Branding is not platform, or marketing. Here’s the real definition.

Branding (or author branding) is a term that gets thrown around a lot lately. Everyone’s talking about it, but few actually know what it means. If you’re one of those who’s scratching your head at this jargon, don’t worry even big companies sometimes get the definition wrong, or incomplete.

I want to change that for you right now. I’ve dedicated a large portion of my career to branding and as far as I know, I was the first to create a system specifically for author branding. The reason I am so passionate about it is because I believe it is the most essential component of a lasting writing career–or really any career.

Branding not as gross (or convoluted) as you might think.

Contrary to how many people use this term, I want you to know that it does not constitute becoming a sellout or a fake. You do not need to become a Kardashian. You do not need butt implants, botox, or a boob job to have a brand.

And once you understand exactly what author branding truly is (and the power it holds)  it actually frees you up to be more authentically yourself while  worrying less about your career and public image. Odd, right? Maybe that goes against everything you’ve seen so far. That’s good.

First, let’s break down the concept of what a personal brand or “brand” is.

For it’s most basic definition I’ll quote Jane Friedman:

“Brand is about how you and your work are perceived. In a word. Brand is expectation.”

Jane is right, but I’d like to expand on that so you understand how it works on a different level.

Now, if that’s a brand, what is brandING?

[Image Description: Branding: Is simply the self-knowledge, strategy, planning, and actions that go into crafting your personal brand and displaying it to the world.]

How Branding is different than marketing or platform

I hope that this post helped clarify what a brand and branding is and how it is different than marketing and author platform. If you’d like to learn a bit more about why branding is important, and how to utilize it to build your writer brand, author platform and ultimately the writing or creative career you really want, check out the sister post to this one, called Why Branding is So Important for Writers and Creatives.