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Revisiting the popular series, "The 7 Deadly Dangers of Building a Personal Brand”
It’s easy for personal brands and SMBs to get overwhelmed in a sea of marketing and branding voices, choices, and channels. Robby Fowler taps into 20 years of personal brand experience to help you clearly connect the dots between your branding, marketing and business strategy. To avoid being another burnt-out leader or under-performing brand or business, tune into this podcast. Build a personal brand and business that breathes life into you and your customer.
Robby: The Brand ED Podcast
with Robby Fowler episode 78.
Revisiting the Seven Deadly Dangers
of Building a Personal Brand Business.
Become a better leader, lead a better
business, build a life giving brand.
That's what we're here to do together.
Running a consulting training or
coaching personal brand business
and being an entrepreneur is
demanding and often lonely.
Before, you know it, your, a passenger
and your business takes you on a ride
with little time to consider what you're
building and why it matters to the world.
Don't be satisfied with
simply making more money.
Let's make more than money by
building a brand and business
worth giving your life to.
Welcome to the episode today.
What we're going to do on this episode
is take a look back on what has
been one of the most popular series.
We've done on the podcast so far.
The series is called the seven
deadly dangers of building
a personal brand business.
And we're just going to do a quick
reader's digest of some of the
points from that seven part series.
And then I'm also gonna mix in a
few things that didn't make the
cut that didn't make the series.
So, if you haven't listened to the
series, yet you can go back and check
that out beginning with episode 56.
And if you have, this is a great
reminder, or this is a great
introduction to that series.
So the spark or the inspiration for
this series are revealed, came from
a podcast called the rise and fall.
Of Mars hill.
Technically that podcast had
little to, nothing to do.
With personal brands.
But it does represent a world that
I used to live in quite a bit.
And what I began to see as
I listened to that series.
Is the number of parallels between.
The subject matter and the topics,
and even some of the people
represented in that series.
And really what the current trend
to build a personal brand is.
And at least seven dangers and
similarities popped up between what.
Is represented in that series, which
is actually celebrity pastors and
what a modern contemporary 2022
personal brand is trying to do.
And that means that whatever dangers.
I may be inherent in the things that
were represented in that podcast.
Those same dangers are likely going
to be true for a modern personal
brand because of those similarities.
So that's where the inspiration
for the podcast series came from.
And I'll just run through those seven
deadly dangers that we covered real quick.
And then I'll mix in a few
quotes and other thoughts that
didn't quite make the series.
So the first danger was the fact that
personal brands have little to no account
ability, little to no accountability.
That's part of the beauty of
the personal brand, right?
Is that you get to go do your thing.
That's a strength.
It's also a weakness
because personal brands.
By nature have little accountability.
There's no board of directors.
There's no one built in inherently
to hold you accountable.
The second deadly dangers that
personal brands play on a.
What I call a dangerous field
in that field, like where the
game is played is the internet
and the internet is dangerous.
Because of the speed of
the internet and the.
Just the environment of the
internet that you can be anonymous.
That you can just fling things out
there digitally that may or may not
be true in reality, but nobody knows
because stick it on the internet
and we all know how that goes.
That becomes reality, that
becomes the perception.
And then the perception is.
Reality.
Deadly danger.
Number three, we looked at was the
fact that personal brand movement as
a movement, really, it's very young.
And it hasn't been around that long.
And then oftentimes it gets led by
those that are a little bit younger.
And so the leadership.
Sometimes the people, some of the heroes
we might look to, they are younger.
And then the movement as
a whole is also younger.
So we're not sure what really happens.
When a giant chunk of
the workforce leaves the.
Leaves the workforce.
Spurred on by the pandemic and then.
Kind of follows this call to
all go start personal brands.
What's the longterm effect of that.
We're not real sure.
However, where there is a parallel.
And that's what I was seeing in the
rise and fall of Mars hill podcast.
Deadly danger.
Number four.
Personal brands promise freedom.
But freedom is dangerous.
Personal brands promise
freedom, but freedom.
We know this is dangerous.
That's why.
A two year old has far less
freedom than a 20 year old.
And personal brands.
That's part of what makes them appealing
is you get to chart your own path.
Set your own course.
Set your own hours.
On and on the list goes.
And so it sounds very enticing to think.
Finally, I'll get out of someone
else telling me what to do.
Someone else being in charge,
someone else making foolish mistakes.
I think your bosses and workplaces,
and I'll get to do my own thing.
So personal brands promise
freedom, but freedom is dangerous.
It oftentimes dupes us and
to thinking everyone else.
Is goofy or dumb for making
these decisions or not
taking these opportunities.
And we think if I'm in charge, I
won't make any of those mistakes.
But they promise freedom,
but freedom can be.
Dangerous.
Deadly danger.
Number five, we said is that personal
brands place a premium value on
producing, producing content,
producing courses, producing things.
Not reproducing.
The difference is equipping
somebody to go do something versus
just doing something yourself.
So I can be a great speaker
that does not mean I'm great at
equipping other great speakers.
I could be a great consultant.
That does not mean I'm great at equipping
other consultants to build a wonderful.
Consulting personal brand.
There is a big difference between
me being great at doing something.
It's a whole nother skillset I have found
to helping or equipping someone else to
do that and to be great at doing that.
That's a whole nother ball game
and it's much more difficult.
Rather just rather than just
saying, I'm amazing at doing this.
Here's what I did.
You should go do that and
you'll become amazing.
It makes it look like
it's just a simple recipe.
Anyone can follow.
So personal brands place a
premium value on producing.
Not reproducing.
And that could be dangerous because
it's just a game of production.
Number six.
We said, personal brands can
catch lightning in a bottle.
You can, you can just
hit the right moment.
The right topic hit the
right note at the right time.
And you can catch lightning in a bottle.
When you take the speed of the internet.
Plus the fact that anyone and
everyone can have a voice.
You combine those two and
say, therefore, you can reach,
you have a tremendous reach.
Speed.
Anybody can play.
Everybody can get the word out.
So you can catch lightning in a
bottle, but character formation never
comes at the speed of lightning.
Character formation.
What's really beneath the personal brand,
the person beneath the personal brand.
You don't get character.
In the form of lightning that takes time.
That takes growth.
And so that can cause some
friction or miss a mismatch there.
Number seven.
We say personal brands inherently
possess more raw potential
power than a traditional brand.
And therefore power in the
wrong hands can be deadly.
When you stopped to think about it, it's
rare even with huge brands like Nike or
apple or Google or Pepsi or Coke, or.
Some of these ginormous brands.
They, they have a ton of power,
but there's something unique
about our personal brand.
If I'm a consultant and I'm a personal
brand and I work with some one or a.
Company for, a 12 month
engagement and the.
The relationship goes really, really well.
What you'll hear at the end of that,
oftentimes is someone expressing
gratitude, a client or a customer
expressing deep gratitude for a person.
Because it's a, they're
dealing with a personal brand.
It is very rare to say some huge brand.
Like Nike changed my life.
It's not rare to have someone say.
Tom.
You know, Tom Jones, the consultant
man, they changed my business.
That was the most amazing expat.
I'm so grateful for him or
I'm so grateful for her.
So personal brands, because they're
backed by a person, they possess more raw,
potential power than a traditional brand.
But power in the wrong hands.
We know can be.
Deadly.
So those are the seven.
Dangers that we highlighted there,
there certainly could be more.
One of the things we didn't dive
into in detail in that series
was just some of the tensions.
When you run a personal brand, if
you're a consultant, if you're a
trainer, if you're a coach, if you're.
Almost any kind of entrepreneur,
that's trying to get something up and
running, particularly solo entrepreneur.
Here are some of the tensions that
you're going to face when you do this.
There's the tension of accountability.
Versus speed.
Accountability means you have to slow
down and bring other people along.
If you want people to have a voice and
say, I'm not sure that's a great idea.
If you want accountability, that
means you've got to open things
up to other people, hopefully a
select group of trusted people,
but you got to open that up.
The sheer nature of doing that means
you can't move as fast as you could.
If it's literally just you do what
you want when you want to do it go.
So there's that tension.
There's the tension of charisma.
Versus character.
And fortunately personal
brands and our culture.
Is really quick at recognizing
and rewarding charisma.
We are not nearly as good.
At recognizing and rewarding character.
So that's a tension you live in
how charismatic and over the top.
Should I be some or more naturally
good at that than others.
Some need to dial down the charisma.
That's where you would
need to put your efforts.
Some of us.
Need to maybe dial it up a little bit,
but you've got this tension between just
being charismatic will draw a crowd.
That doesn't mean there's
quality behind it.
It's just, you have the
ability to draw a couch crowd.
So there's this tension
of charisma and character.
There's the tension
between brand building.
And ego inflation.
Brand building and ego inflation, right?
This tension you have to carry.
As you try to build a personal brand.
And then there's the tension.
Maybe we could say certainty
or confidence versus humility.
Confidence or certainty versus humility.
There's this tension of people
thought this was a bad idea.
I pressed ahead.
I believed in myself.
I wasn't going to take no for an answer.
I knew I could do this.
There's confidence that you need.
But there also should be
some sense of humility.
All of us would rather deal
with that kind of person.
If they're, if we're their
client, if we're their customer.
Who doesn't want someone
that you're dealing with?
Who's.
Humble and gentle.
And yet at the same time
there's this tension of, yeah,
but you need to be confident.
You need to know, you can do it.
You need to be able to push
through obstacles and challenges.
And see yourself as the champion.
There's just a tension there
between how do those work together?
There's sometimes a tension also
between punchy one-liners very
big in the personal brand space.
You need some slogans some
bumper sticker moments.
These punchy one-liners that you
give either on a tweet or your
social media or during a talk.
And principled wisdom.
It's a tension you've got to face there.
Responsibility.
Of me as the leader versus.
People that are in my audience.
If I've got this personal brand platform.
Responsibility.
What's my responsibility.
What's their responsibility.
Okay.
There is the tension in between just
following your instincts, which is
very easy to do as a personal brand,
because you're, again, you're not
having to bring someone else along.
The tension between just,
Hey, go with your gut, follow
your instinct versus, what.
A follow instruction,
follow the lead of others.
Don't reinvent the wheel.
There's that tension there between what
should you just go out and do on your own?
Listen to your gut.
Maybe kind of go rogue.
Versus Hey, someone else has
already chartered the course there.
Just humble yourself.
Go listen, and go.
Do what's already been modeled.
Out in front.
So those are a few of the tensions that
we may have talked about briefly, but.
That's what you're carrying with
you and rustling through on a
day-to-day basis as you try to
grow and build a personal brand.
Here's a few of the
questions that we just asked.
Over that seven part series.
Is w we ask one question
of why don't we care more?
And why are we so drawn to.
These real big personal brands that grow
large and powerful and reach a celebrity.
Level status.
Why are we so drawn to them?
Why don't we care more about.
The reality behind the.
The fact that that's somewhat fictional.
Why are we so drawn to it?
And what does that say about our
own motives that we will put up
with all kinds of things, just
because this brand reaches some sort
of, kind of celebrity level type.
Status.
Why are we so drawn to those that
have those kinds of gifts and skills?
Without concern for sometimes the
character necessary to support it.
So we get drawn to folks that can
build this really big platform.
They're charismatic.
They're great at it.
We just often don't
bother taking the time.
We're just not as concerned with the
character that you need to support
that platform, the bigger the platform.
The wider, the platform.
The stronger the character underneath,
it needs to be to support that.
We just see this time and time again.
And yet.
All of us, including myself.
I think I'll be the exception to the rule.
Get me the platform first, then
I'll figure out the character.
Piece later and that's unfortunately
not the way it works in real life.
Another question that we asked is
is it worth leaving some of these
warning signs just uninterrogated.
Just.
Who's got time to ask those questions.
I'm too busy in the thick of
it, trying to build this thing,
trying to grow this thing.
We live in a hyper individualized culture.
And we often just turned a
blind, turn, a blind eye to that.
Personal brands, building a personal
brand feeds right into that.
And at times it's probably worth.
Another cup of coffee a hot tea, a
walk around the lake to dis give some.
Sometime to interrogating that a little
bit, just to ask some deeper questions.
The reason for that would be.
The we've seen the damage that can happen.
To what I think are in many ways,
the OGs of the personal branding
space and it is the celebrity pastor.
That is out 10 to 12 to 15 years out ahead
of really the current personal brand.
Trend.
Because they were going after and
attaining many of the same things,
a personal brand often wants to
attain or associates with success.
Build an audience.
Grow a platform.
I have a bunch of listeners,
podcast, subscribers, and listeners
have a content creation machine.
Get asked to speak and get speaking
engagement get bigger speaker
speaking engagements, and get
more notoriety and recognition.
Get more access to more
people in the know.
Get a, get around bigger names.
So, so the goal is to just up the
celebrity status level of people that
you start getting to hang out with,
get book deals turn the monetize,
those book deals and turn that into.
Revenue streams, more book deals, more
speaking engagements, build this thing
up and grow it big and there can be.
Great motives at the beginning
of that at the outset of that.
But ironically.
What many celebrity pastors have
already done and then imploded from
is the very same thing that many of
us in the personal branding space or.
I think many times unknowingly
chasing after the very same carrot.
Therefore, very susceptible to
fall into the very same traps.
That imploded.
Because we think that's
completely different.
You.
Take the makeup off.
And you go, whoa, those start
to look very, very similar.
Let's close with just
a couple of the quotes.
I'm not sure all of these quotes made
it into the seven part series, but.
Here's one or two that
still resonate with me.
I still find myself coming back
to these in and chewing on these.
One quote that really resonated
with me is this quote, always ask.
Who benefits?
Who actually benefits from this.
Keep that in mind as you listen to.
Pitches out there from those promising
to help you build a personal brand,
or it can be anything from get
certified in this, become a certified,
whatever it is that I offer.
I think it's helpful to always
ask who benefits and that
quote has really stuck with me.
Another quote that I loved is as
this whole thing was exploding.
And the rise and fall of Mars hill.
So picture.
A.
Personal brand that really begins to gain
traction and just starts to skyrocket.
It is a little bit of that
lightning in a bottle moment.
And one of the team members that's
helping, particularly on the media side.
Add fuel to the rocket.
That's just, skyrocketing.
This person's platform.
The person that's helping this.
Happen.
Says, I mean, I was 23.
We were doing all of this
crazy stuff and it was working.
And none of us were thinking about the
repercussions because we never saw them.
It's like we were pumping
CO2 into the atmosphere.
But we didn't live in the ant Arctic.
So we weren't seeing the ice caps melt.
It wasn't until later when we realized
people were listening and we said, dang,
People are listening and changing their
lives based on what we thought about.
For about two seconds.
Keep that on mine.
Now, one is humbling.
When you think about firing
off a tweet or throwing out.
Something that's.
Just a little bit of a shock jock
and a talk or something like that.
Consider the repercussions
because people are listening.
Some people may be leaving their
jobs because your quote about leaving
your job and starting a personal
brand business, just be responsible.
With those things.
And perhaps one of my favorite
quotes that were so many.
From that series that I think.
The rise and fall of Mars hill
series that applies to us in
the personal branding space.
Is this quote, we become what we tolerate.
We become what we tolerate.
And I think we could push that
even further and say, we become
what we want really, really bad.
So if you're trying to build
a personal brand and you've
got some, heroes out there.
Yeah, man.
I want what they have . We
become what we want.
And what we tolerate is often lurking just
in the shadows of what it is that we want.
In other words, I want to be
like so-and-so well, they're a
little rough around the edges.
I'll tolerate that because of a want that.
So we become what we tolerate.
Push that further.
We become.
What we want, what we really want bad.
And what we tolerate about that
is often lurking in the shadows of
what it is that we really want bad.
It will just.
Cause us to overlook things
and put up with things.
Sometimes in others.
And then likewise, we're going
to turn around and do that in
ourselves as we're building.
A personal brand business.
So there's a quick recap, invites
you to go back to that series.
Again, would love your feedback
on what resonates with you as you
think about some of these challenges
of building a personal brand.
Business, a very popular thing to do.
And 2022.
Thanks for joining me on this
episode of the brand ed podcast.
I so appreciate you spending
a little bit of time with me.
I hope that this resonates with you
as you consider, what does it look
like to build a personal brand?
To be an entrepreneur
and build a business.
But to build the kind of business.
That doesn't just make money.
But makes more than money.
It's the kind of business, the
kind of brand that you can say.
I'm glad I am giving my life to this.
And when you look back, you can say, I'm
glad I spent my time, effort and energy
giving myself to that kind of business,
because I think it did make the world.
A better place.
That's what we're about on this podcast.
If this resonates with you,
I would love for you to share
this episode with a friend.
Just click the share button.
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With a friend.
Also, you can get the word out by leaving
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That's a great way to help me get
this into the hands of others.
As we strive to do this together.
Until the next episode, go
and build a life giving brand.