“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” – Tom Peters, born today, Nov. 7, 1942.
This is the game now. Social media makes it so. And makes it easier.
More than your products, more than your customer service, more than your ethics and morals and core values and blah blah blah…
You need to focus on the PERSONA you present to the public. That is where the make-or-break magic is going to happen.
Period.
Do you know how?
Let me tell you what the number one overlooked thing is when it comes to creating a magnetic online persona that people see as a mentor, a guru, a leader, a source of good shit worth paying for…
It's presenting a coherent point of view that the prospect can try out and decide if they like. And if they are convinced by that point of view, and they like it, they will pay to be able to adopt it, and that usually translates as buying your product.
Let's back up.
You know the little symbol of the happy mask and the sad mask that stands for the theater? Those masks are personae – in ancient Roman theater, they didn't have P.A. systems to make sure everyone could hear, nor projection screens to show close ups to the nosebleeds in the amphitheater.
So the actors would make these large masks, with exaggerated emotional expressions – so that people waaaay in the back could read the feelings. And there were little megaphones behind the mouths of the masks, which would project the actor's voice far and loud.
That's where the word “persona” comes from. A persona is a mask. Literally.
First, it's a mask you wear that exaggerates who you are slightly – amping it up enough to make you larger than life. More interesting than other people your prospect knows and interacts with normally.
More enthusiastic. More passionate. More interested. More empathetic. It's super easy – just smile and laugh and be genuinely excited about what you share with your audience. That's infectious, because people often WISH they could have something in their lives like whatever it is you're so excited about.
But here is the twist. It's a mask. It's not just a mask you wear. It's a mask you show your prospect's how to put on. You tell them what you see and how you feel about it. Not just in your niche, but you take your core values and villains – the stuff you love and the stuff you hate – and apply that point of view to everything as you comment on it.
It lets the audience know what it's like to see with your eyes, think with your brain, and feel with your heart.
And the more things you share that resonate with them, the more they will be willing to trust your opinions on what things they will like, and what they should do, and what they should believe, and what they should buy.
They adopt your point of view because you let them wear your mask.
THAT is your content. Your product. Your thing that you are constantly promoting. You – the persona. The perspective. The point of view.
They will come to want it in their lives. They will come to want your take. Your advice. Your expertise.
And once they want that, selling them stuff is easy. They want what you tell them they want. They want what you want.
And you barely have to write “copy” at all when you have them where you want them.
Should you have personal and business social media accounts? I’m hesitant to post business/work-related stuff on social media but maybe that’s the move.
There are pros and cons to mixing vs. separating. For me, my business is built on finding fans of how I am all the time. Easier on me. But it can make sense to create a business role separate from your “normal” life, too.