This is a guest post from Mars Dorian, Mars is a great guy and can be found all over this site in the comments section, uber passionate Mars Dorian is the creator of www.marsdorian.com. He’s deeply in love with personal branding 2.0, Mars over to you;
I love personal branding. I love the way it sounds, the concept and the way it feels when I don’t think about my girlfriend. It’s a beautiful art form in itself; a special power that can decide the fate of your online destiny.
You are your brand
If you have a blog, then you’re a brand, it’s as simple as that. And if you think that worrying about your brand is useless, then think again. Branding is a part of my religion, and I’m going to convert you, no matter what 
The internet has reinvented the meaning of personal branding, and I’m glad it did.
Back in the days, you needed a full truck load of money to promote yourself in the (old) media – thank the web for replacing that terrible model.
Nowadays, even if you’re poor, indigent and broke, you can still establish an amazing brand – all you need is the hunger for growth and a passion that melts metal. I assume you have both, so let’s go on. How to Build Your like.no.other Brand
Churning out blog posts and slamming your photo on your about page isn’t branding, it’s laziness.
Good branding is crucial to your success, dare I say “good branding is half your success?“
If you really want to make it big in the web galaxy, you’ve got to create your own brand essence.
But don’t worry, preparing the start of your potential masterpiece is quite easy, and a lot of fun ! Yeah !
A lot of so-called experts claim that branding is a complex science, and I say – to heck with it. We’re trying to create something beautiful here, we don’t want to re-calculate Einstein’s theory of relativity. Everyone can start with those basics and make a ruckus:
- Find your core message. That one is so vital it should be the 11th commandment. What does your brand stand for ? What’s your mission ? Make it concise and crystal clear. Blow us away with your tagline and remember, keep it tweetable !
- Love your brand more than your mother. Ok, that’s a bit over the top, but you get what I’m trying to say. Since you probably are your business, it comes down to self-love. Love yourself and your brand more than your doctor tells you to, really ! If you don’t have a crush on your brand, nobody else will.
- Consistency is your heart beat. Be consistent with your Avatar (the little pic that joins your comments), be consistent with your Twitter background and your Facebook profile. Make it easy for people to recognize you. And remember the king rule of consistency: Be Consistent With Your Brand Message !
- Like no other. Great brands are unique – maybe that’s what makes them great. You can’t compare them; they’ve burned their existence straight into your consciousness. Find your inner edges and sharpen them. Put your entire personality into your brand, make it so unique that competition will be a word that you’ll forget to spell.
- Grrreat design. I can’t stress this one enough. Too many people think they can get away with decent design. Well, they CAN’T ! (unless you want to be decent, which you probably don’t, because you’re reading this blog !)
Invest in your design, yes – this one actually costs money if you can’t do it on your own. I spent a lot of time and money my blog, and I can tell you, it’s worth it. People see and feel the difference. Get yourself a remarkable design that fits your brand essence. You need it.
- Be omnipresent. Think (like) God. Make your brand visible, comment a lot, do guest posts, participate ! Use your favorite social media tools and burn yourself into human consciousness. A brand that’s not perceived is a brand that doesn’t exist !
Have fun and help others. Seriously, no matter what your brand stands for, I think this one should be at the core of your online ventures.
I could go on for probably a triple lifetime, but let’s go easy on your hardworking braincells
I live by those principles every single day; I inhale them like breakfast.
Use those inspirations, have fun with them, invent your own and take your brand to a higher cloud. The world is waiting for you.
Tell me what YOU do about your brand presence in the web !
Over and out,
Mars Dorian
Solid advice, Mars.
One of the most important and least practised in my mind is “Like no other”. Instead of pushing *you* as a unique brand, we regularly get bogged down trying to emulate another successful person/brand.
It’s more difficult to cover the same ground as an already popular brand than it is to develop your own style, on your own terms, with your own rules. It may feel easier when starting out, but that’s an illusion.
.-= Martin – TheUniversityBlog´s last blog ..EduLinks – Wikis, Politics & Common Sense =-.
Hey Martin,
I think it’s absolutely essential to (personal) brand your “character” and your uniqueness – all the major topics in the web are already ruled by the big players – it’s gotten really challenging to come up with innovate stuff. That’s why adding your personal brand and touch is so vital in my opinion.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..What’s Your Mission ? =-.
I have been thinking about personal branding for some months. Mostly in terms of establishing a presence. You have given me some things to think about to take further steps. this process is just never done.
.-= Ralph´s last blog ..Shameless plug for Cantankerous Old Coots =-.
Hey Ralph
Yep, you’re right, the process keeps going and going and going.
It’s really endless, but you can still start with a great premise and go from there !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..What’s Your Mission ? =-.
Omnipresence is massive, something which I don’t strive for enough. A lot of personal branding is confidence, something which many struggle with, perhaps from life-experience or simply from an irrational lack of self-belief.
.-= Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last blog ..Sisyphus Eat Your Heart Out =-.
Hey “Mad Dog”
Yep, being omnipresent is vital but also overwhelming. Sometimes I get the feeling I have to dominate every social media platform, which is downright impossible. But it’s true also that self-esteem is a key point here: You have to have almost a delusional self-belief in order to hid the peak of your online success (if that’s what you want). But it’s not just a branding thing, self-love should always be your priority !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..What’s Your Mission ? =-.
I think the idea of dominating every type of social media stretches one waaaay too thin.
I think it’s better just to pick out ones you enjoy, benefit and can use the most.
For me, Facebook is a no brainer since I use it to talk to a lot of my personal friends.
Twitter is great because I can leave it running and share something when I find it.
I think it’s better to build your brand where you can spend the most time, instead of half way be there across so many different networks.
.-= The Beginner DJ´s last blog ..5 More Tips For Ultra Music Festival =-.
Yep, I should have added this: Being omnipresent in your community and/or niche. Using every single resource would kill your time like flies – Your energy should always be focused on your area – which you should dominate with your style !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..The Xia Xue Guide to Brilliant Branding =-.
lol No more crying, I put the Tissues away…
The whole idea of making a brand is very cool. It does help if you can define your niche and show up for your niche in the search engines. A great logo, tag line “Deal or No Deal”, and interaction definitely works wonders.
It would have been cool to see some examples of all these key points.
Hey Richard,
Good point with the examples. I actually had a few, but it made the post explode in terms of length. I give you more examples in the future on my blog
Thanks for commenting and improving !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How To Dramatically Increase Your Brand Value, and Why You Can Not Screw This One Up ! =-.
Your brand is what you should hold dear to your heart and while doing so is what you should show others you stand by and for. Be your brand simply because you are. Help others all the time and do whatever it takes to get out there and make a difference.
Everyone has a place in this world and those who are the best at what they do will have then created a place where competition is a thing of the past.
What do you think?
.-= Eric´s last blog ..Have You Done It Yet And If So, Have You Learned? =-.
Everyone has a place in this world
I totally agree with that, Eric. There are no spare parts in the universe, you just have to find what you love the most and use it in way that helps/inspires others.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Brand Value, and Why You Can Not Screw This One Up ! =-.
Great post Mars! per usual you deliver awesomely about branding
Love to read it and learn!
.-= Maren Kate´s last blog ..Playing it Safe will Destroy Your Life =-.
Thanks Maren,
I do my best to spread the brand love.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Brand Value, and Why You Can Not Screw This One Up ! =-.
Your personal brand is your promise. It is what you live for. It epitomizes your whole being and your life’s values.
The earlier you start to build it online the better for you and the blogosphere. Lovely post.
Thanks a lot, Olusegun
I wish I had started wayyy earlier !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Brand Value, and Why You Can Not Screw This One Up ! =-.
I especially like the point of having fun and helping others. It really won’t feel like work if we incorporate these two things to what we’re doing.
.-= Julius´s last blog ..Web Accessibility Fears and Ways to Conquer Them =-.
That’s true, Julius
Helping and others should be the core of every personal brand. If you find creative ways of doing it, you’ll have a lot of fun, too.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Brand Value, and Why You Can Not Screw This One Up ! =-.
I’m so torn between branding and remaining anonymous.
Growing up on the net was about participation but without accreditation, it was only about getting information out there while you lurked in the background.
As I move into my own projects I find a conflict between the urge to stay behind the image and being in front.
I think comfortability plays a large role in branding. Branding doesn’t have to mean you become this uber well known person, it can mean simply being known amongst your core group.
.-= The Beginner DJ´s last blog ..5 More Tips For Ultra Music Festival =-.
Hey,
Of course you don’t have to become the king of the web galaxy !
No matter how big you want to become – good branding should be at the core of it. And branding means confidence – being able to step outside of your comfort zone. But you don’t have to be camera lover – really engaging with your community, showing your true authenticity and always having a fresh and creative mind can be enough (for the beginning!)
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..The Xia Xue Guide to Brilliant Branding =-.