Logan Thompson

Does Your Branding Suck Like Mine?

Posted on 13. Aug, 2009 by Logan in Random

One of the biggest things I learned from attending Affiliate Summit East this year is that I suck. Well, not really, but my branding does. What’s sad is that I know better, yet I still make mistakes as to how I’m branding myself and my business. Hopefully you are thinking about your own business, its identity and how it reflects you so you can avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made.

A little background about my business will show the crossroads I’m in and how I have work to do to change my online identity. Affiliate marketing has been something I’ve done on the side since around 2001 in some capacity. Last year I quit my job as lead designer for a large dot com company and decided to venture out on my own and start up a design firm which I called Blink Source. Within a few months most of my affiliate business made up the bulk of my revenue and I realized I enjoyed the affiliate marketing lifestyle as opposed to the design side of my business. Fast forward to now and it’s been months since I’ve done any design work for any client other than myself and I love it.

During this time I’ve branded myself poorly as I’ve been caught in the middle of being Blink Source the design firm as well as Logan Thompson the affiliate/wannabe blogger. The name Blink Source actually doesn’t mean anything, I just thought it sounded good so I went with it. This past month I ditched my Blink Source business cards and went with a generic card, which was fine for the time being, but still isn’t the brand that I want to build.

Whether you are branding yourself or your business, everything from your identity to your pitch when someone asks “what do you do” should be in alignment. If you don’t plan what identity you want to have, your identity probably won’t be what you want it to be, and like mine, it may be a bit confusing to others (FYI I am in the process or rebranding myself in a consistent way and will mention that shortly).

So what are the wrong things I’ve done that make my branding suck that I’m working on changing?

1. Inconsistent Images
   If you take a look at my Twitter, Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Profile pages, etc…, the image I use is inconsistent. To make the most of my brand, I need a consistent image across all site so people recognize me. An example of a great brand that is consistent is Shawn Collins of Affiliate Summit. Anytime you see his picture around the web, there is a cartoon drawing of him so you know it is the real deal. He is very consistent with it and has built his brand around that.
2. Inconsistent Naming
   I am still kicking myself for not registering the domain loganthompson.com when I had the chance. Instead I went with loganthompson.me, which isn’t exactly a domain I love. Instead of being Logan Thompson across the net, I’ve poorly branded myself with a mix of names such as LRThompson, Logan Thompson, DrumminLogan, and Blink Source. If I could do it over, I would make sure “Logan Thompson” was in my blog url, twitter account, AIM name, and everything I sign up for. That way it is consistent across the board.
3. Poor Pitch
   At the Affiliate Summit I was asked probably over a hundred times what I did. It seemed like each time I answered it slightly different as I hadn’t really prepared enough (even after reading Jim Kukral and Lisa Picarille’s “Quick Tips For Improving Your Pitch At A TradeShow” just a few days before the summit. While I do a lot of things including PPC, SEO, media buys, etc.., I wasn’t consistent in my message, and was probably very forgettable to most people. I didn’t stand out at all and missed some great opportunities to connect with some very smart people because of it. You need to be able to give a consistent 15 second pitch that sets you apart from the next guy (even if you are doing the same things as them).

I’m sure there are plenty of more things that I’ve been screwing up on when it comes to my brand, but I’m excited to rebrand myself so people know exactly who I am and where I’m going. To start, I’m going to be getting rid of the Blink Source name and focus more on personal branding. I have a few more things up my sleeve and will let you know when I roll those out.

Have you though about how you are branding yourself? What are some of the mistakes you are making or have made in the past?

Tags: #ase09, branding, pitch