You Can't Build a Brand Around Everything You Love

Sometimes I feel really bad about the advice I give people.

Like the LinkedIn follower who commented on my post about focusing your content around one thing to build a brand.

“It’s not that I can’t pick one thing. It’s that I don’t want to,” he explained. “I want to be the go-to person people think of in conversations about leadership training and golf and baking and volunteer work in Guatemala. Can’t I do that?”

I wanted to say, “Yes, of course you can!” I really did.

But branding is rooted in psychology, and human brains just don’t really work like that.

Our brains like categories. An early childhood development milestone is the ability to sort toys: stuffies here and blocks there, red toys here and blue toys there, balls here and dolls there.

Maybe he could create a thought leadership brand around every one of his passions and interests. But I’m not sure how he would have time for anything other than making and putting out content.

Deciding on your one thing is hard. And it sometimes takes a few tries.

I was talking with a contractor recently who remembered when he and his partner started their business, they thought they were going to be window specialists. At the time, there was a big demand for windows, and they thought it would be an easy place to plant their flag.

But the demand faded, and the specialty wasn’t really playing into their strengths. They tried decks, but that didn’t work out, either.

It wasn’t until they focused on internal commercial buildouts that they saw their business explode.

Me, I’ve gone through periods of focusing on copywriting, on content repurposing, and on brand voice. I still talk about all those things, because I have the expertise, but now I approach them from the angle of developing thought leaders.

Pick one thing you want to be known for. It can be the thing you’re really, really good at. It can be the thing you’re most passionate about. It can be the thing people are always asking you to help with.

Pick one. Let people categorize your content in their brains. Of course you’re a whole person who can’t be fit into a single category, but your entire audience will never know - and doesn’t need to know - your entire personality. Focus on the thing you can help them with.

And if it doesn’t click? No worries. You can always pick something else. Just try out one at a time.