Ok, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat.
Everyone deserves a mulligan, especially when you dump waste in a river – but humans are a forgiving breed, aren’t we?
I mean, while we hazily remember the “oops!” escapade, we’re more than enamored by the sheer awesomeness of the Dave Matthews Band.
At least I am.
And to take that a step further, I have to admit that David John Matthews and his cohorts have taught me a thing or two about business. Yes, I said business.
The same guy who is worshipped in college towns for his music and harmonica playing has motivated me and my business in ways that gurus such as Zig Ziglar failed to do.
You’ve got to be kidding me, right?
No way Jose – this post is as serious as it comes, and I want to show you how a guy known for his music changed the way I think about my business.
With that said, here’s the Dave Matthews Band jam session on building your brand.
Rule #1 – It’s Ok to be Named After Yourself
This might rub you as “Professor Wow, master of the obvious” – but hear me when I say that at times it’s not always the best business decision to brand yourself… well, as yourself.
I don’t know of many people who would drink Brian Gardner beer.
However, when you’re setting up your branding – as Dave did – don’t be afraid to use your own name. And you don’t need a fascinating story behind it either.
Steering off course for a moment, here’s the (non) fascinating story about the naming of the Dave Matthews Band:
Former band member LeRoi Moore reportedly telephoned a place they were booked and said to just write ‘Dave Matthews.’ The person receiving the call just wrote ‘band’ after the name, and the name stayed Dave Matthews Band from that point on.
If you choose to name yourself as the brand, it’s also ok to use that as your domain name. I suppose it’d be hypocritical to say otherwise, considering I blog at BrianGardner.com.
Others who prove that branding after their own name can be a successful activity include Chris Brogan, Jay Leno and someone named Oprah.
Rule #2 – Collaborate With (Really) Cool People
For every Maverick, there’s a Goose. For every Ernie, there’s a Bert. And for every Dolly Parton, there’s a Kenny Rogers.
In fact, quite frequently it’s collaborations that can really prove to be pivotal in the establishment and success of building your brand.
The truth is we all enjoy having sidekicks – and once in a while those sidekicks can affect how we’re perceived and help us establish credibility. Live at Luther College, in my opinion, is easily Dave Matthews’ best album.
And it was a collaboration with Tim Reynolds.
Over at StudioPress, we do collaborations all the time with some very talented people. There’s nothing wrong with working alongside folks who can knock things out of the park.
It happens on Copyblogger almost every day as guest posting – and that’s no accident. Collaboration done right benefits both parties, and can equally build both brands.
Rule #3 – Embrace Your Fans to Help Achieve Success
I don’t know about you, but I’m a Dave Mathews Band fan – and that’s painfully obvious. I’m also a fan of Starbucks, which might also come as no surprise.
What makes a brand successful isn’t just a quality product or service – but also how they respond those who buy into their message. Whether it be simply “saying” or “selling”, how you react to the people who support you goes a long way.
The Dave Matthews Band plays for the fans – they are energized by the thousands of screaming people who raise their hands while they do their thing.
When’s the last time you wrote a blog post and were inundated with positive comments, or a number of retweets to something you said on Twitter? It might be on a much smaller scale, but it did “pump you up” and made you feel good, right?
The truth is, we all crave attention and want to have roadies.
Roadies affirm that we’re doing something right – but they also help spread our word. Think of them as your “street team”, and make sure you take the time to appreciate them.
Rule #4 – Stop Reading and Start Doing
This one is simple – I’ve given you enough here to get started. Go give some attention to those who are helping you build your brand.
Reply to an email you’d normally skip past. Give one of your fans some Follow Friday love.
Or something like that.
And when you’re done, come back here and leave a comment below and tell me what you did. I won’t consider it boasting, since I’m giving this to do as homework.
Image via Creative Commons, julioenriquez’s Flickr photostream. (source)
Nice little piece here Brian.
Named my brand after myself as well! I think all the greats do it
Thanks Matt… it’s hard to argue, with the successes of The Jay Leno Show and Oprah Magazine. Of course, we’re not quite on their level… YET!!!
Obviously, I think branding as yourself is ok, as well. But, I really like the part on embracing your fans. The reality is sometimes that’s hard to do… with all the different personalities and competing interests. But, doing that well and helping your fans to not only like your work, but also like YOU, I think, is a big key.
I couldn’t have said it better myself… excellent point, and thanks for the comment!
Wow! Been so busy lately I missed this and your tweet about it. Sorry about that! Thanks dude!
Spot on, John. There is an adage in photography that goes something like “If you want to take more interesting photos, become a more interesting person”. That could easily be adapted to fit this kind of branding. If you want to have that kind of loyal fan base that like you, then you need to be interesting and more importantly just be authentic.
That is why we are all following Brian, because he is killing it in his industry and he is an interesting, authentic person, not some sort of branding robot.
Great post Brian.
Darryl, you continue to spoil me with your comments and kind words. Thank you for that.
By nature, I’m an adventurous and outgoing person – which is how I try to convey my online persona. That being said, I totally agree that a person who wants to take interesting photos should become a more interesting person.
Dig deep, and suck the marrow out of life as my friend Thoreau once said.
Very nice article, Brian. I’m definitely passing this one along to others. Already tweeted, now off to spread the word on Facebook too. You will garner mucho fans, just like DMB. You got it right, hands down.
Thanks Debra, I learned at a very early age the importance of customer service and taking care of people. It’s part of who I am now… besides, it’s crazy fun to engage with people who are interested enough in the babble I write on my blog!
First – have you redesigned (yet again)? I thought this looked different, but I’m sometimes obtuse when it comes to design.
I can’t say enough about collaborating. I get to work with Jason Moore, and it started a step at a time. I learned about going pro, obsessing over the right details. I’m a better human, a more savvy marketer.
Collaborating with people that inspire you is about the most amazing treat on this Earth. It’s way better sharing a victory with a close friend than it is to just be the lone-wolf.
Not a redesign – I subtly changed the background image and navigation from the last design.
As for collaboration, two is better than one (in some cases) is what I believe in. And as that grows, three is better than two. It’s difficult for me to think of how my life would be if I was running StudioPress all by myself.
It’s something that I cringe at, actually.
Nice Post Brian. I have been struggling with the whole branding yourself lately. My goal is to create my business and then sell it. I’m thinking the less it has to do with me the better chance I have of selling it. My business will be worth a heck of a lot more if the buyer can just write me a check and I ride off into the sunset.
Hey Bill, yes – that is the American dream, now isn’t it?
I had the same type of issue a few years ago, when StudioPress began – a lot of people referred to my work as “Brian Gardner’s themes” when I was trying my best to change that perception to “StudioPress themes.”
You’ll notice similar in the marketplace, that blogs which started out by one person (Copyblogger and Problogger are great examples) are now becoming multi-author blogs, which are much easier to sell than personal branded ones.
I think Englebert Humperdinck is also an excellent example of embracing your name as your brand.
Of course, he changed it from Arnold George Dorsey.
True, but at least he was known for the name he had on his driver’s license. Or something like that.
Morning Brian – Love the analogy.
“What makes a brand successful isn’t just a quality product or service – but also how they respond those who buy into their message.”
Agree with that – talk to people and form relationships.
It’s what we humans do best, at least some of us.
That’s me away now I’m going to “Stop Reading and Start Doing.” LOL
Havec a good weekend and not too may Starbucks – bad for your health.
Wow, this article really hits hard. I’m really good at reading, studying, reading, studying… but I am constantly feeling like I am paying attention to the wrong things. There is soooo much to building a business, and I am constantly wondering about the things that I am missing…. it’s so easy to trivialize, or make excuses about taking the time out to form relationships. Thanks for the post, Brian.
Re: Rule #1.
I was a TA for an undergraduate education course in college. My students gave me the nick-name “Ribeezie” one day and it stuck. So I started my blog that way ribeezie.com. I’d secured my own name at ricardobueno.com but I never blogged on it until just recently.
That’s something I (sort of) regret. Ribeezie.com and RibeezieMedia.com have a high page rank and meanwhile I’m still at a PR2. I don’t worry about those things as much as I used to. These days, I think I have enough of a community that recognizes who I am and what I do. But I’ve still always struggled with who I should be “Ribeezie” or “Ricardo.”