163: Commercialising your personal brand: sideline businesses, sub-branded ventures and product ecosystems | With Dr Jen Frahm & Kate Ware

A week ago, Dr Jen Frahm, a Melbourne-based global expert in change and organisational transformation, posted the following tweet:

@jenfrahm - Twitterz - thoughts on who has done a good job of being associated w multiple brands? eg portfolio of biz? I have Dr Jen Frahm, Agile Change Leadership Institute, Busting Silos & about to add another - curious who manages the brand side well? Does visual coherence matter?

Jen's tweet resonated with Trevor Young, the host and publisher of Reputation Revolution.

As someone who writes about, and works closely with, professionals who have built businesses off the back of their personal brand, Trevor has seen first-hand the dilemmas that come with commercialising one's reputation, for example:

• Personal brand vs business brand - which should receive more priority?
• Should I be developing a series of products as sub-brands, or not?
• And what about building bona fide sideline businesses instead of products - will this detract from my personal brand?

So many questions, and no right or wrong answer, of course. A lot depends on your personal circumstances and your goals.

So Trevor thought it would be a good idea to get Jen on the podcast - along with her friend and colleague, branding specialist, Kate Ware, from BuzzPop Brands.

The idea was: "Let's just have a chat about this and share our thoughts and ideas on the podcast."

So that's what this episode is about: an informal 'roundtable conversation' between Trev, Jen and Kate, in which they dissect the pros and cons of collaborative sideline businesses, sub-branded ventures and product ecosystems, and what's the most effective way to build out the business behind one's personal brand.

CONNECT WITH JEN:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Website

CONNECT WITH KATE:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Website