Managing Mystique

Posted on April 15, 2008 
Filed Under Branding You

Personal Branding and being in business is all about creating and managing perceptions. Of course, what you deliver must match or surpass the expectation created by the initial perception or you’re setting yourself up for failure.

There’s a lot to learn from smart celebrities that know the power of maintaining a certain level of mystery. Give the public too much access and you run the risk of appearing common and boring.

Whitney Houston was at the top of her game before succumbing to drugs and an ill-conceived marriage to “bad boy” Bobby Brown. The couple added insult to injury by letting cameras document their drug-ridden debacle in a television realty series. On the other hand, Barbra Streisand knows how to manage her mystique. She gives few interviews and even fewer concerts, for which she commands a premium price.

Former President Bill Clinton continues to diminish his stature by refusing to control his impulse to speak out on every matter pertaining to his wife’s candidacy. By association, Hillary fails to distinguish herself as a potential leader of the free world when she doesn’t even appear to be able to influence her husband. A case in point has to do with the flap regarding portrayal of her 1996 trip to Bosnia. The story had all but died in the media until Bill raised it again and added even more inaccuracies to the accounts.

So how does all of this impact you and your personal brand? First, take an accounting of how much you give away for free. Are you devaluing your brand by providing free access to your expertise or have you set it up so that you’re paid?

There are no victims in the game of commerce. I’ll admit that this is a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way.    We all want to be eternally generous. But either you set boundaries or you’ll go broke. We train the marketplace on how to compensate us.    When you position yourself as an expert you must also establish a system that guarantees that you are also highly compensated.

The legal profession has brilliantly established a precedent that you can follow. Offer prospective clients an initial 30–minute free consultation before your hourly rate kicks in. Start insisting on retainers.

If you’re uncomfortable making these demands, do some soul searching to ask yourself why. Who decides if you’re worth it? Only you do.

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