For many technically-minded people, "branding" and other business terms are a sort of taboo subject. Something looked at with disdain, or at minimum, skepticism. However, a strong personal brand can make a developer's career smoother. So, I've tried to explain the concepts in a way that skeptical techies - like myself - can understand.

1. A SKEPTIC'S
GUIDE TO
BRANDING

2. I'M ZOE LANDON.

3. AND I'M A RABBIT.

4. “
I say that not just because it's funny,
but because it's actually a big part
of the brand I've developed. It'll all
make sense as we go.
Plus it's funny.

5. HOUSEKEEPING NOTES
◦ This is high-level, and might
seem obvious or lacking in
nuance to some.
◦ The focus is on branding, but
sales and marketing are
covered.
◦ Citations are on the page where
they're relevant.
That's right.

7. “
I cite my sources.
(And reference XKCD.)
Because, for a technical audience,
sources are persuasive. And we're
going to start there.

8. SALES1

9. “
Normally, sales is the last thing you
worry about. But we'll start here
really quick.

10. SALES
=
PERSUASION

11. “
Since we're talking about
persuasion, let's look at politics.
Rogers & Norton ran surveys on
people's reactions to varied political
speech.

12. “
People who dodge questions artfully are
liked and trusted more than people who
respond to questions truthfully but with
less polish.
- Todd Rogers and Michael
Norton

13. Eloquence
Beats
Honesty

14. “
This could make you more cynical.
But.

15. Eloquence
Is Easier When
Honest

16. “
Lying tends to induce paraverbal
cues, such as tripping over words,
which make a speaker sound less
eloquent.

17. “
So, if you genuinely believe what
you say, it becomes easier to say it
in an eloquent, persuasive way.

18. EXAMPLE
While running Fairwood Studios, I had to
sell bands on putting their music in a video
game.
So I only contacted bands I genuinely
thought would be cool to have in the game
and would genuinely benefit from doing it.
I didn't get every band I wanted, but I got a
lot, including Giraffes? Giraffes! and
Rockapella.

19. The
Important
Bits:

20. Sales is just persuasion
Believe in what you're selling
Be honest to be eloquent

21. MARKETING2

22. “
Disclaimer: I'm not terribly good at
marketing.
But then, that's not a huge surprise.

23. @SwiftOnSecurity:
Nerds suck at marketing.
Especially themselves.

24. MARKETING
=
EXPOSURE

25. “
Your goal when "marketing" is just
to make stuff, tell people about it,
and put it somewhere that people
could find it. Whatever gets you
more exposure.

26. “
...mere exposure to a briefly presented
stimulus can increase positive affect
through familiarity...
- John G. Seamon; Nathan
Brody; David M. Kauff

27. “
Marketing is the Mere Exposure
Effect in action. The more people
see you, the more they like you.
It almost doesn't matter what you're
doing.

28. Just
Make
Stuff

29. “
Blogging is a marketing favorite, but
GitHub or Dribbble profiles work
too. Wherever your audience is.
Better work or wider broadcast
makes for better marketing. They
amp up the exposure.

30. EXAMPLE
I used to network a ton. Like, two or three
times a week on average.
I mingled, but I didn't go too far with it. I'd
see a lot of the same people time after
time, so I just made myself visible and let
people know what I did and who I was.
Eventually, I got calls from companies just
because their employee remembered me.
One even resulted in a job offer.

31. The
Important
Bits:

32. Marketing is exposure
Making stuff =more exposure
Any exposure helps a little

33. “
Don't ask me how to make it less
scary to put your work out there. I
don't know.

34. “
You might be thinking, "if I make
crappy stuff, won't that hurt?
Wouldn't I be better off without
exposure?"
Maybe. But now we're getting into...

35. BRANDING3

36. “
Sales and marketing are good to
know, but ultimately rely on your
brand.

37. BRAND
IS
EVERYTHING

38. “
Like, literally everything about you.
How you look.
How you act.
How you don't act.
Your height, your gender, your hair
color.
Every visible detail about you, or
your project, or your company.

39. “ No pressure, huh?

40. “
But the reality is, reality doesn't
exactly matter. Not entirely.

41. BRAND
IS
PERCEPTION

42. “
Perception is what really matters.
And perception is a double-edged
sword. You can look better or worse
than reality.
Since everyone sees your brand a
little different, both are true at once.

43. “
However, as design cannot respond to
each person on an individual basis,
designers must search for some areas of
commonality.
- Robert Jacobson

44. “
A lot of design notions center on
finding a common perception. It's a
good field to study.
So, how do we affect perception?

45. Tell
A
Story

46. “
Storytelling is a fairly easy way to
do so.

47. “
Significant Objects sold thrift-store
items on eBay, paired with elaborate
stories. Such as...

48. “
It dumped snowed one evening, so I got
out my velvet swatch, antler-handled
magnifying glass, and ice crystal
identification guide to take to the
riverbank at sunset.
- Trinie Dalton

49. “
That was the first sentence.
It went on for four paragraphs.
What was it selling?

50. A $0.99 BUTTER DISH.
IT WENT FOR $9.50.

51. EXAMPLE
The "Car Crash effect" describes how a
single word change can affect perception.
Changing "hit" to "smashed" increased the
perceived speed of impact.
McGregor and Holmes, while researching
memory and language, found they could
change how personal, intimate
relationships were perceived based on how
they described conflict within them.

52. “
...the cognitive side effects of storytelling
may help cause idealization and
satisfaction in relationships.
- Ian McGregor and John G.
Holmes

53. EXAMPLE
When asked about my rabbit hat, I don't
just say "I pretend to be a rabbit on the
Internet." I tell the story.
It's an underdog story of being a misfit,
finding my people in the furry community,
and growing as a person over the years as
a result. The rabbit is an emblem of that
journey, a steady reminder of who I am.
It's odd, but endearing, almost relatable.
I've gotten job offers even after sharing it.

54. “
The rabbit story also takes a potential
weakness - an odd interest and personal
presentation - and turns it into a potential
strength.
This is Stoicism in a nutshell.

55. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS.

56. “
The Obstacle is the Way is all about
Stoicism, an ancient (literally) philosophy
on addressing challenges. It's helped me a
ton in battling problems.
Stoicism isn't rigorously tested, though, so
if you don't buy into it that's okay.

57. “
Thanks to it, though, I've been more eager
to wear my weirdness on my sleeve.
And that also manages to provide a brand
benefit.

58. Novelty
Enhances
Perception

59. “
If something is novel - not totally
unfamiliar, just a little novel - then it draws
attention in without being scary.

60. “
Furthermore, novel stimuli are known to
activate brain regions also related to
emotional processing, specifically the
amygdala...
- Judith Schomaker and
Martijn Meeter

61. “
This is more of a marketing trick than
branding, but it still helps to keep it at
your brand's core if you can.
It also plays into the honesty notion. Most
people, when being honest, come off a bit
novel.

62. “
You don't want to take this too far, though.
Novelty can trigger a fight-or-flight
response.
How much novelty triggers it is a matter
of perception, so that too differs from
person to person.

64. “
Kevin Kelly wrote of the 1,000 true fans.
Paul Jarvis has his "rat people".
In both cases, the fact that novelty
excludes some is seen as reason to
embrace those it doesn't push away.

65. “
Birds of a feather really do flock together.
(In some cultures more than others.)

66. “
Allowing yourself to unapologetically serve
your kind of people, and only them, makes
the whole practice of branding far more
natural and honest.
You won't please everyone, but you can
always please someone.

67. The
Important
Bits:

68. Your brand is perceived
Stories are powerful
Everyone's perception differs

69. Turn weakness into strength
Focus on your people
Novelty helps perception

70. Finally:

71. Sales is persuasion
Easier to be trusted when selling honestly
Brand is perception
Tell a story with commonality and novelty
Marketing is exposure
Make & do stuff in front of your audience

72. The end
THANK YOU!
Zoe Landon
@hupfen
zoe@hupfen.com
Thanks to Sydney Brea, Tony Konzel, and Pete Conrad
for editing help
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