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"Branding Yourself" vs Just Company Name

by TheGraduate
10 replies
I am starting to think that it is not really worth it to put your face out there to make business if you really do not have to. How many of us get to talk to the CEO of Sears before buying a TV from them, or even after we have bough it? I believe that the best thing to do is to get yourself an LLC put it on your website's footer, get yourself support from a call center, and never show your face to your customers. people in the online marketing community are spoiled by all the gurus out there showing their faces on videos, seminars, and on their sites/blogs just to sell their products. I am starting to think that all this brand yourself thing is just a bunch of rubbish, and in my opinion is even dangerous for those who are disclosing their big earnings to the evil public....

I know I do not show my face to do business online, you either deal with it and buy my product or you are very welcome to keep going to the next website, I do business just like the owners and CEOs from the big companies do it (there it is my company name, my company reputation, if you want to talk to somebody talk to a phone rep, that's it, end of story)

The online marketing community is spoiled to think they should request that guys practically show the color of their private organs before they can buy from then, no only that, they think they have the complete and exclusive right to do this.

No, you do not need to know how much I make, where I make it from, how many products and business I have, how I promote my product etc, you do not even need to know my name as long as I have a legal LLC stablished and provide you with its name, and support for the product I am selling you.

Comments Please!
#branding yourself #company
  • Profile picture of the author MarketingSPY
    Hey Graduate -

    In my opinion - there is so much skeptism concerning purchasing products online - Internet Marketers quickly realized the best way to establish rapport and Trust to their customer base was to be upfront and personal with them - sometimes it means providing a photo of the owner or author.

    Customers of IM products also want to know how much money "they" are making from a product or system they're trying to sell. That's why they show screen shots, etc.

    It takes a lot for people to TRUST, especially from those who are selling their products and services online.

    However, with that said, I understand completely what you're saying. The owner of a site has a right to be anonymous and not show his A$$ to every Tom, Dick and Harry who visits his site.

    Happy Trails my friend!
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    You can't compare Sears to Internet Marketing. I think it does a world of good to brand yourself rather than a company name in this business. I have not done it because I don't want to be a fake, but already a success if I ever decide to do it. I may not ever do it that's why I haven't made it a strategy. But if you want to brand yourself and be one of those who teaches others (please be a good teacher for one, as a lot of internet personalities out there suck at this) you will get a lot further than if you just use a company name.

    Like MarketingSPY said, this business needs trust because of the skepticism of being able to make money on the internet.
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    • Profile picture of the author BobJutsu
      Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

      You can't compare Sears to Internet Marketing.
      Why not? Sears markets on the internet. Branding yourself, branding your company, branding this, that and the other thing... just brand (and sell) whatever it is you are selling.

      What I mean is, "Internet Marketing" is, quite literally, marketing on the internet. When did this term become synonymous with selling products about making money online?

      I mean really, if you are trying to sell your knowledge, aka, an information product, you had better brand yourself, because you are selling yourself. On the flip side, if you are marketing a television, or a gift card, or movie downloads, or a coffee club subscription, or penis enlargement pills, or any of the other infinite number of products to market online, you would brand those. Just know what it is you are trying to sell, and sell it.

      If you are an affiliate, you are a middle-man and nobody cares who you are, but if you are selling yourself, then yes, you have to sell yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author JennSpencerIM
    I'd test out a website with your photo on it and one without...hands down in our markets the websites where my picture is on it wins every time. And there are even certain pics of me that do better than others!! I think that says a lot about people needing to trust an individual in order to purchase online. But it really could be a question of market and your specific customers, so test out some stuff before making conclusions.
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  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    Hey,

    I look at the long term, and frankly I can't sell a business that is in my name, because when a new owner takes over they lose the single most important entity.... the brand.

    So, I like to do both.

    I sign my emails with my name and address.
    I give pictures
    I network

    However, all under an established business name
    With an established business number

    Kill two birds with one stone.
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  • Profile picture of the author eflo
    Hmmm I'd actually find out what Tim Ferris did (From 4 hour work week) since he just sold his business. A lot of it though was because he focused on making it so very automated.
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    • Profile picture of the author Louise M.
      I think Frank Kern is a pretty good answer to this question.
      What I mean is that the right mix in my opinion is to be real cool and really honest with your list. Talk by saying "I" and not "We", give your first name at least. Then you don't necessarily need to put your face out there but I guess that helps a lot. The core of the relationship with the prospects is some kind of transparency in the speech which does not mean transparency about your private/financial/family life.

      I have a website about parenting stuff and I have a fake identity and there's no picture of me anywhere but since I've changed the way I "talk" to my visitors and subscribers, they are much more responsive.

      I build website for people who are starting internet marketing, and they all want to sound "professional" and often think they need an "About Us" page and say "we" are the leaders in the field blablabla. But then we talk and they change their mind and do something more straightforward, more "humble" and therefore more credible.

      People don't want us to sound or look like the big corps. all the contrary !
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Barrs
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    • Profile picture of the author TheGraduate
      Originally Posted by paulbarrs View Post

      You may have git the nail on the head there and got it right... If I don't know you and don't trust you then I'm not going to buy from you!

      That's not to say that you can't 'brand' your company name or products ... but do you have the capital that's required to generate such familiarity in a brand?

      The whole point of name branding in the micro business sector is that people come to trust *you* - and then each time a product is released with your name on it, they transfer that trust to the product.. and buy.

      You can do the same with a company or product, yes, but the effort is doubled as your seeking to brand an intangible "thing" rather than a personable personality.

      From day one back in 2000 my mentor at the time told me to brand my name - hence PaulBarrs.com was born. Everything I do now, even still has my name attached to it - my customers know my name and trust my brand... me.

      If you're selling to the Micro Business Sector you'd be wise to do the same.


      - Paul Barrs
      Yes your statement is a very logical one, but unfortunately sometimes reality
      doesn't necessarily behave logical. It seems logical to brand yourself in the micro business online environment since that increases trust from your customers, as well as increases your popularity, but in the online marketing world nowadays the more you brand yourself the more people want to know about you, and what your success "looks like". They compare your success to the success stories from others marketers (they will rather buy from the guy who is somehow successfully tricking them into believing that he is making millions of dollars a year...) ...that's why I think is better to remain anonymous and let your customers wonder whether you are making millions or not (of course this is also tricky, you need to know how to set up EVERY THING to make them wonder, keep in mind that as soon as they like how your website or minisite is set up they will start running all over the internet trying to find out how much traffic you are getting, whether or not you are spending a lot of money on advertisement etc, trust me they know how to do it) In my opinion the first rule of thumb for success without necessarily branding yourself is not to get yourself anywhere close to Clickbank, Paydotcom or any other of those kinds of affiliate networks, second rule of thumb for success nowadays is to make your stuff look really young, most people browsing are young, and in most cases they feel attracted by new ideas and young people (no necessarily by teens, but by people not old enough to be grandfathers ) third rule of thumb is that you have to hype your stuff, I know most people love to hate this idea, but it is proven that hype sells (of course not all hype is created equal, most people think you have to talk about money, expensive cars, world travel, and a mansion to hype a product) Fourth rule of thumb is to deliver (if you do not deliver quality you won't go to far)
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  • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
    In some ways the best of both worlds can perhaps be achieved by using a pen name that's combined with a separate business entity. John Smith Enterprises, LLC can be the entity (as an example). John Smith is the pen name. You can still give everything a very "real" sounding feeling by communicating as John Smith while later being able to sell the company and pass along the pen name as part of the business. This might make it more personable while still being able to sell everything easily without your own name becoming trapped in your business.
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