Projecting Yourself to the World (7/14/14)

Being an author is an interesting place to find yourself. You are basically a solopreneur with no tangible way to monetize what it is you do. You can’t walk into the bank and get a line of credit based on hypothetical sales and work ethic. You can’t hire staff and vendors on potential. You have to wear many hats as an author, and as a result you become the foundation of your brand. You may one day be able to leverage a book series like Chicken Soup for the Soul or the Dummies series, but until then you are pretty much all on your own. Some may not agree with me but as an upstart author you are your brand.

When I began to cultivate my brand I wanted it to not only reflect who I was, but how I wanted to be perceived and how I would live my life going forward. I didn’t position myself as rich or poor, successful or unsuccessful, or high end or the discount brand. I claimed Average Joe as the image of my brand. In doing so I received a little push back from a few friends that came back with “I know who you are, and I don’t think you are too ‘AVERAGE’.”

Well they were right. I’m not average and I don’t consider myself average in any sense of the word. My friends were focusing on average and its implications of mediocrity. I was focusing on Average Joe, which is something else entirely. In my opinion Average Joe is just a person who is relatable and likable. However, this was a good example of why you need to be authentic with your brand. If you aren’t authentic someone will eventually call you on it and then you’ll only be known for the deception.