Ch 3: Personal Brand vs Private: Which Brand Type Should You Choose?

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You can find the new Launch Your Platform Workbook here: https://amzn.to/4bglwZM

In this episode of 'Your Message Matters,' hosted by Jonathan Milligan, author of the book series with the same name, listeners are taken through a detailed discussion on deciding between a personal and a private brand when launching a writing, coaching, or speaking business online. 

Milligan introduces his second book, 'Launch Your Platform,' designed as a step-by-step guide for building a brand, including aspects such as messaging, logos, and lead collection. He highlights the launch of a 90-page companion workbook aimed at setting up and optimizing one's platform in 21 days, available on Amazon. 

Chapter three of the book, which focuses on choosing the right brand type, is shared in depth, presenting advantages and disadvantages of personal and private brands through illustrative examples including PT Barnum and Brené Brown for personal brands, and Soichiro Honda for private brands. 

The chapter concludes with an exercise for listeners to decide their brand type by creating a T chart to compare the benefits of each brand type. Milligan encourages taking action based on one's goals and comfort level, offering the book and workbook as resources to aid in the process.

00:00 Welcome to the Market: Your Message Show
00:19 Diving Into 'Launch Your Platform'
00:43 Introducing the Companion Workbook
01:36 Chapter Three Overview: Choosing the Right Brand Type
03:20 The Power of Personal Brands: Lessons from PT Barnum
06:12 Pros and Cons of Personal vs. Private Brands
11:39 Day Three Exercise: Deciding Your Brand Type
12:56 Wrapping Up and Next Steps

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Transcript

0:40

Hello, and welcome to the market. Your message show. I'm your host, Jonathan Milligan and author of the series. Your message matters. And currently I am a working on book number three, but on this podcast, we are systematically going through book number two, launch your platform. Now the launch, your platform book is for people who want to know the exact step-by-step. Of launching a writing, coaching, or speaking business online. What are the steps you need to take to build your brand, your messaging, your logos, your colors, your designs, everything, your, your automatic way of collecting leads. And that is why I wrote launch your platform. Now at the time of this recording, I've just launched the companion workbook. This is a 90 page workbook that has exercises journals. One action a day for 21 days, and you will have your platform completely set up and optimized. And for a limited time. It's on Amazon for just$4 and 95 cents. This is a physical 90 page workbook. That is a great companion to the book, or it's a great standalone that you could just work through one exercise a day for 21 days. Now we are currently in the midst of this series. And by the way, if you want to check out any of these books, you can go to platform growth, books.com, platform growth books.com. The link is in the show notes as well. So we're jumping into chapter three today, choosing the right brand type. And I am finishing up the recording for the audio book and I'm releasing it one chapter a day for all of you here as a thank you for all of your support over the many years of this show in this podcast. And. This will be up for sale soon. The entire audio book. We'll be up for sale. On audible, apple, anywhere you listen to audio books and you won't have to buy it because you're a listener and you'll be able to listen to this one chapter at a time. So today we're jumping into chapter three, choosing the right brand type. There's really two decisions. Well, one decision, two options for you. You can either launch a personal brand. Which is a writer, coacher or speaker type of brand. Or you can launch a private brand. Which is a little bit more focused over a business. For example, let me give you an example. I have the domain name, Jonathan milligan.com. And I have that set up. It's where speaking inquiries come in and it's kind of my personal brand, but I also have blogging your passion.com market, your message.com and others you don't even probably know about because they're not related to marketing. And those operate more like a private brand. And so which one should you start? That's what today's all about. So without further ado, we're going to jump right in. To the reading of chapter three. Let's get started. Chapter three day three. Choose the right brand type. Before Instagram influencers and YouTube celebrities, one man perfected the art of building fame. And intrigue around his persona. He was the incomparable, PT, Barnum. Barnum demonstrated the immense power of a personal brand long before the term entered the lexicon. He transformed himself into a cultural spectacle. In 1853. Pre-packaged entertainment was rare. Barnum launched a traveling circus. He called it. PT Barnum's grand traveling American museum. Menagerie. Caravan and Hippodrome. It was a bold over the top extravaganza. The likes of which the public had never experienced. He shamelessly plastered his name across advertisements. He pursued outrageous stunts. Sure. To whip up controversy. Barnum new outrage and fascination, where two sides of the same coin. He deliberately cultivated fame and public intrigue. He did this by embodying a flashy larger than life showman persona. Whenever Barnum's name was mentioned. He gave people a compelling reason to pay attention. Though criticized by some as a relentless self-promoter no one could argue with his results. Uh, Bardem put himself front and center. This forged and emotional approving bond. With the ticket buying public. While you don't have to be the center of attention to be successful. This story illustrates the immense power of a personal brand. Directly linking your name with your work can help you break through the noise and capture awareness. This chapter examines, the key differences between personal and private brands. It helps determine the right strategy for your business. Barnum showed that choosing the right brand type may lead to greater profitability and influence. Day three, choose the right brand type. When establishing a new business, one of the most important decisions is building a personal or private brand. Should the founder put themselves center stage as the face of the company. Or keep a degree of separation between their identity and the brand. Both approaches have upsides and downsides. This section will examine the key differences between personal and private brands. It will help you determine the best strategy based on your goals and aspirations. Pros of a personal brand. A personal brand can help you stand out and connect more deeply with your audience. Consider the example of Bernay brown. She's a research professor who struggled to get traction with her academic work on vulnerability and shame. Things changed when she started talking from her viewpoint and sharing personal stories. Brown gave a Raul Ted talk in 2010. Opening up about her struggles with vulnerability. The talk exploded, making her a viral sensation. She wrote several number one, New York times bestsellers launched a chart topping podcast. And got her own Netflix special. Her audience feels a powerful connection to her because her work is intensely personal. They see her as a complete human being, not just an expert. This shows how embracing your personal story and putting yourself front and center. I can increase your impact. It creates a sense of intimacy and loyalty with your followers. They are drawn to your uncompromising authenticity and willingness to open up. This emotional resonance is hard to replicate. With a faceless brand. Cons of a personal brand. While personal branding has many upsides. They're also significant downsides. A personal brand makes you the face of your company for better or worse. It's like being a celebrity, your reputation is on the line. Stars like Johnny Depp. And will Smith have faced significant backlash due to personal controversies? Your reputation failures can sink your brand success. Every mistake and flaws exposed when your name represents the business. You have a minimal privacy or separation between your personal and professional personas. Also a personal brand puts immense pressure on you to remain perpetually on for your audience. It's like being a politician in the spotlight 24 7. You don't get to have days off or anything less than perfectly polished. This level of scrutiny can become exhausting over time. Personal branding is rewarding. However, maintaining your public image requires an incredible amount of work. You'll need thick skin to withstand criticism of both you and your brand. It's important to weigh these challenges before pursuing. Uh, personal brand. Pros of a private brand. A private brand allows you to keep the focus on your product or service. Rather than yourself. This more anonymous approach has its advantages. As the story. Of Sochi Rio Honda illustrates. In 1946 Honda started a company to manufacture motorcycles in post-war Japan. Being an engineered heart. He named the company after himself. But stayed behind the scenes. Honda's brilliance was in product innovation in manufacturing, not self promotion. Letting his brand speak through its motorcycles. Allowed Honda to retain his privacy and personal freedom. The world came to know Honda for it's superb engineering and craftsmanship. Not the man behind it. This brand separation from the founder allowed the company to evolve beyond one individual. Honda demonstrates the power of a private brand. Built on world-class products. Not personal hype. It avoids potential perceptions of vanity or ego that can backfire. The focus stays on serving the consumer, not promoting the founder. The subtle product centered branding can be exceptionally persuasive. Cons of a private brand. A private brand may seem simpler by avoiding personal publicity. However, this approach has significant drawbacks. A private brand can struggle to connect emotionally with consumers without a face attached. It's like conversing with a blank wall versus a warm, expressive person. People are drawn to other human beings, not abstract entities. Building affinity and trust in crowded marketplaces is challenging for a faceless company. Why should I care about brand X when there's no visionary founder story or transparent value system to make a compelling. Also private brands need to have built in evangelist. People are far more likely to advocate for leaders. They feel connected to like Elon Musk or Oprah. Rather than vague corporate brands. Cultivating a devoted user base around a vague in personal business is harder. While avoiding public scrutiny, private brands miss out on the passion and loyalty inspired by putting a human face on a company. This can limit growth and impact over the long-term. Day three exercise. Create a T chart to decide your brand type. Draw a T chart on one side. Jot down all the benefits you would receive for building a personal brand. Conversely consider all the benefits of creating a private brand. Whichever side you fill out more indicates the brand path. You should go down. Day three key takeaways. Understanding your goals and comfort level is key to choosing between a personal or private brand. Personal brands offer significant benefits like authenticity. Flexibility recognition, human connection and storytelling. Building a personal brand has challenges such as limited growth. Relying on others planning for the future. And being active online. Private brands are great for growing teams, building assets. Reducing risk and looking professional. Private brands may face setbacks, like a lack of personality, less personal connection. Limited flexibility. Limited storytelling. And higher initial costs. All right. Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed listening to chapter three. Hope it, got your thinking. And do that exercise. Take some time to draw a T chart on a piece of paper. On the left side, write down all of the reasons why a personal brand makes sense for you. I've been on the right side, write down all the reasons that doing a private brand would be something you would enjoy. And look at them and make a decision. This step-by-step process is all about making one tiny decision every day for 21 days. And having your complete platform set up online. Again, if you'd like to get a copy of the book, you can get it for 99 cents. As a Kindle. I believe the, a paperback book is around five or$6 and then the workbook has only 4 95. I want to make it as affordable as possible for as many people to grab a copy of this book so that you can get going. So you can go one or two places. You can go to platform growth, books.com or just hop over to Amazon and search my name or search the words. Launch your platform. All right. That's it for this episode. Thanks so much for being here and listening each and every week. Take a moment, like share, subscribe to our show and even give us a review. We would love it. And until next time, never forget. Your message matters.