REPLAY - Brand Alignment/ Hierarchy on Substack and Beyond
Permission to EVOLVE!
“Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something — to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it?”
— Danielle LaPorte
Hi Sparklers,
We know more about branding, our personal brand and our professional brand than we think we do.
Working freelance for 15 years taught me a lot. I was like the Mary Poppins of the arts/ heritage project management world and I knew it. If someone needed a creative producer, a project manager, a person who could pull things together and magic money for it all out of thin air they called me. I ADORED branding projects and working on engagement plans.
Working in festivals and events was beautiful. It was vibrant, exciting, colourful, interesting. I met some incredibly talented people.
I loved it all until one day I didn’t.
I realised…
No one knew who I actually was.
I didn’t feel like a human in it.
“Branding is deliberate differentiation.”
— Debbie Millman
The beautiful blend of personal and professional
One of the main mistakes I see here on Substack and across the internet is that people think branding is a photoshoot and a choice of colours.
We are looking to trust them but we can’t see past the glossy, we can’t find a crack in their perfectly polished existence to understand them as a human.
The jigsaw puzzle pieces of their invitation to the world are scrambled.
They want subscribers but their articles are too long, they want partnerships but colleagues don’t know what they stand for.
When I was in New Orleans at The Writer MBA Conference last month, there was a whole debate over dinner about authors being ‘cancelled’ online. I could tell it was a real fear… I leant in and listened to the origins and learnt even more about human behaviour online. You could also just read the comments below any reality TV star’s instagram post.
I think branding is actually how people see and remember you. It’s what you stand for in someone else’s head and very little to do with what’s real.
The online world is fickle on mass which is why it’s so important for your brand to be a stable presence if you have something to sell/ offer.1
We have the opportunity to build a digital picture in our reader’s minds. We can hold ourselves steady in that too.
Humans are prone to NOT trusting other humans especially online… so congruence is especially important. And yes you are allowed to change your mind and take us with you on your journey. 2
Play this?
‘What are they known for’ game…
Choose your favourite writer
Go to their Substack
Take a snap shot…
Write down 3/4 things you KNOW about their brand…
E.G - who is a PR professional and writes Hype Yourself and runs the Hype Yourself membership and community.
I’d say - bold, knowledgeable, generous.
E.G - a professional gardener and plant cheerleader who writes The Seed which is about easy ways to garden in the Northern Hemisphere and offers a paid community and classes.
I’d say - Kendall has such a “can do” and encouraging demeanour. Her space is bold, chatty, fun, knowledgable.
E.G - a community builder who invites us to The Gathering - a space of multitudes 3
I’d say - neurodivergent friendly, creative, inviting, arts activism.
E.G - author over at Lemon Soul
I’d say refreshing takes on mid-life, balanced ambition, cold water swimming.
Wasn’t that fun…? You might have different words for the same writers… you’ll also have different testimonials presented but when you get enough of them there’ll be common themes.
Of course there are multitudes to people and the way they present but the people who know their values and are aligned with their work have stronger brands than those who are trying to figure it out on canva.
I’ll also say - we’re TOTALLY allowed to be messy, it’s a beautiful permission slip as part of your creative journey.
What do I mean by brand hierarchy and our brand pyramid?
Ok, so I wanted to use this term to make sure you really think about your touch points across the internet.
Your online self as a whole.
People should start to remember your name and when they picture you they’ll have an association with emotion. This all adds to the ‘know, like and trust’ factor we are building with our readers, some of whom will choose to pay us.
The more people get to know you, the more they reflect back who you are…
Brand Alignment and Energetics Pyramid;
The energetics of our online ‘brand’ from top to bottom
The bottom section is the most important and the most visible…people won’t subscribe to a project if they haven’t spent time in the other areas of the pyramid.4
Your name. Yes I’ve added a sparkle but you should display your name and only your name clearly
Your Substack should not be a repeat of your name like ‘Sally’s musings’ because that doesn’t tell us anything or invite us in. It needs to be outward facing not introspective like a personal blog…. there is nuance here but in short - not enough people care about musings for it to be the entire thing.
Your words should echo your values and what you stand for. Your social media presence should align with your name/ company name depending on the type of connection you are aiming for and the content should re-confirm who you are and why people should trust you.
Your colours fonts should be carefully considered both for accessibility and alignment. Read up on colour psychology. E.g - If my brand is fun and creative I don’t want a grey or navy blue colour in my logo or designs.
The names of your projects/ sections. There is more about this in my IG to Substack class but the main thing to say here is to opt for CLARITY over whimsy especially as this makes your life easier with Substack sections, groups and SEO.
This is especially important when we are trying to grab attention and bring good fit folks into our space and/ or polarise the ones who aren’t for us…
Our Substack (Writer Profile) Invite…
Substack recently changed the layout here so we no longer have two sets of invites as a writer and publication owner.
That said, my advice is to make sure all of this information stacks together congruently and focusses on your reader and how you support them.
Not on the fact you like chocolate or coffee or cats.
Those things are lovely but it won’t help folks to be sure to subscribe if you use this space to tell them that. If they like cats, they’ll look at instagram reels of cats, if they like coffee, they’ll say; me too I might make one right now then wander off before subscribing.
You get the picture? Make it an invitation…
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