Everything is about “finding your platform” or “defining your niche” nowadays. People want to instantly equate a name with a specific product, service, or idea.
And, I’m all for that, really. Well, mostly.
The problem is, I have more than just one line of work. I have several interests. And, not just the dabblng-in-this-field kinda’ thing either.
That’s why this blog/site has seen so many transformations over the years. First, I’ve defined myself mostly as a writer, as that’s how I started off online. Then, I got in to teaching/training. Then, I started practicing in psychology. And then, I became serious with painting.
All throughout, I’ve been in to journal writing (er, blogging?!).
Then, last year, I made my interest in online journalling/blogging an official profession. Somehow, the blogging got stuck. At least, for now. 
Connie (12)
Kari (10)
Kharen (5)
Mel W (5)
Christina @ The H... (4)
Sasha (4)
Diana Bletter (2)
Em Dy (2)
Jen (2)
nick (2)
Those of us who work independently sometimes think we need to focus on doing one thing so we can have one “brand image.” Instead of thinking about all the different things I do for clients, I prefer to look at my overall “mission” or “purpose” (which you’ve written about before).
Although I’ve worked in technology, advertising, media, and other areas, there is a common thread to what I do: help business people communicate better. While this may sound very broad, it also excludes many activities that I don’t do.
Some of my clients have worried about not having a single brand image, so I try to help them see how their core value can be applied to multiple target markets (i.e., multiple revenue streams). General Electric is a good example of a company whose brand means many things to many people. GE makes light bulbs, jet engines, locomotives, medical equipment, and thousands of other products — all under the GE brand.
Whether we’re GE or an individual, we need to look for ways to turn our core value into benefits for customers, clients, and the other people around us.
Wow, Cliff! What a brilliant comment! I hope you don’t mind if I highlight what you just said in a new blog entry. Thanks.
Hidden below the surface of the brand is an array of activities that work to ferment the mind-object bond. Things like walking, cutting, drawing, molding, riding, carving, hammering, painting, welding and shoveling are examples of activities that build toward our usual mental preoccupation with the final result. But this product of fermentation need not be and possibly should the core focus for true personal mastery. I imagine that a balance of activities with a clear understanding of the polymotivation formula related to these activities is road we will one day find.
But the roadway has confusing signposts. The association of brand and the trust invested in it to products and things we like provides one with an reliable orientation. In other words, the McDonalds Happy Meal gives the youngster a commonly shared experience with a small toy surprise reward and thus the child is aligned with other kids who live on-the-go and have fun while doing it. The iPod creates a micro-culture that aims one with other members toward the common experience of greater fulfillment through the formula of design-style-music/media-technology with hooks into the on-the-go lifestyle. The Happy Meal and iPod become road signs on the cultural journey helping one find a way to identify self.
Fixation on the signs and objects blinds one to the participatory activities that one is or will be associated with once one acquires the product(s). We don’t the fast food industry or restaurant we see the Happy Meal and the instant gratification it provides… we do not see a field of creative expression through music and it related market deliverables… we see the iPod and the instant gratification it provides.
If we choose to see the road(s) and what we are doing on the road instead of the just the signs we might begin to unravel what builds motivation mastery and contentment rather than indulging ourselves in the commodities of a radically object focused market oriented society. The activities of our life are truly the lynchpin that holds everything together. I think the mind-object fascination is inherent and hard to disengage and is not in all ways bad, but to use the mind beyond what we have now used it for… we have to move beyond the objects to the activities, systems and designs. The modern hyper-level product and brand focus tricks the recipient to a belief that on-the-go objects equate to on-the-go activity oriented lifestyles. But honestly these are just artifacts that trace back to the great aspiration of a life-form that embrace change and movement. The activities (things we do) are what we are – not the brands or the objects you acquire. Mastering “the doing� rather than “the ownership� is the key and slowing down “the doing� (activity) to a point of self-realization ultimately brings about the freedom we seek and motion we need.
~Christopher Simon
left out a word…
We don’t “see” the fast food industry…