Recently I wrote a blog post about “the Ever Changing Brand.“  While I *think* I know a lot about branding, I am “amused” by the so-called branding experts showing up at social media events and claiming to be the end-all-know-all of everything social media.

I did a post about branding just to fit in. It’s NOT who I am, nor what this blog is about.  For that I apologize.

Truth be told, I don’t WANT to be known as a branding expert anymore than I want to be known as a social media expert.  I am first and foremost a content publisher, and I’m happy with that.  While my “real job” is designing and programming sites in HTML, CSS and PHP/MySQL… I like the creation process the most.

The fact that I may, in fact, be a branding expert, or a social media expert, takes second fiddle to the fact that I just kind of do what I do.  I’m not trying to impress a crowd of people about my elite skills, or my latest page ranking.  My proof is in my Adsense earning, which I am happy to tell people the baseline number any time.

There was a post on a site recently that mentioned a bunch of Des Moines people who are “memorable.”  I don’t buy into memorable.  I’m not about to have our company dress up as a bunch of Pirates on The Galleon at Adventureland yelling “ARRRRR!  Host your site at Captain Jack’s, we’ll treat you like valuable treasure… ARRRRR!”

Branding is not a cheap gimmick where you dress up in a pirate outfit, a suit of armor, etc.   And what does a “trick” give you besides being known as “that guy.”

I’d rather be memorable for my RESULTS than a cheap marketing gimmick.

Case in point, the company I work for is known for high search engine rankings.  We even publish our rankings on our web site.  No gimmicks, no playing dress-up, no weird “memorable” clothing or bodily adornments.

Want to be memorable? Have proven results.

And as Joel Comm says “Do Good Things.”

I admit it – a couple of years ago I absolutely could not stand Gary Vaynerchuk.   I followed him on Twitter, not because I found him interesting, but because so many of my Friends were following him.  Every day I would log on to twitter and see his face snarling at me.  Why was he so angry all of the time?  How could anybody actually like someone who is always in a bad mood?

Your twitter profile icon says a lot about you in a tiny square.  For me, it has always been a picture of me smiling.  For some it is their business logo, and others it is the meme of the day.  But Gary’s (at the time) was a photo of him snarling and looking mean.  Seriously.

And, like many people, I judged a book by its cover.

When Gary came to Des Moines in 2008, shortly after Chris Pirillo came home for a week (it was a social media bonanza year and the year the great tweetups came upon us all) I scoffed and wanted nothing to do with it.  Gary Vee?  Bah, I’m more infamous on the Internet than Gary Vee.

Yes and no.

True, most people in #dmtweetup and #cib have no idea where I have worked and what I have done, but who’s fault is that?  Mine. I don’t toot my own horn a lot, but this Gary guy sure seemed full of himself.

Fast forward.

I gave Gary a second chance.  I have zero interest in wine – I can buy a $4 of Lindeman’s or Black Swan Merlot and be happy.  But if all my Friends and friends followed him, then maybe I should.  And if his book is that popular within my circle, maybe I should read it.

So I bought Crush It.  And there was Gary – smiling.  Reading the book, I found Gary not to be an obnoxious, self-loving jerk like his avatar led me to believe… but someone who is excited about his business and brand.  Genuinely excited.  An excitement I recognized having myself when I was in my 20′s.  As Obi Wan might say “An excitement  I haven’t felt in a long time.  A long time.” Even though he doesn’t know me from a hole in the ground, I would just like to apologize for dismissing him based on an avatar.

So the point of this blog post is two-fold I guess.  One: Don’t judge a tweeter by their icon.  Two: People DO judge tweeters by their icons – choose yours carefully.

And I guess thirdly – know when to admit you were wrong.

I have always been interested in computers. From the day I saw my first Vic-20, to those awful bulky CBM machines in elementary school, through my first Commodore 128, until now – computers have been part of my life for what seems forever.

Not just computers, the “social” aspect of computers. From my first sign-on to a Bulletin Board System (BBS) to being one of the youngest hosts on QuantumLink, to hosting events for AOL, to coordinating the online chat with the creators of The Matrix – I was community before community was cool.

The community boom really began in the late 1990s, when The Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB) took hold and pounded competitor THREADS into the ground. During this time I was not only the community liaison between AOL and Warner Bros. (yes, THE Warner Bros.), I helped form the community department at the motion picture studio.
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