Liz Craig, Writer

Here’s another one of Guy Kawasaki’s five tips for personal branding success (again quoting from that BNET blog post I linked to in my last post):

Make Meaning, Not Money. If you’re into personal branding with the goal of making money, stop now. You will attract the wrong kind of people into your life. Instead, start with the goal of making meaning. What better way to align all your actions with your long-term goals. What kind of meaning will you make? Kawasaki suggests two ideas for inspiration: 1) right a wrong, or 2) prevent the end of something good. What will you do to make the world a better place?

“Life is empty and meaningless, and it doesn’t mean anything that life is empty and meaningless.”

Guy Kawasaki didn’t say that. The leader of my Forum weekend did. That’s the first cosmic two-by-four that hit me in the head at The Forum, an introduction to the Landmark Education curriculum. It sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? But all it’s really saying is that life has no inherent meaning — it’s a fresh, new canvas you can paint any way you want. Whatever the meaning in your life is, you choose it. You create it. You live it.

Early in my career, my life was all about getting together a great portfolio and winning creative awards so I could get more money at the next agency where I worked. These days, of course, I still need money, but winning awards is no longer what gives my life meaning. What does, though, is being in integrity with my own values and helping people create their own successes.

There’s more to meaning than what you do for a living. There’s the spiritual thrill that comes from seeing a great work of art or hearing a Mozart concerto played by splendid musicians. The warm feeling that bubbles up when you’re giggling with a toddler. The expansive feeling when you’re admiring the beauty of mountains or the ocean. The satisfaction you feel savoring a superbly prepared meal. Or the tender love you feel for your parent, your child, your mate, or your best friend. All of this has meaning on a personal scale.

On a broader scale, working for a cause in which you believe can imbue your life with tremendous meaning and the feeling that you’re making the world a better place. You might teach someone to read, coach a kids’ softball team, join an organization that champions the rights of the disabled, work for candidates whose views you share, join the choir at church, or serve on the City Council.

To me, the greatest exemplar of meaning-making is Mohandas Gandhi. His long-term goal was “to become a complete zero.” That meant reducing his ego desires to zero and acting as a purely selfless human being. He held no elected office and sought no fame, yet world leaders sought his counsel, and he commanded tremendous power — through nonviolent civil disobedience — to lead the Indian people in a symbolically important strike against the salt tax imposed by Great Britain. See the 1982 movie, if you haven’t before. Wow. Did he ever give his life — and the lives of his countrymen — meaning! Gandhi died in 1948, having lived to see India achieve independence the previous year.

Gandhi righted a wrong — the exploitation of the Indian people by Great Britain — and made the world a better place by peaceful means. Probably none of us will become the meaning-maker Gandhi was, but all of us, in our own ways, create meaning in our lives.

What gives your life meaning? I’d love to hear from you.

If there’s anyone in the world who knows a thing or two about personal branding, it’s Guy Kawasaki. He’s written a book called “The Art of the Start,” in which he suggests five principles of successful personal branding.

One of them, quoted in a BNET blog post, particularly intrigued me:

Make a Mantra. In three words or less, what are you all about? Kawasaki believes that mission statements are useless. He says, make a mantra instead. FedEx stands for “peace of mind.” What do you stand for, in the simplest terms?

At networking events, people are asked to give their “elevator speeches” or 30-second commercials. Most people describe what they do for a living. But a mantra is not about what you DO; it’s about what you’re ABOUT.

Okay, what you do is sell life insurance. But maybe what you’re about is “helping families be financially secure.” Or maybe your mantra is about an even higher level of consciousness, like, “to embody the peace I wish to see in the world.” That mantra, if it’s truly what you’re about, will infuse your every action and thought with an intention to create peace. The more meaningful your mantra is to you, the more you will internalize and reflect it.

When I was working in community theater, which I loved, my mantra was “creating community.” The community theater experience brought together everyday people, some with acting training, some without, some with family and social connections, some without, to put on a show. And as they worked together, they made fast friends. And they found that their contribution, as small or large as it might be, was valued. By working together, they could complete a puzzle with real meaning. That truly inspired me.

Now, what is my mantra? Well, right now, it’s “creating a lovely home” — for someone else, a potential buyer. I’ll keep mulling over my essential mantra during the process.

Can you get your life’s mission down to a mantra of three or fewer words? Try it. You’ll deepen your understanding of yourself and strengthen your presence in the world.

After writing on consumer packaged goods accounts at ad agencies for years, I think I understand the concept of “brand” pretty well. It’s more than a logo, it’s the promise a product stands for. What I have a harder time getting is how branding extends to your own person.

Marketers used to adopt spokespeople, animals or things to represent the fine qualities of their canned goods, frozen food, air conditioning units or what-have-you. Their product brand’s virtues. The Unique Selling Propositions.

• In consumer packaged goods, you had Mr. Clean, that handsome brute in white, representing the ultimate cleanliness you could achieve by using the product.

• Ajax laundry detergent was “stronger than dirt,” championed by a knight on a white horse as a jingle drilled the key phrase into our heads.

• The Jolly Green Giant was friendly, green and out standing in his field (sorry for the pun). He represented garden-fresh vegetables in cans or frozen. Ho ho ho!

• Poppin’ Fresh was a literal dough boy representing dough that popped out of a can when you rapped it on the edge of the counter. The name is ingenious — the unique selling proposition in two words — and the spokesdough unforgettable. But for me, the little guy was too cutesy, especially when he giggled. I wanted that finger that poked him in the tum-tum to poke all the way through. Am I the only one? I am? Okay.

• The Keebler elves are gently mischievous and fun. The adorable little cartoon people appeal to kids, who beg their parents to buy the cookies. But since the parents grew up with the elves, it’s not too hard a sale. That’s the power of a strong brand with an appealing image that remains consistent over time. A quality product doesn’t hurt, either.

The point of all this is, I understand conveying a product’s qualities via a brand symbol of some kind. What I don’t get very well is how to do this “personal branding” thing for myself.

What if I adopted a spokesthing to represent me? No, that’s so yesterday. R.I.P. Charlie the Tuna, Reddy Electric and Speedy Alka-Seltzer. Besides, what kind of animal or other creature would represent a writer? A mole who digs for just the right phrase? A brain whose frontal lobe lights up like a Christmas tree, to represent creative ideas sparking? A pen that flies? A computer with a thought bubble? Naah. To build a personal brand today, you use different tactics.

Oddly enough, a personal brand today is something you construct, not in person, but through social media. I just read an article about “7 Ways to Start Building Your Personal Brand for Free.” These suggestions sound helpful. But in the advertising or marketing business, at least, there’s no substitute for getting to know people. In person, not online.

Social media “personal branding” tactics can be a helpful part of your overall strategy. But it’s important also to get out and get to know people, either in networking groups, industry meetings or social settings. If the only close relationship you have is with your computer, that’s not good.

There’s an old sales formula that still is valid: people have to Know, Like and Trust you before they give you business. Just makes sense, doesn’t it?

Nothing will put a bad product out of business faster than a good advertising campaign. Advertising causes people to try a product once, but poor quality eliminates any possibility of a repeat purchase.”
–Morris Hite, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

In case you hadn’t noticed, distrust and mistrust are at an all-time high in our great country. Not just among Tea Partiers, either. The citizenry at large are grumbling and muttering. They’re discontented with the way things are and they distrust the people who are running things.

Goldman Sachs, the Pope, the government, the courts, preachers and politicians, local school boards, the police department — all of them are suspect these days. And not entirely without cause. But who ever thought such a crabby, suspicious mood would extend toward products and brands? Advertisers, afraid to rile already angry consumers, are putting out bland, inoffensive messages, just to be safe.

“Safe” and “effective” generally don’t go together where advertising is concerned. But these are peculiar times.

When you think about it, with public figures’ statements and product messages trying to lead us on every day, is it a wonder branding is dead, or at least gravely ill? I don’t think so. And that may even be a good thing.

When lying and puffery fail to attract buyers, brands (and politicians, though I wouldn’t hold my breath) may begin to deliver on higher quality. Products will incorporate more “green” methods and packaging. And create a better customer experience.

Or marketers may retreat from product benefits and go the superficial way of “design” as a differentiator. Nothing wrong with that, except that it doesn’t give you a better product, just a cooler-looking package and a higher price tag.

Where does this all lead? Perhaps in the near future, to greater simplicity.

Remember when “branding” was simple, before the dawn of sophisticated marketing requiring a squadron of MBAs and creative artists to develop? It used to be, you got a good product? Tell what’s good about it for the consumer. Branding done. Maybe the company owner and a couple of guys in a back office figured it out.

I guess I yearn for the simple days (way before my time, and even my parents’) when crackers came in a barrel, and nothing went through focus group testing. If people bought it, it succeeded. If not, it didn’t.

Today’s consumer is much more hard-nosed and wary than the eager homemaker of the 50s. Then, in that golden time after WWII, everything seemed hopeful, bright and shiny. New labor-saving devices were invented to help the housewife lighten her burden. There was really something new and improved to talk about.

Today, in a darker political and economic climate, with shelves crowded with parity products clamoring for attention, marketers must re-assess the value of the products and services they sell to consumers who are pinching pennies and worried about the future. You can’t sell “fluffy” or “fun” products to people who are hunkering down (except for chocolate or very inexpensive “cheap thrill” items).

As always, marketing and “branding” will adapt to the new reality. What form that adaptation will take is anyone’s guess. My hope is that the clutter of marginal brands will disappear, and the best and strongest brands will remain. In a rational world, that’s what *should* happen, anyway.

Here’s an interesting food-for-thought article from Rance Crane, of Advertising Age, which inspired this blog post. Take a look. Let me know what you think.

“I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Sock monkey and his friends take a fun-filled road trip from Las Vegas to NYC in a new Kia Sorento. Love the sock monkey riding a mechanical bull and getting a tatto sewn on. Music is by The Heavy, “How You LIke Me Now.” The spot’s humor drives home the selling message: Hey, you can cut loose and have a ball when you have a 2011 Kia Sorento! Imagine it targets older teens or early 20s, though almost anyone this side of 70 would enjoy the fun these toys are having.

Another 2011 Sorento ad features a family traveling through a forest mysteriously furnished with framed family photographs, furniture and fixtures. Tag line: “Feel at home wherever you go.” It’s okay but much more laid-back than the monkeyshines spot. Aimed at families with kids, apparently.

What about the sock monkey spot? How you like it now?

If you’re like me, you get dozens of e-mails, newsletters and notices in your Inbox every day. You’re on every social media vehicle, from LinkedIn to Plaxo to Twitter and Facebook. I have at least three e-mail accounts, and I write three blogs. Does it ever get to you? I mean, all the “keeping up with” you have to do?

Well, it gets to me.

You can’t not be on these things, but dang, they’re time-suckers. A person has to have time to do paying work, not just check the Inbox every 20 minutes to delete messages to avoid being buried in e-mail. And these are messages I WANTED. Like the NY Times twice-daily news update. Twitter messages (If Guy Kawasaki doesn’t quit tweeting, I’m dropping him.). Minutes from a meeting. Stuff I need to pay attention to.

But as I was saying, if you’re like me, you may be fed up with social media. I’m a Boomer, so I figure there must be millions of other Boomers who are fed up, too.

Here’s my prediction for 2011: Enough people will be fed up with social media that they’ll start meeting face-to-face with friends, family and clients. Yes. It will come to that.

Remember that old out-of-fashion thing called “conversation?” Not tweets or e-mails or Facebook blurbs? but an ongoing exchange of verbal messages, accompanied by real facial expressions instead of emoticons, conducted while the parties thereto are in the same room?

I have hundreds of “friends” on all these social media, but how often do I do friend things with them? Almost never. Unless I go to a Meetup, another social media-driven thing. I joined a Board Games Meetup, and if I ever go, it should be real person-to-person fun.

In 2011, when social media dies and F2F becomes the new thing, remember you heard it here first.

Ted Turner:
“Early to bed and early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”

Apple’s Steve Jobs:
“The only thing that works is management by values. Find people who are competent and really bright, but more importantly, people who care exactly about the same things you care about.”

Jimi Hendrix:
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”

If you’re looking for a freelance writer, designer, Web person, or other creative, please, PLEASE do not hire one from Guru.com. Or Elance.com.

I belonged to each of these outfits for a short time and found that the whole concept is designed to suck money out of a creative person’s bank account for the privilege of bidding against fellow creatives for projects and driving the cost of creative work down, down, down to the depths of hell.

If Guru.com or Elance.com were a Roman amphitheater, you’d be one of thousands of snarling, slavering creative lions in there killing each other for a bite of Christian. Blood and guts everywhere — not the Christians’, but the lions’.

Keep in mind you’re bidding against people in India, China and some faraway places with strange-sounding names, where a dollar can buy a week’s worth of food. You can find a writer there (or even here, if you’re talking about a jobless teen living in his parents’ basement) who will write 20 500-word blog articles for $15.00.

How much time do you think those writers spend on “research” or “polishing” their prose? Or even “thinking?” Nada, that’s how much. The same is true of some writers for low-paying content mills like DemandStudios.com and Examiner.com*. Recently, I read a supposedly informative article from Examiner.com. I could have pulled better content out of my nose.

At a recent manufacturing conference, one attendee piped up, “I found a marketing manager on Guru.com!” I groaned. “She’s really good, too!” he claimed. I wonder whether an engineer knows what a good marketing manager is. What a miracle if it turned out to be the lowest bidder on Guru.com.

If you are looking for creative help, please don’t get writers around the globe slashing at each others’ throats to snag a cheap job. ‘Cause the only kind of work you’ll get is… cheap. And probably bad. You get what you pay for, and if you pay a decent rate, you’ll usually get decent writing, design, or other creative work. And you may even develop a productive long-term relationship with the creative you hire.

Don’t go global for creative help. Outsourcing is bad, especially when there’s plenty of great talent right here in the good ol’ U.S.A. Be a patriot — Buy American! Thank you!

*Qualification: I have read at least one excellent blog post by an Examiner.com writer I know. Quality at Examiner.com is not always bad, but it is variable.