The Fallacy of Building a Brand Online

Here’s a little secret for you:

All the videos you’ve watched so far? I had to do multiple takes to get them right.

All the lessons you’ve listened to in those videos? I learned them first-hand from my personal experience of being an online entrepreneur in the last 12 years.

Today’s video inspiration? I stumbled onto this idea by literally screwing up one of my recent videos.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/lAzCNwnnefM&feature=youtu.be&h=360]

Most brands love to show off their best features: perfect copy, outstanding visual identity, kickass content on multiple media platforms — and this is okay.

After all, the more polished and put-together a business is, the smoother the operations will be, right?

But is this what most consumers expect – or even want – from online brands?

Think about it. It’s like dating someone online. This person’s gorgeous, humble, smart, funny, wealthy and kind. Not a hair out of order, not a word out of line, not even a speck of dust in their apartment.

They never make any mistakes.

They’re perfect.

Would you trust them?

It’s the same with building an online brand. Most consumers crave for realness and authenticity. Because in a world filled with “unscripted” YouTube videos and #nomakeup Instagram filters, I choose to show you who I genuinely am, randomness and saying “umm…” included.

This approach may not resonate well with everyone, and that’s fine with me because it’ll help filter out my real audience – people who are perfectly okay with this brand’s authenticity.

Find your target audience, those who will appreciate you and your brand’s quirks, penchant for certain words that’ll make the sailors laugh, or your preference for mainstream media references. Find them and keep them, as they will be your best customers and best supporters.

And when you do find these people, you’ll be more motivated to keep pushing out content, keep working on your business and keep improving your brand.

Sure, you can learn swimming by reading about it, watching videos and asking people how to do it.

But sometimes, one of the best ways to learn swimming is to jump into the water, spend time with your swimming instructor and actually swim.

Done is better than perfect. There’s no need to be perfect as striving for perfection will demotivate you and give you more reasons to procrastinate.

Progress, not perfection, is the name of the game. The “polishing” part can come later.

I hope you enjoyed this little detour today! Do you have anything you’d like to add? Let me know in the comments below and see you next week. Cheers!

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