I feel as if I'm at a crossroads, not personally, no, nothing like that, though how do I divorce myself from me and my digital persona, eh? I'm at a crossroads here at this blog, a venue in operation since Bloomsday 2006. Should I rebrand? More accurately, shouldn't I brand better? To paraphrase the name of President Biden's proposed omnibus spending program inching through Congress: Build Brand Better (BBB).
After all, exactly what is my brand?
It's never been singularly focused or dedicated to one thing. It has included poetry, haiku, baseball, writing, authoring, editing, wordplay, essays, personal musings, humor, travel, criticism, politics, grief, religion, zen, literature, aesthetics, ADHD, love, loss, gain, and other notions I can't summon to mind.
I'm at a branding crossroads. I'm at the Brandingburg Gate.
It doesn't take a marketing genius to see the value of sticking to one topic. From my sparse and amateurish research, I am told that bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, assorted "influencers," and even sordid pornographers find their niche (or fetish) and stick to it, consistently adhering to a recognizable theme or feel or stance.
What would be my brand?
Would I need to retire The Laughorist and start anew?
Start anew as what or who?
I don't have the star power of a celebrity name or the tawdry pull of infamy. (Is there a difference anymore between fame and infamy?) But even tacky celebs who have no talent other than promoting their name as a brand on the way to becoming billionaires started somewhere. I am disparaging them, but it sure sounds like I'm envying them, too. After all, they've got this branding thing down.
Do I rebrand by referring to myself (or my persona) by one name? First name or last? Real name or conjured up?
Am I impervious to branding success? Too old? (Add that as a topic to the list above.)
Whoa is me.
Strike up the brand.
Let's go branding.
