Your “personal brand” won’t make a difference in the world (here's what to do instead)

A “personal brand” is only as consequential as the category you own.

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Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Category Pirate,

The goal for many creators and companies is to be known—and to be known by lots of people.

The thinking here is once you have people’s attention, you can then decide what to do with it (aka: make money). But to what end? And at what cost? Today, we’re going to explain the issues with “personal branding” and share a Pirate-approved alternative.

The “Me” Disease: Why Personal Branding Is A Lie

In The “Me” Disease, we shared how a quick search on Instagram for the term “personal branding” yields 1.7 million search results.

Within that search you will find an army of personal branding experts, coaches, “influencers” and agencies, all determined to help you be bigger and better and louder than you were yesterday. These experts believe that everything can become “content.”

• Unique architecture of a building down the street? Content.

• You, looking at yourself in the mirror? Content.

• Cats? Content.

This personal branding craze has created a generation-defining aspiration and obsession: “Pay attention to me, everywhere, all the time.”

Pat Riley, the legendary NBA coach and executive, first noticed “The Disease of Me” after his team won the NBA championship in 1980.

He saw the team come back the next year with different, self-serving agendas that weren’t about the team winning—but about them personally winning more playing time, a bigger role, more glory, and more money.

Specifically, he calls out the 7 danger signals: