Enough with "branding"!
08:44, 24 June 2010
.. Posted in Communication, Outreach and General Mngmt.. Link
The Internet is made of people. People matter. This includes you. Stop trying to sell everything about yourself to everyone. Don’t just hammer away and repeat and talk at people -— talk TO people. It’s organic. Make stuff for the Internet that matters to you, even if it seems stupid. Do it because it’s good and feels important. Put up more cat pictures. Make more songs. Show your doodles. Give things away and take things that are free. Look at what other people are doing, not to compete, imitate, or compare . . . but because you enjoy looking at the things other people make. Don’t shove yourself into that tiny, airless box called a brand -— tiny, airless boxes are for trinkets and dead people.
Blogher blogger Maureen Johnson has written the above manifesto in response to all the people screeching that the Internet IS ALL ABOUT BRANDING. “Get your message and repeat it OVER AND OVER. Just keep saying your message OVER AND OVER in the same way. Just tweet it and put it out on Facebook OVER AND OVER.” Yucky. No one wants that!
Go read Maureen's excellent blog on how this manifesto came to be and let's get back to what the Internet was originally all about -- connecting people, not computers, and sharing and discussing ideas, not just selling stuff.
Nonprofits: quit listening to the corporate world and, instead, do what YOU do best: get people excited about and supportive of your cause, on a personal level. The Internet most definitely can help you do this, but forget the branding and get back to connecting with people.
And check out how cute my dog is.
