The importance of branding

A friend of mine showed me a "business" card he had printed, which he can hand out at parties and events to connect with people. Naturally, he's not the first and I’ve done the same all the way back in 2016 (I called it my "pleasure" card). I was the first to do this in my community, I believe, but of course I didn’t invent business cards.

However, my friend elected to out his photo on it. I illustrated to him that while there is some value in people remembering how you look like; a card is more than a tool for sharing info. It is his brand; and an opportunity to show a piece of his personality. My card has a modern, "clean" graphic that also uses some negative-space elements, plus a joke, which all come together to tell a story and leave an impression (you can see it in my profile photos, if interested).

I'm not a pro designer, I should note, but I have acquired some skills and experience in that realm, enough to design stuff like that and to understand the notion and importance of branding. This is the difference between a $50 print job, which will likely not bring much return, vs a $300 design job, which is more likely to. Same applies to other things in life. One's choice of clothing, colors, conduct, language and even one's car and house.

I should add that not everyone needs branding or needs it all the time. If you’re a software engineer, it doesn’t matter much what your neighbors think of your brand, but at the office, it certainly can make a difference as advancement and promotions are considered. At places like Microsoft, Facebook and google, it matters less what you wear, but there are other aspects of branding. Are you on time? Are you trustworthy? Are you reliable? Are you open? Ethical? Organized? Realistic? All these come together to build your brand as someone who is "going places" or lesser so. If you don’t have a career or aspirations, none of this matters, but if you do, it could make a big difference between success and mediocrity. If you are a person who is less successful than you'd like, think about your brand and what you’ve done or haven’t done to build it. Ask a few friends what THEY see as your brand. Think about what things you can do to change or grow it. Might be something gimmicky like a catchphrase or a whimsical necktie, or maybe something more profound like regularly sharing pearls of wisdom or being more supportive than others. It’s never too late to become a better you.