I Am Not a Cow: Why I Don’t Care About a Personal Brand
by
on July 26, 2008,
Drama 2.0 stole a topic from me that I've been thinking about for a while; I don't believe I have a personal brand. A friend joking referred to me as "always being a gun for hire" in the tech blogosphere, and I'm totally fine with that. I'm hired (and paid) to do a job, and that's build a brand for the company I'm working for, whether it's here at Profy or at The Industry Standard, or anywhere else that I've written in the past.
I've had a Web presence since 1995, and was very active on IRC and USENET before I ever set mouse pointer on a link. All were under pseudonyms, and I was just fine keeping it that way when I started writing for work instead of merely a hobby. Sure, it was harder getting gigs at first when I was unwilling to link to anything I'd done under a handle, but I was able to keep my personal life personal.
I don't get terribly upset when someone confuses me with another author; I'm just happy to know that someone's reading my article in the first place. I do want in-links and comments, however, because pageviews are what make the blogging world go round, and if my employer(s) aren't happy, I'm out of a job.
There are always people out there who think that anyone who isn't already a Weblebrity wants to be one. For me, at least, that couldn't be further from the truth. A-listers come and go, no matter what realm you exist in, and I'm not interested in being someone who comes and then goes. To compare to the Hollywood star machine, the "big stars" don't have resumes half as long as that character actor whose name you can never remember.
So no, I neither need nor want a personal brand. I really don't care if anyone knows my name or invites me to their party. I care if I have a career, and my chosen career doesn't involve having a personal brand. It just means showing up to work, doing my best, and hopefully increasing the eyeballs to someone else's site.
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Svetlana Gladkova
Opensource 
Michael Fidler 
my goal is to help the personal brand of those who say they don’t care about their personal brands.
Interesting article. I’ll admit, your view of it is not mine at all, but I’ve learned everybody has their own style and desires and if you don’t remember that, well, then you just don’t understand how people work.
I know Charlie. This one probably made you weep, didn’t it?
There needs to be an “amen” choice, right up by “like.”
Seriously - As time moves forward, the so-called A-list will come and go faster than previously. Money, to some extent, will be less influential on the web. It will be a long time before the multi-media play disappears if ever (IE: CBS’s recent acquisition of CNET etc.). Brands ARE important for recognition and stickiness. It’s up to you whether or not to work within others (which is what you’re doing) or create your own (which, in fact, you are doing too). Either way, if the content makes a difference to a critical mass … you win.
Cool comment by Scoble …
Amen David.
“Success means being heard and don’t stand there and tell me you are indifferent to being heard… You may write for the joy of it, but the act of writing is not complete in itself. It has its end in its audience. Writing is a good example of self-abandonment. I never completely forget myself except when I’m writing and I am never more completely myself than when I am writing.” (To “A.) in ‘Habit of Being’, pg. 458 Flannery O’Connor
Mooooo
Cyndy,
I agree with you - I like to keep my personal life private, and tend to do things in company names, rather then in my personal name.
Thanks for another good post
Steve
As time moves forward, the so-called A-list will come and go faster than previously. Money, to some extent, will be less influential on the web. It will be a long time before the multi-media play disappears if ever (IE: CBS’s recent acquisition of CNET etc.). Brands ARE important for recognition and stickiness. It’s up to you whether or not to work within others (which is what you’re doing) or create your own (which, in fact, you are doing too). Either way, if the content makes a difference to a critical mass … you win.
Above quote is not directed at anyone- just loved the reminder of the process of writing. Writing does indeed become completed when connected to audience. I really enjoyed the Profy.com post!
Cyndy, I loved your post because I feel pretty much the same way. More to the point, I think there is a possibility of having personal brandS rather than simply my name = my personal brand. I don’t know anybody who is the same person all the time, they change as their situation changes. Buying into a ‘personal brand’ puts you in a pigeon hole.
love your perspective on this cyndy - as for brand, i see your stuff as crisp & concise w/ a dose of wit - at least that is why i follow you, keep up the good work
But Cindy: You have a (great) career because you have already have your own (great) Personal Brand…
Stephen, thank you. Letting Pete on Seesmic is as far as I’ve gone with letting my personal life intersect with my professional one, and that’s mainly because she totally worked her cuteness into getting her way. I love the fact that I can work at something I love, which is talking about tech. I don’t think I could be happy making a living talking about myself.
Charlie, there’s always a cycle of who’s in and who’s out and I don’t want to be on either one of those lists. I think there’s always going to be some bit of name recognition involved, but for the most part, I’m here to build the Profy brand. I also write very different articles at my other gig, and neither of them is what I’d consider what I’d write if I were just rambling on my own.
Luigi, thank you, but I am merely given a platform. It would be one thing if I was blogging at my own blog and building a reputation that way, but I’m not, and I don’t.
You are welcome…
And sorry for misspelling your Personal Brand
LOL Luigi. Thanks for completely unintentionally proving my point.
To clarify what I’m reading both in the post and in the comments, is everyone using a pseudonym? Because if you’re using your real name, you are promoting your personal brand, no?