Self-Marketing and Your Personal Brand

If you are an entrepreneur, your “personal brand” is very important.

What do I mean by your personal brand? BuildingBrands has a great definition of the word brand:

“A brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer.”

A personal brand then is how people perceive you. It is the way they describe you to friends, the way they differentiate you from someone else, and the things they remember about you when you aren’t around.

Online Personal Brand

There are lots of ways to can tailor people’s perceptions of you. One way is through an online presence. Like a domain name! MikeLee.org is mine, obviously.

(True story: I used to introduce myself as “Michael Lee.” Then I got the domain name MikeLee.org and started introducing myself as “Mike Lee.” Yea, I know, I’m a geek.)

Here are some great articles on how to build your online personal brand:

If you create your own online personal brand, you will have more control over it. You can expect every recruiter to do a web search on you nowadays. I did this myself as a hiring manager. Don’t let the one search result of you be a photo on a friend’s web site—of you, drunk, nekkid, and puking all over yourself (I’m just sayin’). Let it be a brand that you created and tailored for your needs.

And if you have the time and energy, consider creating some content (e.g. blog articles, personal essays, free samples of your work, etc) and telling a story about yourself, as the above articles suggest.

Offline Personal Brand

Just as important as your online personal brand is your offline personal brand. Your personality and behaviors basically lay the foundation for this. And if you are an arrogant son of a motherless goat, well, then there isn’t much I can do for you. Anything you do online will be erased as soon as a recruiter meets you in person.

Self-marketing doesn’t mean you have to be slick and polished. As Entrepreneur Magazine’s article “Shut Up and Listen” writes: “entrepreneurs who practiced over-the-top self-promotion rarely captured the attention of others.” Sometimes it is best just to be yourself.

There are times when it is acceptable to be assertive about your offline personal brand. Like at networking events, conferences, etc. For those occasions, here are some great articles:

If you are nervous about meeting new people, the easiest thing to do is to smile and nod at another person standing alone. At any networking event, you are guaranteed to find a few people wandering around by themselves, eager to meet new people but unsure of how to break into an existing conversation. They are probably the easiest to approach.

As the above articles suggest, getting into a conversation is just part of your brand building. Your business card is an important part as well.

Also, if you promise to follow-up with someone, do so. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been impressed by people who remembered some tiny aspect of our conversation, then followed-up about it later. Those are the kinds of people you want to know. Those are the kinds of people who also have a strong offline personal brand.

Biz Idea: Video Pop-Ups

VH1 Here’s an amusing idea. Remember VH1’s Pop-Up Videos? How about a product that offers a way to add captions, text, word bubbles, etc to videos?

Some sites offer this functionality for photos right now, though mostly to create lolcat photos (like Big Huge Labs and ICanHasCheezBurger Factory, of course).

Now extend this to videos, and there are all kinds of possibilities! Like:

  • Karaoke videos
  • Mishead lyrics videos
  • Pop-up videos (of course)
  • Comic strip videos
  • Faux silent movies
  • Instructional/how-to videos
  • Presentations
  • lolvideos?
  • And many more!

My Office: The Cafe

Liquid Cocaine Friends keep asking me, “What exactly do you do nowadays?”

“Drink lots of coffee,” I tell them. Which—back in my roles as an engineering manager and later, a product manager—was what I mostly did then anyways.

Except now, my office is whichever cafe I go to.

It’s a great lifestyle. Sometimes I’m meeting with a friend to talk about business ideas. Sometimes I’m meeting with an ex-coworker to catch up on old times, plus talk about business ideas. And other times, I’m on my laptop, researching business ideas.

Some people quit their full-time jobs and jump into entrepreneurship only after they’ve come up with The Great Idea. A few of them even start The Great Idea while still employed.

Me, I took a riskier route. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I took my savings, calculated out how long I could survive on them, and made the leap.

I have a bunch of ideas too. Some could be great, some are mediocre, some totally suck ass. Not all are web-based either, though web-based businesses are much easier to start, because of their low capital costs (free software rules). So I’ll probably aim for a web-based business first.

But I’ve learned that ideas are the easy part. Planning and executing is the tough part. The relatively low barriers to entry for web-based businesses mean lots of competition. If you have a great idea, chances are, a competitor will sprout up a few months later. Being first-to-market doesn’t necessarily give you an edge. It’s more about having a great product, great marketing, and a sound business model.

That’s where all the chatting with friends and market research comes in. Who knows when a random news story, market report, friend, or ex-coworker could ignite an idea spark that leads to The Great Idea? Or more finely tune one of my existing ideas?

And that’s why I’m here, working in a cafe. My new office.

Is It Better to Start a Company at 25 or 45?

A VC An entry that Fred Wilson wrote back in May has been stuck in my mind. What’s the optimal age of being an entrepreneur?

It’s a bit of a contentious question. He started by asking innocently, “Do you know any 45 year old entrepreneurs?” Or rather, one of his friends asked him that.

Then Nick Denton of Valleywag picked it up and asked, “Is 30 too old to start a company?“, adding more fuel to the fire. Denton also selected some media darlings and compared the ages at which they founded their companies:

Valleywag Age Question Chart

Finally, Clay Shirky weighed in with what he referred to as the (Bayesian) Advantage of Youth:

I’m old enough to know a lot of things, just from life experience. I know that music comes from stores. I know that you have to try on pants before you buy them. I know that newspapers are where you get your political news and how you look for a job. …

In the last 15 years or so, I’ve had to unlearn every one of those things and a million others. This makes me a not-bad analyst, because I have to explain new technology to myself first — I’m too old to understand it natively. But it makes me a lousy entrepreneur.

So is 25 really a better age to start a company than 45?

Personally, I agree with Wilson’s conclusion: “I don’t totally buy that age matters. I think, as I said in my original post, that age is a mind set.”

Shirky has a point about inexperienced minds being able to make connections that more experienced minds wouldn’t see. Age can usually offer that, but not always. I know some really dumb young people.

One can also train one’s mind to think more creatively. IDEO is a famous example of a company that’s done just that. Then there’s also the Conceptual Innovator vs Experimental Innovator effect as well. So if you’re not 25 anymore, don’t lose heart!

What I believe to be more of a factor is not making mental connections and creativity — but risk. Creative thinking can strike at almost any age. But being able to take grand risks doesn’t; at least, not really.

In our society, the older we become, the more likely we’re in a situation where we have to care for a house & mortgage, an immediate & extended family, and a host of other responsibilities.

Compare that to a fresh college graduate with only him/herself and some school loans, and what do you see? A younger adult who’s realistically able to take greater risks.

That’s just an assumption, of course. But when Entrepreneur magazine recently published their “2007 Hot 500 Fastest-Growing Businesses in America” results, I thought: Ah!

What did they find was the average age of the entrepreneurs in their Hot 500? Forty-four! 44 years of age, for the average entrepreneur of one of America’s fastest growing businesses. Food for thought!

Their survey cover all sorts of businesses, tech and non-tech. Wilson, Denton, and Shirky, I believe, were thinking mainly about technology businesses. So it’s possible I’m comparing red apples to green apples here – same topic, but slightly different versions of that topic.

Still, I’m hopeful. It’s not the age that matters, it’s the mindset, the creativity, and the courage to take a big risk that matters.

I Can Has $4000 A Week?

I m in ur internet cloging ur tubes Now for some Friday fun. As you may know (and silently feel embarrassment for me over), I’ve been not-so-secretly coveting lolcats, especially the site I Can Has Cheezburger?

Well, for you lolparty-poopers, did you know you can make about $4000 a week with lolcats? Yes! At least, according to the Unusual Business Ideas That Work blog:

Eric Nakagawa, a software developer in Hawaii, posted a single photo of a fat, smiling cat he found on the Internet, with the caption, “I can has cheezburger?” in January, 2007, at a Web site he created. It was supposed to be a joke.

This joke, which Nakagawa monetizes with advertising (or, should I say, loladvertising?), now brings in anywhere from $500 to $4000 per week.

While posting pictures of lolcats is fun, it’s hardly a scalable business if he has to find the photos, caption them, select the best ones, and publish them every day.

So Nakagawa intelligently built the ICanHasCheezBurger Factory, a tool that lets viewers submit their own pictures, caption them, and vote on their favorites. The most popular ones are then published on the main blog, while he gets to sit back and collect the money. Talk about automated lolgenius!

In fact, I know a friend who, during one sunny day, uploaded 2GB of photos. TWO GIGABYTES. Holy lolcat!

I don’t know how long the lolcat trend will continue. But if you look at how media and entertainment is going the way of niche markets, perhaps niche blogs like I Can Has Cheezburger and Cute Overload will be around for quite a lolwhile.

VMware’s IPO

VMware You may have heard: VMware just had their IPO. They’re now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VMW.

I’m going long on this company. I like their leadership and the fact that the President and CEO, Diane Greene, is a co-founder with previous CEO experience. She was the CEO of VXtreme, a streaming media technology company that was acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) in 1997.

I also love their products and have actually used their software before. As a front-end engineer trying to build web applications, you have to test your code across a large variety of web browser and operating system combinations. It’s a very tedious task. And it can be very costly if you go out and buy a separate computer for each use case.

Fortunately, VMware’s Desktop Virtualization Products can lower the financial burden considerably. Instead of five machines, you now only need one. Multiple that across an organization of hundreds of front-end engineers and you have mega moolah savings. I heart VMware.

There is a lot of buzz over VMware though, with the media calling it “the hottest tech IPO since Google (GOOG).” It’s easy to fall prey to the buzz and believe all the hype.

So if you’re thinking about buying some VMW yourself, don’t take my word for it. Here are two great articles pro and con their IPO for your enlightenment:

Biz Idea: Money-Making Facebook Apps

Facebook I was thinking about Facebook applications the other day. These new apps are kinda fun and getting a lot of buzz. But can you make money off of them, I wondered? Hmmm.

Here are a few that I think could actually generate money.

  • Fantasy Sports

    Since Facebook doesn’t allow sports bookings or gambling in any form, the business model here would be subscription-based, much like what most fantasy sports sites offer right now. CBS SportsLine Fantasy Sports is one such app.

  • For Sale Lists

    Commerce is always a good way to make money. If you have something to sell, perhaps someone on Facebook will be willing to buy it. Ebay To Go and Garage Sale are two such apps.

  • Freelance Services

    Customers don’t only buy products; they buy services as well. If you have desirable skills, why not offer them? No such apps yet exist, though I’m sure a company like Elance, oDesk, or DoMyStuff.com could offer this soon (wink wink).

What other Facebook apps do you think could make money?

Globalism and Racism

Mister Wong There’s been some drama over the German social bookmarking site Mister Wong lately. If you’re in the US, you may be able to guess the controversy. If you’re not, you probably have no idea what could be wrong.

The controversy is over the branding of the site: it’s name, illustration, and slogan. 8Asians, a group blog of Asian American & Asian Canadian bloggers (of which I am a member) was the first that I know of to publicly decry Mister Wong. As written by Ernie, one of the founders:

Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America. But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan “ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong.” Which I, of course, interpret as “ching chong, Mister Wong” and get INCREDIBLY FUCKING ANGRY.

The first few comments were sympathetic. One commenter expressed some confusion though. “Enlighten me. What on earth is offensive about the Mr. Wong website?” he wrote. After a few back-and-forth explanations, the issue died.

Two months later, Kristen Nicole of Mashable wrote about how Mister Wong was launching a US version. In her review, she wrote, “Despite the questionable name, Mister Wong has a lot going for it…” A commenter there also expresses some confusion: “Kristen, can you explain why you think the name is ‘questionable’?”

Another commenter replied, “It’s not so much the name that is questionable, more the cliched stereotyped image of Mr. Wong that comes along with it. I really hope they get rid of that on the US beta at least, otherwise there’ll be some angry Asian Americans out there.”

Then Kai Tietjen, the founder of Mister Wong, removed the illustration from the logo.

It was never my intention, nor that of my company, to hurt anyone with the use of the illustration. We are extremely sensitive to this issue and the feelings of others. We removed the original illustration off the top of the page some time ago, when the issue first arose, in hopes that no one would be offended by it any longer.

Apparently the 8 Asians article and angry comments on Mashable’s articles led to this decision. A short time later, a German newspaper picked up the story and Germans flooded the 8 Asians site. Some politely expressed their confusion and defended Mister Wong. Others haven’t been as polite, unfortunately.

Pete Cashmore from Mashable followed up on the story and succinctly summed it all up:

These kinds of clashes seem inevitable when companies launch globally: what’s culturally acceptable in one place is a hanging offense elsewhere. Often, as in this case, people are puzzled by the fact that they caused any offense at all. The “racist” label, however, is one that all startups will want to stay a million miles away from, even if they don’t fully understand their infraction.

That’s the real takeaway here, especially for any business going global. You may not agree with the controversy, but once you operate in the global arena, you have no choice but to respect the sensibilities of all the societies with which you want to do business. Even if you don’t agree with or understand those sensibilities.

Remember the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy? That’s probably an extreme example, but you get the point. A less extreme example is the Chevorlet Nova and how it didn’t sell in Spanish-speaking countries because “Nova” translates to “doesn’t go” in Spanish. This is actually an urban legend, but it’s a commonly cited example of going global.

Ernie, in my opinion, may have saved Mister Wong quite a bit of heartache and money by expressing his views at the early stages of their entry into the US market. For better or worse, the US society is relatively much more politically correct than other societies of the world. Denounce that all you want, but I guarantee you that if Ernie hadn’t spoken up, someone else would have.