Last week I spoke with Gary V about where to spend my time and energy as I build my consulting business Secret Menu. Here’s what I learned. Would love your thoughts! https://lnkd.in/gN7Uuqvf
Dave Gecht
3w
The struggle is real. I’ve taken a similar sun and planets approach. For me the tension is wanting my personal brand to live up to the standards of the CPG brands I’ve built. I believed that would be possible, because the best consumer brands are built like people, with distinct values, identities, and aspirations. I figured the inverse would be true, building a personal brand like a consumer brand, but learned that a personal identity is much trickier to scale to diverse audiences.
Elvis G.
3w
You are not alone Justin! Everyone I speak to trying to do the same thing (myself included) struggles with this big time! I HATE coming across like I'm selling myself too. It's tough. I also was listening to a podcast today and this really resonated with me: Risk is not about being fearless. Risk is about being incredibly fearful, but being courageous.
Building your personal brand is everything and when you start with yourself you can never go wrong. Keep going Justin!
He is 100 percent right and no one wants to admit it. I spent two years as CEO of a start-up and a year helping two VC-backed gaming studios/publishers/platforms. At scales below what I was used to. And what gave? All of a sudden, no budget for Cannes. No budget for advertising week or SXSW. Worse, no budget for those 2X to 4X a week networking lunches and dinners that we are all likely taking for granted after expensing them. And maybe I made it up in my head, but the inbounds from recruiters slowed. And the invites to events slowed. And - also - if you don’t control a big budget, it appears the engagement on your LinkedIn falls. Sales people pressed for time pass over your post for a reply. And then your reach falls. I took Gary’s advice (not from Gary). I spent every one of my own dollars I could “being there” in IRL. I took consulting gigs that would get me to DICE or GDC. I flew on my dime to turn Zooms into IRL meetings (“wow, I actually have a meeting 2 blocks from you that day in NYC”). It hastened my burn. But it worked. And in the AI age, I will put the cost of an IRL event over a video or post every time. Multiple VC said to me “I won’t even answer an email anymore if I have not met the person.”
Justin Meats - check this other Justin out.
He's right. And, for me, it felt really weird and awkward and sometimes gross to "market myself" when I was a consultant/fractional. I couldn't get into that. So I decided my approach would be to look for ways to help potential clients get to know and trust me.