What is Your Brand?

I know, the title is a pretty loaded question, but the truth is that whether we admit it or not, every one of us has a brand or an impact to some degree. Some have a greater impact or brand than others—at least on a world scale. Most importantly though, our brand and our impact needs to matter to us and this is pretty deep.

I spoke to my boss earlier this week about this (boss in the day job for clarification) and it really confounds me just how complex we tend to make our lives. We have jobs and if yours is anything like mine, you need to have impact—not only with your reports but with your peers and on up. What is your brand to those you work with? We contribute in our communities (willingly or not!) and whether you realize it or not, you have some sort of brand (ever refer to that neighbor who never puts away their trash bins?)

Anyhow, the reason I bring up this topic today is that there are many times I see those around me and even myself at times, leave the branding up to others. If there is one thing I have truly learned in this year is that YOU are the person who can and should create your brand. We can’t necessarily control everything that happens in this world to and around us, but we can control how we react and what we want to represent.

How does this pertain to writing? Well, I’d say that this pertains to everything in life. In writing, just as in everything else we do, we create a brand as to the type of authors/writers we are. We represent this to possible employers and partners (publishers/editors/agents) as well as to our audience. So now the bigger question… is your brand what you want it to be and if not, how do you plan to change it?

Happy writing this week!

Filed under: A writer's life, Toni Kelly