Building a reputation as a company vs as an individual?
Historically entrepreneurs have built a brand around their company but recently there has been more of a shift to building a reputation around yourself as an individual.
E.g. Musk, Levels, Aj etc
I think puting yourself out there personaly puts your restoration on the line but in return you get more leverage as clients feel better connected?
What are your thoughts on building a brand as a company vs as an individual?
I think that freelancers are better off branding themselves instead of "hiding" behind a company that only is one person anyway :) If you're selling products, having a company (or even just a brand) may feel more trustworthy. my 2ct.
True. Maybe it's different for B2C vs B2B.
B2C may prefer to have a face to the company whereas B2B like to think they are dealing with a stable company rather than a single person.
I'm actually finding this to be false for B2B. I get business customers precisely because they trust me and my perspectives. When I was doing business as a company, I didn't get any traction until they realized it was me behind the scenes.
I don't think there's a rule here, it likely varies wildly depending on the person, the customers, and the situation.
I don't think is so much a matter of B2C vs B2B, what matters more is that as a freelancer you will be working with your clients. Similarly, if you are selling content , e.g. art, books or podcasts, then a more personal brand will also work better.
I've found that even if you brand yourself as a company, people do business with you because they trust you as the person behind it.
My advice would be: do both and find out what works best for you.
I don't think "company brand" vs. "personal brand" is necessarily exclusive. If you're high-level of a successful company, you'll resonate with people who follow the brand of the company and vice versa, if you have a strong personal brand any company you create will resonate with your followers. From zero, I think it is easier to start building a personal brand. It will take pretty much the same amount of work, but you don't need to spend time building a product. Once you have some traction and company, you can invest in both. When you leave a company, it will be easier for a company to continue without you and it will be easier for you with future endeavors.
Personal branding is becoming popular because it's a lot easier. People relate to other people, not to brands. Just look at the raw numbers on social media, all the most followed pages are people and they have a marketing budget that is a fraction of a fraction than that of multibillion-dollar companies.
At the same, there is no personal brand in the world, no matter how big it is, that can compete with the biggest company brands.
And I would say that Elon Musk, like Steve Job, isn't working on personal branding. He is working on things that people love and the personal brand is a result.
And having a huge personal brand doesn't translate in having customers. There are a lot of influencers with millions of followers that are unable to build a business around it.
So I would say that a company brand is a lot harder to build but it's the right solution in the long term. If you want early success better focus on personal branding.
Gotta do both these days!
This comment was deleted 4 years ago