The 90 Day Brand Plan

Chapter 6MASTER THE SMOKE SIGNALS

There are three additional approaches I use when creating content. All three include some aspect of identifying what might work, and then clarifying and solidifying what does work.

Work Five Themes

Two of the most important aspects of building a brand are clarifying what you are and broadcasting that with clarity. Think about it: how many vague, hazy brands do you remember? The problem with unclear brands is that people don't know how to think of them. In this example, they won't know who to think of you as, and so they won't know how to remember you. Many will drop out at this juncture. The more generous, curious types will ask you to clarify your brand for them. This means they have to use extra brain power to figure out what to think of you—whereas your goal is to have your personal brand land in their minds within the first five seconds of discovering you.

Learning how to create strong, effective content is a process. When you're still getting the hang of it, before you attempt to be clever with everything, focus first on being clear. Being clear in the first 90 days is much more important than being clever. Once you've mastered the art of being clear with your brand, you can give yourself the license to be more clever.

One way to learn if your content is clear enough is to note what questions people ask about your work. Let's say ...