example of someone who has personally branded successfully.
Had you begun your first freelancing affair as a business, though, do you think you would have been able to build both the business’s reputation and your own reputation at the same time for a double whammy?
Or, what if you didn’t want your name to appear in Logo Design Love? What if you wanted to simply manage a team of hand-picked designers and have a great business but not be personally attached?
With LDL, you can hire others and expand and grow, so that’s great, but say you hadn’t started LDL – what would have happened to David Airey if you had a car accident (god forbid)? Could James Chartrand have taken over in your place (god forbid) to keep the business afloat for you?
I’m curious on your thoughts. Share?
I’m an example of a freelancer who chose personal branding. I admit, I never planned for my freelancing to get as big as it’s current growing, and I didn’t want to be bothered with the details of business registration, etc.
But now that I have embraced freelancing as a business, I am definitely going to begin business branding. The problem is, I’m having difficulty committing to a business brand – what if I hate it three months from now?
Still, I believe that for service providers, our names will always be part of our brand.
@ Nick – It’s hard not to want to sell ourselves. I’d love everyone to have t-shirts with JAMES all over them, but the reality is that maybe James might one day want to vacation in Tahiti and let Harry or Charlie have a turn. The beauty is that the business continues to earn income whether I’m there or not.
@ Hayley – Where I’m from, women must retain their own identity, so I hadn’t even thought that marriage might pose a new stick in the wheels. Good point!
@ Justin – Another point is that people perceive businesses as being more capable of handling bigger, better and more complex projects. They may not hire a solo person because they’re afraid of trusting it all to one person. (I discuss this issue in The Ultimate Freelancer.) They often see a business name and assume there is a team staff working on the project, which makes them perceive reassurance. Interesting psychology! (And Zoop is a great name, cheers!)
@ The Other James – What were some of the reasons you decided to opt for business branding over personal?
Thanks for this post! I hadn’t given it any thought at all when I started freelancing. I just used my name. As an artist I assumed that building my name and reputation was the most important thing, but after reading your points, I’m not so sure. Building a business that can run without me sounds way better!!!
Thanks for making me stop and think.
Its days like these (Saturday surfing) when I realize what a great commodity a brand can be. Wikipedia’s definition is “A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity. Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as “cultural accessories and personal philosophies”. Nothing more than old school marketing. But in today’s social media frenzy companies & people alike have to pay closer attention. The question I find myself asking is how can you train or promote a company without being “them”? Let me explain, we have been asked by more clients to dive into the social media for them since they either do not have time nor the knowledge to do so. How much can we change internally without changing the whole structure of our services? Do we loose our “branding” capability? I am probably going on into one of my “what if” moment. Thanks for allowing me to do so.
I really enjoyed reading this article, it was well put together and covered some great points. Cleared up a few things that I’ve been thinking about, and for that I thank you.
Right now I feel that I’m working as a personal brand, more because I’m cutting my teeth and trying to pull in clients to have a good base to start from. I think that a personal brand is o.k to start off with, but if you want to progress you have to establish some sort of company/brand.
I chose to go with a sort of a mixture of the two and it happened kind of on accident. ColumbusGEEK is the business name, but I slapped my face everywhere and used the word “me” a lot instead of “us”. That way in the search engines I look like more then one person, but once they hit my site they know it’s one dude.
I felt too many people go with the “I am a business, I have a lot of staff” route, when in fact it is just them. I think that starts new business relationships off with a lie.
Of course I now have a full time client that I have worked with for over a year now that takes all of my time, so the business name is nothing more then a checking account and a poor website now.
That reminds me…I need to work on that some….
Great article James. That was a tough decision for me when I started too, especially because most of the other single-person freelancers I knew just used their names. It has been a little difficult for me to figure out how to speak of “we” at Apt Design while still letting people know its really just “me” Brad Fitzgerald. But I think in the long run it will help for a lot of reasons you pointed out.
It also really helps me keep business and personal life separate.
I tend to advise the opposite – reasoning that I personally much prefer to use freelancers who aren’t masquerading under the false facade of a company. Too many times I have come across a ‘company web site’ that has turned out to be a kid in a bedroom at his folk’s house, or a dude doing some extra work whilst holding down a 9-5. If the ‘company’ doesn’t have a fixed address or an office that I can visit, I won’t go anywhere near it.
If however, a freelancer is entirely honest about it being ‘just them’, regardless of what name or brand they may trade under, then I am much more likely to use them.
The beauty of a personal brand, is that it is carried with you throughout your entire career, whether you work for yourself or another company. There may come a day when you decide you would like the stability of working for a large agency, and having a known personal brand will go a long way toward getting your foot in the door, it will usually even have you headhunted.
A personal brand can also, quite easily be carried through to a larger-scale company, just look at accountants, lawyers and solicitors, they each tend to be named after their founders and partners. The reputation is created by the founders, then upheld by their positions as decision makers within the company.
There is of course the final thing to consider; the ‘rockstar’ factor, which is proving to be hugely popular within the digital media community of late and also on this web site. You can’t be a rockstar without a personal brand, it just doesn’t work.
The absolute best thing that you can do, in my opinion, is both.
This is a very insightful article – thank you for writing it. It’s a great alternate view of the issue.
Here’s a book on the subject of personal branding: “Become A Recognized Authority In Your Field – In 60 Days Or Less” by Bob Bly.
I think the main challenge of establishing a personal brand is getting enough people to believe it, that it makes a positive difference in your ability to land new work. If someone *could* establish a great personal brand for their work, it would pay back tremendously. Bob Bly has a term for this kind of expert: the “mini guru”.
Until your name is a household word among your prospect base, most freelancers will just sound silly trying to force the branding issue. To me, sounding like a dork is more toxic as a freelance professional than the possible “prison” of the personal brand.
I think that what a freelancer really has to offer of value is substance and “being real”. Pushing a brand too early sends the wrong message, that you’re thinking about “you” instead of the client’s needs.
I think most of us should focus on creating great client testimonials and sample work for our portfolios for best “payoff”.
One advantage of a personal brand might be its portability though. It seems like if you have a strong personal brand, you could easily lend credibility to different business ventures. Thoughts?
John
@James – ouch with the wording there, I’m not losing my identity! But yes, it’s an issue a lot of people don’t think about or they respond with ‘So don’t change your name,’ and of course I don’t have to, I just want to.
And part of the problem with my future surname is no one can spell it. But then I have that problem with ‘Hayley’ too. There’s another reason I should have a business name!
Law firms are classic examples of how personal brands can be brought together to create a larger business entity.
“A personal brand traps you into always being present in your business”
No, a personal brand means that your reputation will always be directly connected to the work produced by any business with your name on it. That’s something that should encourage better business practices, not discourage people from using their name in a business.
Many classic brands started as personal brands:
Henry Ford
Milton Hershey
John Harvard
William Wrigley
And even some cross-over brands like Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.
A name is a platform. Build up trust with your client base. They may be hesitant the first time you bring somebody else in to work with you, but If the quality of work stays high they will trust you more than ever. A person who can reliably vouch for value is even better to have around than a person who can only create it himself.
So? Stop thinking like an employee. According to US tax codes, one of the major deciding factors in determining whether a person is functioning as a contractor or employee is the level of restriction on how work is done and by whom it is completed. If your client isn’t paying employee taxes on your wages, you’re not required to be the person who actually completes the work. It’s simply your name on the line. David can go on vacation or die or what have you and his business will survive as long as those completing the work do a damned fine job.
@ Hayley – LOL – apologies on that. I was trying to find the PC term for “in QC, if you get married you have to keep your maiden name” and fell short for lack of coffee!
Good on you for catching how ease of spelling is important for both a personal branding and a business branding!
@ Domain – As I mentioned above, you get a double whammy if you brand your business. For example, many people know who both Men with Pens is and who James Chartrand is. Both names gained credibility at the same time, mostly because people could watch Men with Pens grow and become a success while watching James pull magic to make it happen.
So now I can walk away from my business and still have it earn income for me, and I can also leverage my personal branding to create another venture and gain instant credibility for it. Win-win-win, no?
@ Don – You hit on a point there. “I’m Jack Jackson!!!” Um, okay, yeah, so what? It takes longer for everyone to bring Jack Jackson into their homes than it does to start talking about Jack O Lantern Leftovers (for a bad example, a fictional business for Halloween supplies).
@ Kyle – If you start with a personal brand, it’s difficult to turn that into a business afterwards. People already know you and have established a relationship with you, so they’ll fail to make the connection with your business. Hence, you’ll have to work hard to promote your business and step away from your personal brand, or else everyone’s just going to call it Kyle’s Business. Make sense?
I like Hayley am in the midst of this same decision, but I have decided that using my first name will be the way to go, and some of what I’ve written below has informed me through this process.
Anyhow this article was a very interesting read, you are right there are certain trappings that a personal brand can bring, however I wanted to bring up some points in response to the article.
When I look at a design portfolio site it takes about 10 seconds to define whether this is a designer with a business name or an actual studio. Let’s say a sole trading freelancer has decided to create “super duper studios.” Superficially things change for a moment, however once you have twigged that it’s just one person what does it actually change from the buyers perspective? I know that if super duper studios goes on his holidays, the clients work still won’t get done regardless of the branding. OK so super duper can outsource while they are away, but there’s nothing stopping the person working under their own name doing exactly the same.
I accept that some clients will want the backup of a big studio, and that’s fine let them go there, I cannot offer the flexibility they can. But what I can offer is 100% dedication to their project, no distractions and no daytime ritual to break the creative flow.
When I create a branding for a new company I try to represent what they are, and I think this is a key point. If I were to design for a sole trader, I would brand them as such. Small and single person enterprises have their benefits and these must be used as the USP to create the alternative to the big company. What is worth remembering is some big corporations are taking this line too, advertising using their employees and trying various ways to create a unique feel to each store. This is because they recognise that people want to know that the people working there know their stuff. They do this by advertising their people as experts, but more importantly as individuals.
For designers, I don’t think personal branding is about wanting credibility or your moment in the sun, it’s about making the brand stand for what you are selling. If what you are selling is your services and knowledge, that will strike a chord with people. Surely if you brand yourself as a company, some customers will approach you as if you are just that, but they could turn away once they realize your brand has essentially tricked them into thinking they are getting something they are not?
I’m in the prison, James. I started out as a personal brand and now have a range of clients who love me and only me. As you say, it’s hard to take vacation, get sick, or just have a day off when everything has to be done by me. My challenge now is making the move. I am thinking it will only work with new clients as established ones want to hear my voice, see my face, etc. Any advice on moving from the personal to the business brand?
I think as a freelancer you are branding both – you and your business!
Great article – and definitely food for thought. This is something I have been struggling with quite a bit lately. I’m still not sure which direction I’m going to go, but it will likely be away from personal branding (at least under my real name, anyway)!
I decided to scale my business this year, but since my branding is personal (a business called Colin Is My Name isn’t exactly faceless), I started up a new company to handle the larger projects, outsourced projects, or projects that came along that don’t fit into the sphere of what my personal business is all about.
I’ve already got a few projects lined up for the new business (Verdant Collective, LLC), and already I’ve been able to expand my horizons as a designer, as well as bringing in a lot more revenue that I would have otherwise had to pass up. Both companies also have very specific brands, and seldom overlap.
Something to consider!
Great article James, it’s made me consider a number of points that hadn’t really occurred to me – you make a lot of sense
Personally I made the decision to operate under my own name because I was uncomfortable with the thought of pretending to be something I wasn’t. I wanted honesty and trustworthiness to be key values of mine so made the conscious decision to not hide the fact I worked for myself and instead promote that fact.
I agree with the dangers of personal branding that you’ve mentioned, but I hope my decision to brand myself personally is not perceived as being “quick and easy” or some kind of ego trip, but seen as openness and transparency. Good things in my book.
On the other hand,if you do go with Personal Branding, you’re in good company:
Charles Schwab
Michael Dell (Dell Computers)
Henry Ford (Ford Motors)
Frank C. Mars (Mars candy bars)
Henri Nestle (Nestle candy bars)
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream)
Henry W. and Richard Bloch (H&R Block)
James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson (Johnson & Johnson)
Dick McDonald and Mac McDonald (McDonald’s)
Wells and Fargo (the bank)
William H. Macy (Macy’s)
Sam Walton (Walmart)
Roy Allen and Frank Wright’s (A&W) Root Beer
Friedrich Bayer (Bayer aspirin)
Marcel Bich (BIC Corporation)
S.Duncan Becker and Alonzo Decker (Black & Decker)
William E. Boeing (Boeing)
Walter P. Chrysler (Chrysler automobiles)
Herbert Henry Dow (Dow)
Henry Firestone (Firestone tires)
Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Covey (FranklinCovey)
Gideon Gartner (Gartner)
Leon Hess (Hess Corporation)
Soichiro Honda (Honda automobiles)
Mark Honeywell (Honeywell)
Shozo Kawasaki (Kawasaki)
Gerard and Anton Phillips (Phillips)
Ferdinand Porsche (Porsche)
Warner von Siemens (Siemens)
Michio Suzuki (Suzuki)
Sakichi Toyota (Toyota)
An interesting insight. When i started as a freelancer i branded myself as an individual as i specifically didnt want people to think that i was a large company. Now i’m a few years down the line it is quite restricting i feel, as now i feel i really need to appear as more of a comany to attract the bigger clients, its a tricky subject. Rebrand is always an option but that means starting from scratch with the website again & loose time and money i’ve spent getting my name around… Decide carefully which road you take & definatley consider the future and where you see your business going to help make your decision.
I apologize for coming in late, but my connection is has been very erratic. I’m over 8,000 messages behind. But I do have some thoughts. Rebranding doesn’t mean a complete start over, or at least it shouldn’t. People already know who and what you are, as a personal brand. Leverage that into the new brand.
Could you become Steve Canyon, and Co., or Steve Canyon, Inc., instead of Steve Canyon individual? Personally, I created a business name, and use it everywhere, so others can come in under the umbrella, and I brand it as me, and the business name.
You know, I went the opposite route. I started with a real business branding approach because I thought it would show people I was professional, but it just always felt weird, even after a year. It felt like I was hiding behind the name in a way. When I did away with it and began using just my name (with a .com after it too), I found my business doubled in months and people seemed to be more receptive to me everywhere. I felt more authentic in my work and in my communication with people, and more than anything, for the very reasons you have against personal branding, it has made me more accountable.
Knowing my name is on the table, I’m much more serious about being professional and fun, and honest. I’m more me, than a business, and that works best for me. If someday it’s ever more than me, THEN I can consider going big business because then it will make sense. Hopefully my name will still mean something, enough that people will follow where it is attached.
Oh, hey, Aaron, I just saw your comment after I posted mine. I love where you say “openness and transparency” — I agree, those are very good things!
This article could not have been better timed…
I’ve definitely been wrestling with this idea for a while, and its great to hear some legitimate reasons as to why its risky to stick to using your own name in your personal branding. I was often worried about scaring off smaller clients who might think they “can’t afford to go through a company” as opposed to going with a freelancer…
I think in the end, it is better to brand your company, while still being transparent about the fact that the company is the work of you, the individual.
Thanks for this!
Alright, let’s see if I can catch everyone…
@ Aaron – You mention not wanting to pretend to be something you aren’t. That’s excellent, and I agree. But you are in business, are you not? So why hide that?
@ Colin – So you did both in a relatively short space of time? Cool idea, and I’m curious on that. Which had better success? Which is bringing in more clients? Which one has faster conversion? Could be either, so let me know!
@ Deb – The best decision is to choose what’s right for you, no matter what I say
@ Margaret – Ahh, sorry to hear that (though glad you could provide your comments and experience). Clients used to working with you will most likely always only want to deal with you – however, you can leverage the trust relationship that you’ve developed with them. Stress that so-and-so will be working *with* you on the next project of that client, reassure the client how much you trust this person with their work and why you do, and ease them into working with someone else besides you. They trust you, so they’ll trust the person you’ve chosen. It’ll take a bit more work, but it’ll happen
@ Dizzylights – I think you might feel that business branding is impersonal, doesn’t highlight the people or requires lying about staff size – but I have to say that business branding can be highly personal and show off plenty of character (take ours as an example), does highlight people (again, take ours as an example) and no business, solo or staffed, should ever lie. Business branding isn’t trickery in the least. I do respect your personal views, though, so thanks for your comments!
@ Seth – Law firms, accountants, architects, dentists, etc, are actually facing serious problems because they have no business branding and brand personally, so they’re not the best examples. Currently, they’re being counseled by all sorts of experts to get with the times, get business branding, update their images, drop the personal naming and opt for differentiation. Succession and exit strategies have been a problem for these groups of professionals for a long time.
@ Spencer – My comment on what I just mentioned to Seth applies to my reply for you as well. Personal branding isn’t the way to go in many cases. (Though I do agree with you that business branding should never involve lying.) Regarding the Rockstar image requiring personal branding or it can’t be done… I have to beg to differ on this one. Men with Pens rose quickly to celebriblogger status in a very short time – business branding, not personal.
Then again, we aren’t rock stars. But we rock at what we do
@ Apt/Brad – I see no reason to make sure or stress that it’s just you unless someone asks… no?
Mmkay, hope I got everyone. Thanks for the great comments, all!
Right now I have been thinking about actually branding my freelance work. I see a lot of people who have a name for their work, and it really helps people recognize the work you do, rather than just seeing you as a designer.
I have worked on my personal branding for the past year or so and realize that even though a lot of people know I am a designer, I have trouble getting work, or people getting past who I am sometimes. I can be very real, and it’s seen on my blog, and everywhere I go. I think having an actual brand for my freelance work can separate that.
Any advice?
Great insight. I made the right choice 2 years ago by incorporating my company name. Something that represented my inspiration, location and work ethic. I think people started noticing and remembering the name. Hence I started the company Sleepless City Productions.
I definitely agree with the writer of this article. I never branded myself, always used a business name and it’s paying off in spades.
While clients and colleagues previously knew Headspace as me (Kyle Racki) the freelancer (and never said Headspace) — now I’ve taken on a partner in business development, hired an employee, and am growing the freelance business into a boutique design studio. I don’t think that would have worked if I had used personal branding.
While there’s a lot of valid points you make, I think it all depends on how you look at it.
Personal branding can actually benefit the branding of your business. If you’re known for ‘excellence’ as a designer and all of a sudden your decide to run your own company, in most cases the business will automatically carry the ‘positive’ associations that people/clients have already attached to you as an individual.
I think any new company that Steve Jobs might start/join/buy/run will benefit HUGELY from his personal branding!
I don’t think business branding is impersonal really James. What I am saying is that I have noticed a trend in personal branding for huge corporations. This isn’t lying as you know by the very fact that they might have hundreds of stores nationwide, and I can see why currently this is a popular model because people seem to react well to that.
All that concerns me about branding a freelancer (or any sole trader) to me it belies the beauty of the situation. There is so much to be said for that, and as we are seeing through the responses on here, it works one way for some and another for others. I think it has to be the right brand for the right circumstances, for example for my branding I don’t actually know anyone locally who brands their own name and so it will be unique from the outset. Obviously in other situations mentioned by those here it is more prudent to stand out from the competition and only by being there can they make that choice.
Very interesting discussions though!
Hi:
This is a great discussion. I currently teach graduating seniors how to brand themselves, fully encouraging them to use their names, get themselves out there asap. I am still in full belief that this is the way for a student to go until they fully find their voice in he world and really know the direction they want to go. (many choose 3-d illustration, media studies, graphic work or to go work for the ‘man’). In any case it is so much easier to define themselves first instead of a business. You guys have given me a lot of material to use and think about. I would appreciate more thoughts in the direction of graduating seniors and branding.
Food for thought:: youngisaac.com:: Artie started the company under a personal branding: himself as a child but it grew into the one of the largest ad agencies in Central Ohio. I have no idea how many work for him now but it is a large number. Artie has gone onto public speaking, teaching, and running blog. But the point is: it was a personal brand that grew into a business brand. Is it how you approach yourself and your work ethic, which I believe was mentioned earlier, that it comes down to?
I agree with David Airey that when it comes to having a Blog-centric website it may be best practice to have a personal brand rather than a business brand. I believe that it would make subscribers feel like they are reading a true blog coming from one person’s true words.
After reading this article, I have gained great insight as to whether I should go the business brand route. Despite creating my personal brand just days ago, I believe that I may rethink my goals and tune towards the business brand. There is just so many more options that way.
Who wouldn’t want to start up a company and someday have someone else run it for you?
To add to my other comment, Walter Landor may be the quintessential proof of successful personal branding. Landor is probably the largest design firm in the world with 24 global offices and 854 employess.
http://www.landor.com/index.cfm?do=aboutus.history
So when it comes to personal branding, Wal Mart is currently the largest corporation in the world (again) according to Forbes Magazine.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2008/snapshots/2255.html
I feel that I may be stuck in this conundrum once again. Arggg….
I think a common error I’m seeing in these comments is the confusion between personal branding and business branding that happens to incorporate the name of the founder. There’s a big difference. Wal-Mart might bear the name of its founder but it is by no means using personal branding; it’s using big business branding. The suggestions from JP Seabury and Seth Simonds are actually business brands too — brands are about much more than the name itself. It’s an easy confusion to make, but a dangerous one.
Not sure if its a US-centric thing with the “big business” thing, but certainly here in the UK I get the feeling that a number of big firms are trying to appear more approachable. DIY giant B&Q currently has toward a very personal, staff centred brand, I believe this is an attempt to “soften” the image their store has, and make it more approachable for the one-off DIYer looking for a bargain.
On all accounts I believe this to be a direct shift from “big business” type marketing of the 1990s that implied the companies were big brands that could do everything under one roof. Nowadays friendliness, and knowledge seems to be creating desirability in products and services, so we are seeing much more branding aimed this way.
Is branding something new all of a sudden it seems to be popping up everyone. I’ve decided to brand myself to launch another side of my business. Just call me the “Savy Software Sub”
Hello,
Love the article, but I think it’s kind of missing the point. (IMHO)
As a freelancer – by definition – You are the brand.
Sure, if your looking to turn your freelance career into a full firm down the road, you will need to make a change. However, if that is the case, it is no longer a freelance business and a rebrand would be needed anyways. Having an established personal brand will only help you by associating it with the new entity.
It can also help if you decide to go back to the cubicle… Almost all employers will do a Google search for new employees. Having an established and trusted personal brand can only help you.
Of course in the end, this is all just semantics. But, it is something to think about.
I think a great example of this is Dan Cederholm’s company, SimpleBits. Most responsible web workers know Dan’s name from his books and speaking engagements and work, but his company is called SimpleBits. Even though his name and personality have always been closely tied to the company, he’s referred to it as “a tiny design studio founded by Dan Cederholm.” This meant that when it was time to move from using contractors to hiring his first full time employee it didn’t take any shift in branding to make it happen. Just a blog post to tell clients and fans that there was another person working at the SimpleBits office. I think the important thing is to have a company name that will allow you flexibility, but to be straightforward with the size of your business. If you’re a company of one, don’t hide behind “We.”
Great article.. i just finished reading Rockable Personal Branding. This is like a bonus chapter to that.
Great post, James! This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately — I recently decided to form an LLC for my freelance writing business since this is a. something I’m doing full-time now and b. something that I’d like to grow more. When I solicited advice on whether to form an LLC or S-Corp from other writers, a couple mentioned that they’d formed businesses that used a name other than their own. This wasn’t really something I’d considered before, but it made sense when I heard it: Think of all the people you meet when you’re out and about. No matter how charming or great you are at what you do, they may not remember your first and last name, but if you’ve got a great company name, that is likely to stick with them. The people I spoke with also talked about how, when relaunching as S-Corps and LLCs, they made clear to their current clients that “It’s still me, you’re still getting me.”
This sold me. Now as I am forming my LLC and working on a new Website design, I am running into a quandary: My business does/will do a range of things — copywriting, blogging, content management and creation for the Web and print — but I also write a lot of bylined articles for magazines (and by extension, pitch story ideas to a lot of editors). So I am wondering whether I should keep my personal name domain URL with my personal portfolio, or whether it will suffice to forward my personal name domain to the “about me/us” page on my LLC Web site (and include some samples on there), so that I can then give editors either my personal name URL or the company name URL. The only reason this trips me up, I suppose, is that I do want readers and editors to still be able to find me easily, as I often read an article offline, then go to search for the writer online later. My concern, I guess, is that if my name isn’t all over the business Web site, this won’t be as easy (or that people might assume I’m a different person since there’s a company name). Ultimately, I think the byline situation will take care of itself, but there is a part of me that is concerned. If anyone has faced a similar quandary, I’d love to hear what you did and if it worked. Cheers!
I used to use a business name Lostspots Design” but I’ve found that I like using my own personal name, as this is how a lot of people in the field in Nashville know me, and as most of my clients are other design studios, I feel like a big business name just wasn’t right for me anymore.
This article made me think about how Mike Arrington was able to take off the entire month of February ’09 because he knew his editors and writers could pick up the slack in his absence. While it’s tempting to think that a small business is all about me (which it is to an extent), product speaks much louder than personality. Anyone who wants to take a vacation without taking a mountain of work with them should definitely think about what the work their brand will be doing without their personal involvement. Kudos!
A personal brand isn’t so bad, and if you ever get big enough to want to escape it, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. So many business brands we think about today are just personal brands. For every GM, there’s a Ford, for every IBM there’s a Dell, etc.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! I just love debate those kind of dabate.
If I speak from a personal point of view and because of the current economic timing, I would definitely go with personal branding and here is why.
For obvious reasons, during people in tough economic down turns like the one I can witness in California, people tend to be more in favor of doing business with individuals with a “been there, done that” kind of approach. People need to relate to something and it is much more easy to relate to another human being than a virtual entity because there’s a personal connection; they feel like they will put their trust in the hands of an individual with a personal track record. Skeptic? Why do you think Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Anthony Robbins are thriving these days…. I rest my case
When it comes to vacation and sick time… I believe David Ogilvy have been sick in his life and it never affected his business, such as Leo Burnett or Claude Cossette. They just used their fame, personal portfolio and reputation to build their business. If anything, it is a strategic choice, more than a prison. Everything depends on your vision and the business decisions you’ll make on a long run. The choice between building a business or a standalone designer.
Cheers!
@Natalie – I am the same way. I freelanced with a company brand and barely made enough to keep the site up. I switched to my name earlier this year and have made more this month than I did all of last year. PLUS it is a lot less akward to try to explain what I do, and where I work.
Hey everyone,
These are great comments. I’d love to respond to each, because you all have put so much thought into what you’ve commented that I feel you each deserve the personal attention. That said, I’d drive myself bzonkers trying to keep track and constantly refreshing the page.
Note to WordPress users: Install Subscribe to Comments for great blog discussions, hm?
I want to give something to think about to those who lean towards personal branding. I’m not saying personal branding is wrong, and it does indeed have benefits. But what happens when a client says…
“Oh, you should contact the guy who did my copy… He was amazing!”
“Yeah? Who was it?”
“James… Shar something. Sharter? Sharpand? You know…”
*blank look* “No?”
“Hang on, it’s on the tip of my tongue… Shar… shar… Shartrah!”
“How do you spell that?”
“Good question. J-A-M-E-S….Uh… S-C-H-A… I dunno. How do you spell Shartrah?”
“Oh, wait! Isn’t it Shartrane?”
“Could be. Anyways, he’s got that Men with Pens site.”
“Oh! Yeah! Men with Pens! Yeah, love those guys, I’ll get in touch today.”
I rest my case.
@James,
You do have a good point.
Your company has a good name.
However, your name is the exception, not the rule.
In an business ecosystem where domain name availability is a big part of choosing a brand identity… catchy, unique, and descriptive (domain) names are very hard to come by. Especially when you’re looking at such a competitive market like web design or programming.
Look at the early stages of branding in the “web 2.0″ movement. Many companies found that descriptive names were already gone, so they started going the route of naming psuedo-similar or catchy names like Flickr. Though now it’s gone to the extreme with a clusterf*ck of names like oovoo.com, heekya.com, insala.com, thoof.com… and my personal favorite Oooooc.com (I did a “google” search for “dumbest web 2.0 names”).
Anyways, the point is that it really has little to do with your name and more with the quality of work. If you produce quality work or exceptional service, people will remember.
Thanks!
Troy
Some really interesting ideas in here. I have been pondering the best way around this for a while. I think the use of a pseudonym could be something to consider. But it needs to relate to the author in some way. Im all about the meanings
@ Troy – Before you can work for clients, you have to attract and appeal to them. They have to become clients so that you can impress them. Your business name is part of that appeal and attraction.
And I really don’t think we’re gone so far as resorting to oooooooc.com I bought a nice domain name just the past few days, actually, and have been buying names for the past year – they’re not silly or useless.
Yes, names take more thought. Good! So many people picked up unbranded, thoughtless names like “assistant.com” that I’m glad to see people have to think a bit more and get something that really rocks.
THEN get them coming to you. THEN impress them.
And THEN they’ll remember you.
James,
I found your article thought provoking. You bring up some very excellent points and I can see where different people will sit on different sides of the fence on this debate. I think it boils down to personal choice and what you are seeking in your business.
I will say that freelancers and entrepreneurs definitely should take the time to think about whether they brand themselves or a business identity. However, what about the individual who is a career minded individual who seeks to be a intrapreneur? Personal branding is a must for this individual, especially in an economy where downsizing occurs frequently.
I believe personal branding in this sense helps an individual differentiate themselves from the rest of the job seekers who may have similar skills. I think we will see more and more individuals working on their personal brands who are more interested in career development.
Definitely food for thought. I’d love to hear what Bob Bly, Peter Bowerman, Clayton Makepeace, Steve Slaunwhite, and other people like them, think about this since their names are pretty much their brand. I wonder if they’d decide to do things differently had they the opportunity to do it over again.
I loved this article. It challenges the reader to consider both sides of the debate. Hey, I say…do a little of both. I believe professionals need to build their personal brand (online)—and if they freelance–build a dynamic business brand too. In this economy, you need both…
spread your wings people
Unfortunately, I have to disagree that this is true in all cases. You see, in the entertainment industry — an author’s name is their brand. Steven King, Tad Williams, R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weiss and a host of authors get more sales and more contracts based on who they are — not just what they’ve written. The same can also be true in business as well. Sometimes having a blog or an online presence will help a freelancer appeal to clients, because it’s a great way to show off who you are. I know several companies who will not hire a blogger or a writer unless they themselves have an online presence.
Definitely quite a few different takes on the subject and with these sorts of topics, it’s great to offer those viewpoints. In the end, a freelancer will ultimately do what they feel is best for their career.
I dont free lance much as I’m only starting out but I do have an art portfolio site.
at the very first I started with a business brand because 1, I have a lame name laurie lynn thomas and 2 I really wanted to separate the ‘me’ with the other ‘me’
so far, its done me well, I choose orange a color that most people will not wear at convention crowds so my table and I stick out and i’ve been able to keep to it.
But an artical I’d like to see is when you want to slowly change up the ‘image’ of your brand. I guess in 1 way the 2 me’s are merging but also I’ve found that many designs and brands are using orange a lot (the same that happened with red all over).
Excellent post and a good reminder. I have been leery about branding myself too much with my business, not because I am going to pull a Martha Stewart, but because it may make it difficult to sell my business in the future.
What a wonderful and thought provoking post. Made me really think My conclusion is that I am very much a people person so I tend to think that a personal brand is the key. You have to have all employees on board with the same “brand” mentality to make a strong brand.
Hi, great discussion.
Maybe this article came from fear. I guess, you can find your success in both ways. It’s up to you. It depends on your mentality and not circumstances. if you’re thinking about “what if….” questions continuously, you’ll easily find yourself in center of a car accident soon or later. But it’s only a fear. So, my opinion is that, if we are in harmony with ourselves and our outer world, both ways can be work successfully.
In my perspective, fear = hiding yourself behind an another image called “business brand”. I think one image is more than enough. sometimes this one is already too much.
I have a quandary in this realm, too. Until a year ago, I was the editor of a well-known local magazine, and I was well-known. You might say I had a ready-made, positive personal brand. So when the magazine closed and I started my freelance business, it only made sense to continue to work under my name. Nearly all of my business was either referrals or people who knew me from my work at the magazine. Even people I’ve never met sometimes recognize my name. This is all in the local sphere, of course. The other reason it made sense to work under my name was that most of my work was journalism writing, and editors want to work with a writer, not a company. That’s how I felt as an editor, and that’s how my journalism clients feel. At the same time, my byline is like marketing for my brand.
For corporate work, I just kept using my personal brand. But now I’m about to register as an LLC, and I will be creating a company brand. I don’t plan to use my name, but will use my initials or something that connects it to me and my existing email address (which is my full name) — so my current and future clients will keep the association between my personal and business brands. I’ll probably push the company brand for my corporate work. That way, I can even have separate websites for editorial work and corporate work — a definite advantage, although it means extra work posting clips.
I was just talking about this very idea. I have struggled with it for a while and still not entirely sure, thus I have chosen to ride the fence. I’m a designer by nature, but can also do some nifty coding. Clients find it bizarre that I can wear both hats. Although I do prefer to only design at some point and trust and guide one of my developer buddies (sub-contractor) to handle that portion.
I don’t want to come off as, “It’s just me and that’s all there is” because sometime it’s not. But at the same time I’m not a traditional team of designers and developers. So how do I convey this best? My current solution: I use a portion of my name in my business brand. I do not promote me, I promote my business. And I make sure that new clients understand that I AM the Owner and Creative Director, Often the designer and Sometimes the developer, but everything comes pass me. So far it’s working…but I am open to more suggestions.
Hi James,
It’s taken a while (sorry — that’s where a ‘comment subscription’ would be useful here).
Thanks for considering me a successful personal brand. That’s very appreciated. Personally I think I have a long way to go, but the signs are good.
You asked a couple of questions, which I’ll address:
“Had you begun your first freelancing affair as a business, though, do you think you would have been able to build both the business’s reputation and your own reputation at the same time for a double whammy?”
It’s certainly possible, although I think focusing on one or the other would make more sense.
“Or, what if you didn’t want your name to appear in Logo Design Love? What if you wanted to simply manage a team of hand-picked designers and have a great business but not be personally attached?”
The thought had crossed my mind, but it would’ve been more difficult (in my opinion) to leverage the personal brand I’d already started.
“With LDL, you can hire others and expand and grow, so that’s great, but say you hadn’t started LDL – what would have happened to David Airey if you had a car accident (god forbid)? Could James Chartrand have taken over in your place (god forbid) to keep the business afloat for you?”
That’s a downside, certainly, but one I’m happy to take on the chin. There are pros and cons to both avenues. Ultimately, both can be extremely successful if you’re passionate enough.
@ David – You’re very welcome for the nod, and my thanks for coming back to answer!
(I hear you on the Subscribe to Comments. I shed tears each time I want to participate in discussions.)
Interesting. This makes the third post today I’ve read on personal branding, and I’m getting a sense of how best to work with this. Given how difficult my personal name is to spell or pronounce, I chose a business name and am creating a business brand for it (I need a much more specific, deliberate plan for that, but I am doing it). But I think it might not be a bad idea for me to create a sort of “internal” personal brand to ensure congruency between what I want to put into the world as a human being and what I want to put into the world as a business.
Very good discussion here. Thanks to James for posting and to the commenters!
Today everyone is a brand! Remember the book by Peter Montoya “The Brand Called You” ?
I’m still torn between the two, but it looks like i’m leaning more towards a personal brand. Having a huge design agency is not one of my goals.
The way I look at it is that I can always change things later if needed.
James, I’m with you on how much more memorable and searchable a business name could be, compared to a personal name like mine that’s often mispronounced and never spelled right. To add to that, I wonder if a foreign-sounding last name might plant the idea in U.S. clients’ heads that I wouldn’t be as fluent in English! Although I’ve lived here more than half my life, my ethnicity always is and will always be the first thing people notice about me. While I’m proud of my heritage, I’m pragmatic about perceptions — and isn’t that what branding is supposed to do, create the right (truthful) perception?
Having been a corporate writer in the U.S. for nearly two decades, I’ve lately chosen to also nurture my other passion, which is indie clothing design for women. I see both pursuits as creative, and my services will be housed under one brand: scrollwork. I like how it implies visual design as well as the scroll bar we manipulate to read anything online.
I’ve used scrollwork as a pseudonym on industry-related forums for a number of years, so there isn’t that feeling of duplicity that some of the commenters experience. I am scrollwork. At work.
One thing that’s different is that my blog, which bears the name scrollwork, will also contain posts that reveal a bit about my personal life and preferences. Again, I don’t foresee problems with that, as my target readership is composed of women who want to know the story behind my one-of-a-kind clothing designs and who want to relate to me as a fellow crafter and upcycler. It’s a bit of personal branding under the brand name, you might say.
This is a must read for every freelancer, regardless of the niche you are focusing on.
There are many pros and cons for branding yourself/name or your business – as discussed in comments above. I think that it all boils down to your long term vision and goals. Many people start a freelancing business, brand it with their name, and then they lose the passion in whatever they have been doing. Or new business opportunities show up. Or life simply takes them on a different direction.
Under these circumstances when you might find yourself selling your business, its better if you had branded your business name – it becomes easier to sell. Of course, if you have built a brand based on your name, and your business is doing really well, you can also sell the business as is (branded with your name).
Another thing to consider is: if you’re going to brand your business around your name, what will be your unique personality, what will be “catchy about you and your name, that will form the foundation of your brand?
Great post, James.