Do You Need a Brand?
Do You Need a Brand?
Lot of opinions on this one floating around in the ole ecosystem of experts... So, I will not be giving you my opinion(s), but I will share what trying to establish a personal brand has done for me and how I do it...
This is my weekly newsletter where I reflect on the lessons, events, and inside scoop of trying to be a husband, dad, and business builder...
In Today's Blog:
- Wins/Lessons/Thoughts from the week
- Weekly Take-Away: 👉 Day In The Life Video 👈
- Do you need a personal brand?
Weekly Wins/Lessons/Thoughts from the week:
- Remember this... "Your Best Days Are Ahead"...
- Stay humble rock stars... As good as we think we are, there are others WAY SMARTER, WAY FASTER, WAY SEXIER, WAY whatever people than us... This one hit me in the face this week...
- You familiar with the 2-min drill in football? The games on the line, time is running out, and you gotta score... Why do so many points get scored in this time frame? Cause you get way the heck more FOCUSED on ONE THING...
Do You Need a Brand?
I am a VERY STRONG BELIEVER that your BUSINESS needs a brand. If you are the business then you are the brand.
I've exited multiple businesses, all because of BRAND.
But, what about you - the founder, business owner, entrepreneur?
First, what is brand?
Jeff Bezos said this,
"A brand is not a logo. It's not a tagline. A brand is how you make people feel. It's the experience you create and the reputation you build."
Jeff Bezos
I started on my journey to build a personal brand three (3) years ago.
My motivation was to build a network and try to send some positivity into a world that needed it more than ever before.
I believe entrepreneurship is one of the hardest professions and often very lonely... So, my goal was to see if I could just help one person. If they help one person, then that is what I call 'Infinite Impact'.
Now, you will encounter feedback and haters... I have rec'd a LOT of it...
- Many say I do social media totally wrong.
- Some say that I confuse the crap out of them.
- A few say that my post inspire, encourage, and motivate them.
- Sometimes, I meet people and they act as if they already know me even though we are just meeting.
- Do negative comments hurt? They crushed my soul in the beginning... But, now I realize its an outlet for a hurt, struggle, pain in their life so I just have sympathy and compassion...
- My favorite comment is when I meet people in person and they feel like I am the same person they see online.
So, if you haven't learned to block out the cheers and boo's on your entrepreneurial journey yet, you will... Both are just data points...
I have found this to be true about brand building and social media:
Content --> Connection --> Conversation --> Opportunity
I'll let you define "Opportunity" - money, network, impact, etc...
Cool, so let's say you want to start your brand building journey... Here is what I do (and did)...
- 1. I chose LinkedIn as my platform of choice.
- 2. I committed to posting daily (usually between 7-10am). This is late cause I was at a Lacrosse tournament from 6am…
- 3. I started by just sharing something about my day.
- 4. I realized that video was the fastest way for me to post cause it was easy…
- 5. I try to limit my social media posting time to 30-60 min per day. It took me like 2 hours to write a post in the beginning…
Along the way, I learned some lessons...
- 1. You’ll find your voice – eventually…
- 2. You’ll attract and repel people (that means its working)
- 3. Likes, comments, etc is vanity… Most people I meet who see my stuff have NEVER engaged with my stuff (and that’s ok).
- 4. You’ll inspire people.
- 5. You’ll offend people.
- 6. You’ll find a tribe.
- 7. Different people live on different platforms (FB, IG, X, TT, etc)
- 8. You’ll find the cheat codes to rapid content production (scheduling tools, video editors, etc, etc.). I don’t use chatGPT or ghost writers for content cause you can tell its not me…
Do I suggest you have a personal brand?
I have met amazing people from all over the world! I have found business partners, employees, and "opportunities" that I would have never found otherwise.
But, here is WHY I am a YES...
This morning at my middle kids lacrosse game a mom came up to me and said this,
"Andy, your posts inspire me. I always read them even though I don't "like" them, I love them. Thank you!".
Now, you don't have to be a sweetie pie.
JUST BE YOU.
If you decide you are ready and get stuck... just ping me... I'll share what I've learned...
Weekly Take-Away: 👉 Day In The Life Video 👈
My day yesterday (and most days):
- Time in the WORD and alone (bible, book, etc)
- Exercise (Bodi: Dig Deeper - highly recommend)
- 9am Investor Video Call (someone who is looking to invest)
- Focus Work Time (trying this "Focus" playlist)
- Quick call with a boat broker (someone wants to buy my boat)
- Peanut butter sandwich snack
- Social media post
- New website launching soon for RemainSafe (one of our portfolio companies).
- Lunch with family
- More Work Time (Pitch Deck for Fund Raise)
- Phone calls with team.
- Two Investor Video Calls (changing closes cause the black t-shirt is more comfortable, but I think I look nicer in the button down).
- Friend recommended a new book, "Scaling Up". This is where the 10X stuff comes from...
- 7pm (pick up kid from b'day party - paint ball)
- 8pm: night cap and peace out...
My brain is fried by 8pm... I'm a morning person...
Thank you for being here this week. If you're looking to learn more about anything we're doing in our ecosystem, check out the information below 👇
This is going to be a great week so let's get after it friends.
- • Venture Building Firm: I founded BlackSmith Ventures in 2020. We’re focused on helping lower market “legacy” firms break out and early stage tech founders launch.
- • Founder Community: If you’re looking to build alongside like-minded founders and learn from some of the most innovative “do-ers” out there, then learn more here and click here to join directly. Included in the community is:
- • Media, Branding, & Staffing Agency: If you’re looking to take your brand, online presence, or business presence to the next level, then we have a full DONE FOR YOU and DONE WITH YOU offering. We were able to get some of the best in the business together who know exactly what it takes to ⚡️grow⚡️. You can book a time to talk on my calendar by clicking here.
- • Partnerships: We take on select clients (3-5 max) and help them launch, build, grow, and/or exit. If your running a legacy business (energy, manufacturing, media, etc) or a Tech Founder and you’re looking to accelerate your growth, book a time on my calendar (link above).
Until Next Time,
Andy
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