Q&A: Do you have to be a top expert to blog?

I often get a lot of resistance from my on-the-rise friends and colleagues when I tell them they should be blogging. The perception seems to be that if you’re not a top expert in your field, or a celebrity, or have huge financial success, nobody wants to read your blog. Hogwash, I say (that’s right, I said hogwash!). I thought I’d try out a new format, so we’re going to discuss this today as a question and answer.

Okay, I get it, you’re the social media guy and you think everyone else should be promoting that way too, but why should anyone want to hear anything I have to say?

Chances are no matter how early you are in your career, and no matter what that career is, you still have something to teach your audience.

Sure, but there are also probably dozens of people with more experience blogging on the same topic.

Maybe. But they don’t have the same perspective you do. You’re just getting started, hurdling over pitfalls that the experts have long forgotten about. You have your own unique personality and background to bring to the table too, which will make for interesting reading.

No, really. I’m at the bottom rung of the food chain. I’m just getting started as a [comedian/artist/actor/musician/totem pole carver]. It can’t be that interesting for anyone to read about my [failed Sears commercial audition/agonizing over  if "cumquat" or "rutabaga" is funnier/insert random newbie trouble here].

It’s as interesting as you make it. Even if you’re no Hemmingway, you can still serve your audience by giving them a glimpse into your field, and serve yourself by creating a sounding board you can use to bounce ideas or just vent.

So I get some people reading my blog posts on a regular basis. This is supposed to do what for me, again?

That really depends on what you would want to get out of it, and what your particular field is.  A blog can be a way to get your name out there, even without going viral on sites like Digg. There is definitely a value to becoming part of a community of like-minded individuals from within your own field. Nothing beats being able to put out a tweet at 1 am asking for help on a technical issue and getting four responses before you get out of bed in the morning.

What else?

A blog can be a way to sort of pre-build credibility, but only if you stick to it. Even if nobody is currently reading your blog, posting regularly is like putting pennies in your credibility piggy bank for when you do join your field’s online community. It’s tough to be noticed in a large online community, or gain a following, when you have three posts to your name; there just isn’t enough content there for someone to get to know who you are and what you’re about. But if you start writing your blog like the audience is already there, and go looking for them after, say 150 to 200 posts, you’ve got quite a calling card.

So, writing a blog is just a way to gain some street cred with other bloggers?

Not quite.  The whole world has gone social. You never know who may be researching you; potential employers, potential customers, potential collaborators. Your blog is a 150-page resume, a 50,000 word playbill bio, a 500-foot tall billboard for your art. It’s up to you to either fill it with everything you want potential contacts to see, or to leave it blank.

That’s quite a sales pitch.

Why thank you.

Any last words of motivation?

Just a few. If none of the above points seem particularly persuasive to you, I’ve got one more reason why you should be blogging, even if you’re not a powerful celebrity who is going to rake in a fortune on selling advertising space: paying back your online community. If you’re anything like me, you’ve leaned pretty heavily on Google Search while doing any number of different research projects: “How do I get into the Belly Room at the Comedy Store?” “How do I get an agent?” “How do I sell my first painting?” “How do I get my first web design client?” “How do I get more exposure for my band?”

The fact is that you don’t have all the answers to all the questions in your given field. You probably don’t even have most of them. Or even a respectable percentage. But, you still have more than you think. No matter how inexperienced you think you are, there is someone in your community who will look up to you, if you give them the chance. Someone who could really benefit from the experience you do have, or simply from learning from your mistakes and mis-steps.

Is this the part where you summarize the information in this post?

Wow, you’re absolutely right. To sum up; you should have a blog.

To elaborate on that just a little bit, you should have a blog, even if you’re just learning your field, because it will allow you to network with others in your field, build your personal brand online, and lend a helping hand to those less experienced than yourself.

Keep an eye out here on FatBlog for a special series on blogging in the near future. For now, leave some comments and let me know what you’ll be doing with your blog!

What’s Your Brand Identity?

Okay, stop right there. Yeah. We know exactly what you’re thinking. “I am neither a soft drink, nor a cow. I’m just not feeling the whole branding thing..” Well, listen up, Spanky, because believe it or not, this is good stuff. When we find your brand identity and apply it to your online battle strategy, you’ll be turning the tide in your campaign for recognition. (Did that work? We’re not good at war analogies.)

---

What is a Personal Brand?

---

 

Everyone’s got a public face. No, really. Feel around right below your eyes. Feel that thing sticking out? And the thing below that? (Careful, it bites.)

Okay, seriously. Here’s the deal. Every time you send out your resume, or put up a personal website, or present a demo reel, or hand out a business card, you’re telling people who you are. It’s not just the content, but the presentation, the mode of delivery, the message you are sending to all five senses (well, hopefully your clients aren’t touching you too much), and the general impression you leave long after the content is put aside.

This may be something you are completely unaware of, but whether or not you believe in your Brand Identity, your Brand Identity believes in you.

---

Why Should I Care?

---

If you’re going to live in a cave, you shouldn’t. If you’re going to snatch up a corporate job and stay there for the next thirty years you’ll (probably) be okay without giving this much thought. But if you’re out there looking for a potential audience, a future boss, a new client, a ton of customers… here’s the thing no artist or entertainer should ever forget: You’re not just selling your product, or your services; you’re selling yourself, baby.

There’s two things that can go wrong with your Brand Identity, and either path leads to heartache:

1) Your Brand ≠ you: Take control of that Brand Identity, Chief, or it’s gonna take control of you.

This problem emerges when you do the legwork to get your Brand out there, but never really build a cohesive Brand in the first place

Symptoms: default templates, mismatched color schemes, unnecessary social networking, audience left unsure who you are.

Prognosis: Fair for an artist with very strongly displayed work. Not so great for an entertainer looking to build an online following and find employment.

2) Your Brand is nowhere to be found: Is that the sound of crickets?

This problem is a doozy: not only are you unsure what exactly your Brand Identity is, but you don’t even have a Brand to speak of.

Symptoms: You don’t appear in the Google results for your own name. Little to no online presence. A phone that doesn’t ring.

Prognosis: Plenty of time to pound the pavement, but patient may completely cease to exist online.

---

How Do I Find My Brand Identity?

---

This is the fun stuff. We’re no mathematicians here at Fat Dude, but we have found a very simple equation to identify a successful Brand Identity. It breaks down like this:

Your Self Image + Your Goals – Your Drunken Spring Break Photos = How Others View You x All The Time

Think about the celebrities who must successfully manage their Brands. People like Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, Ozzy Osbourne, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these are people who totally manage the public face they put forward. Here at Fat Dude, we do not suggest that you try to be anyone you are not (you perfect little snowflake, you), but we do suggest that you think long and hard about who you are and how you can apply that scintillating little personality of yours towards your career.

Once that self-image is defined, it’s a matter of making choices that give everything you touch a little of that same personality.

---

How Do I Get My Brand Identity Out There?

---

Okay, kids. We live in a world where Web 2.0 has been fully adopted (and co-opted?) by the corporate world. It’s the suit-and-tie types who we have to thank for terms like “Online Identity Management,” “Online Reputation Management,” and “Social Media Optimization.” We’re not really fans of the long, complicated language here at Fat Dude, so we simply call the process “Selling your Brand.”

If you pack up your Brand in your spiffy little Brand-mobile, and head out into the big, digital world, there are endless places to hawk your wares. Should you spend all your marketing time on Facebook? Twitter? YouTube? A blog? A podcast? A Flickr account? And how much time should you spend, anyway? And how often?

That’s where your favorite uncle, Fat Dude, comes into play. We believe everyone has a unique Brand Identity that can ultimately lead to success, without leading to loss of sleep and an empty wallet. We’d love to find the solution that’s right for you. Drop us a line.

(Reposted from the original here)

Cookie Cutters Suck

Listen, we’re hardly snobs at Fat Dude. We love junk food. We’ve never owned a piece of designer clothing. We are even known to watch a bit of reality television (Every network TV show should include a Wade Robson dance routine… just sayin’). But there’s one thing we don’t get; the cookie-cutter, mass-produced, couldn’t-have-less-freaking-personality website template. read more