Consistency in building your brand is incredibly important. Starting out is tedious work that seems as though your effort is going nowhere fast. Any well-known marketer spends years building their reputation and brand, but appear to have success overnight. They aren't successful overnight. None of them, and if they are, it won't last because they are deceiving their audience.
Marketers with a solid foundation build their audience one person at a time, delivering valuable products and services. And, when they launch a successful product overnight, it is because they have years of hard work that went without any compensation.
If you are asking yourself how to make it big, you are in for a rude awakening. You have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to be successful. Some of you will work all hours round the clock to be successful.
People like Gary Vaynerchuck will repeatedly preach to you how they sacrifice working around the clock for years to get to where they are today. Gary says, “you have to hustle.”
My friend John Chow says he only works a few hours a day, but he is always promoting his business. He just doesn't consider it work, he has fun doing what he is doing, and John also put in several years work without compensation to build his brand and audience.
My most successful startup had me working for twenty-four hours straight the first day I started the company. I worked for two years making less than a few thousand dollars. But, I built the largest database of limousine companies in the world. That lead to becoming one of the biggest luxury ground transportation networks in the world fifteen years before anyone heard of Uber.
Today, I know I need to work harder and smarter than I do today, and if you are reading this, so do you! We have to work like nothing else exists if we want to obtain success on the levels of John Chow, Gary Vaynerchuk, and others. The truth is, you can, and I can achieve that success if we are willing to what they do to be successful. It is not rocket science; it is hard work, the willingness to learn and sacrifice that will drive your success.
What's most frustrating for me is knowing that I was almost there with John and Gary on more than one occasion, but my fears got in the way. I've knocked out those concerns, so they won't ever derail me again, but once again, I have to put in the hours and sacrifice to achieve their level of success.
Other factors limit me from going that far, as there are things I am no willing to sacrifice to get there, so I am attempting to integrate those priorities into my master plan for achieving success. Most important are my faith.
I am investing considerable time into sharing my Christian beliefs with everyone who crosses my path. God is number one in my life and comes before everything else. All things are possible through God.
My children come right after God, and I have upped my commitment to making sure I am the best dad possible to my kids. They are going to grow up knowing how much I love them, and hopefully, I will prepare them for success as they go out in the world.
No college degree required for building your brand
You don't need a college degree to succeed in building a brand. What you need is a commitment to work hard, learn and sacrifice to achieve your dream.
If I can do this, anyone can do this. Anyone who is willing to work harder and smarter, willing to sacrifice. This road is not easy, not even close. The rewards are fantastic as I have experienced them many times before.
Building your brand requires maintenance, and is never done. You can't “make it' and then quit. That's when failure will knock at your door. Building your brand depends on you maintaining your brand all the time. Keep control how others see you.
You are building your brand, not a brand that belongs to someone else. Guard it with everything that you are. Nobody will take care of your brand like you take care of your business.
Are you willing to do what it takes to be successful building your brand?