The Importance of Personal Branding
As editors, it is easy to focus on the act of editing and forget that we are businesspersons. Coming out of college, I spent a lot of my time watching editing tutorials. However, I spent almost no time thinking about how to actually get work. My wife and I moved to Los Angeles in 2012. I started looking for work on sites like Craigslist and Mandy.com. There was a lot of down-time while waiting for work. So I started a small tech blog. A few of my articles were picked up for corporate blogs like Light Iron and Lumberjack.
Around 2014, I started meeting people in post production on Twitter. One of those connections actually got me a job. It was the first wide-released TV documentary cut in Final Cut Pro X. Over time, I started branding myself as the Final Cut Pro X documentary guy. It brought me a lot of work. Eventually, I met Sam Mestman, who later brought me on at LumaForge. Branding myself actually paid off.
Krysta Masciale & Branding Yourself
I met Krysta Masciale a few years ago. She’s worked as a brand strategist for over a decade. Last fall, she decided to pivot and focus on branding for Hollywood. Since then, she’s written a number of great articles on the re-branding of Hollywood.
In her work, Krysta emphasizes reinvention over replication. Everyone wants to “keep up with the Joneses”, rather than reflecting their own strengths and weaknesses. But replication makes less desirable “knock offs” rather than something original. Reinvention starts with something old and totally rethinks it. This is where innovation lives. But you can wear yourself out reinventing all the time. That’s when it is time to refine.
Krysta gave a great presentation at the Faster, Together Stage at NAB 2018. In it, she spoke to the need for YOU to find solutions that nobody else can. She encouraged personal reinvention. This includes narrowing your focus and figuring out how you want to be known. Personal branding requires you to know yourself. Dig deep and learn what makes you tick. Find ways to serve others though your unique skills and experience. The effectiveness of your life and the future of the industry depend upon it.
To see more presentations from the Faster, Together Stage, go to fastertogether.com