Miss Destructo’s Weapons of Brand Construction
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010This is a guest post written by Amber Osborne aka “Miss Destructo”.
If you don’t know her already, Amber Osborne is a walking lesson in branding. She is easily one of the most recognizable people on Twitter because of her signature blue hair, but there is much more behind her crafty online persona. No doubt, she is artsy, eclectic and funky, but she is also incredibly accessible, helpful and fearless. All of these attributes make up Amber’s superhero alter ego, Miss Destructo. A self-proclaimed “destroyer of social media boredom”, Miss Destructo is a talented blogger who helped put Foursquare Day on the map. I asked her to share a little about her keys to branding and developing a workable persona.
So, without further ado, here are Miss Destructo’s Weapons Of Brand Construction:
Be Yourself – Have a unique writing style or public image. Even without hearing someone you can already get a sense of their true voice. Be different. I have my six feet of blue hair and biting sense of humor to back me up along with authority in my field of social media. Find something that is unique about you or what you do and make it the first thing people see or know about you. If you have trouble creating a persona, ask your friends what is most unique and engaging about you — whatever it is about you that makes them want to be your friend as well. Use those qualities to make your audience feel comfortable. Be real, be honest and always remember that you are human. You can’t always be superman but you can damn near fly as high as he can.
Network – How do I know SO many people? Years and years of keeping contacts, traveling and meeting people in every single corner of industries from entertainment, marketing and even that kid in high school that turned out to have the million dollar startup. Keep in touch with people that cross your path and above all turn off the computer and get out of the house. I’ve had a blast at conventions, local events and even speed networking. Find groups on Meetup.com that are having events in your area in whatever you are interested in excelling at. Also, helping out with organizing local events can introduce you to key players in your community or in your field. Volunteer at events as much as possible! Again, be yourself and don’t be a pitch. Be a person, learn about people, make a common connection and help each other. Always try to find how your brand can help their brand.
Be Patient – It takes time to build your network, make connections, and figure out what the hell you are doing in general. Especially when you are creating your persona and brand from nothing and without a fancy PR team. I’ve gone through many changes to my brand in the last two years, many huge life changes and even changes to my appearance. Yet, that still doesn’t change who I am. It keeps things fresh for my audience and I am learning continuously day by day from others. We’ve all got to start somewhere. Keep growing, keep learning and keep motivated.
Find Mentors – I wish that there was a tell-all book, step-by-step, crafted around my own personal brand to tell me what move to make next or how to deal with some of the downtime in creating my brand. It doesn’t exist. I have been lucky enough to have influential and caring people that have taught me the ways of the industry. Every single day I am still learning… go to conferences, speed network, ask questions, find emails of those people you admire… ASK QUESTIONS!
Help Others – To create a well known brand, you have to be a person first. Have heart and take those under your wing that may need help or advice. You can’t help or get involved in every project, but by helping one person you are also helping build a positive image of your brand. You never know who you may inspire to do good as well. Keep paying it forward.
Have Fun – Don’t get too paranoid about creating a perfect image. Be a little punk rock… push buttons, raise a little hell and never take “no” as an answer. Anyone that I know in business or in my personal life that swears they never do anything adventurous? I would never want to have them as a part of what I am doing. You have to have fun to create new ideas, inspire and learn about others. I can’t remember how many amazing partnerships have grown from a conversation over beers or karaoke. Always have respect for others and yourself. If you don’t want it on facebook or youtube… you shouldn’t be doing it.
Haters Gonna Hate – Haters; those people that no matter what you do… they want to “poop on it”. As musician and spoken word poet Henry Rollins calls it, “The Bullshit Artist”. They specialize in only one thing… bullshit. This person is so unhappy with their bullshit that they feel the need to paint the world with it… usually picking out one target as their canvas. The bigger you become, the more people like you, there is always going to be a one or two of these in the mix. Don’t let the bastards get you down. It’s tough. It hurts sometimes, but damn it kid… be proud you’ve made someone take notice. Bad or good. Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) has a great chapter in his new book, UnMarketing (amazon link), about haters. As he always says, “Don’t feed the haters” when it’s blatant troll-like behavior… ignore it. If it’s helpful criticism, then jump in, but for the most part I find that haters only make your brand stronger. As Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) told me, “If people are talking about you with that much passion, you must be doing something right.” That really helped me deal with the ugly side of having a public image. Most of the time, I really just want to take these people out for drinks and maybe supply a hug or two. You know what you’ve worked hard for, don’t let ANYONE take that away with a few words.
Rock It – Get all Herbie Hancock on life — it’s weird, funky and sometimes you have no idea what it’s all about, but just follow the beat and let it guide you. Branding yourself isn’t that hard, you just have to jump into the crowd and surf across those who admire you. Become one with your audience and you will become one with your brand.
[Photo courtesy of @thatgirlallie]
Related Category: PR, branding, business, marketing, social media
