Allow me to introduce to you a piece of post-communist Romanian history, “American Cola”:
The writing on the label translates to “Finally, a quality cola”. Side note: my research revealed something unexpected: “American Cola” is (was?) very popular in many other countries and it looks like the same name has been used by dozens of seemingly unconnected companies across the world.
This gem was very popular in the early 90s. A Coca-Cola clone was a staple in most homes, but it was a sad kind of staple because people bought it because they couldn’t afford the real Coca-Cola.
As soon as the average income rose, American Cola and all the other brands by the same company (they have clones for Fanta and Sprite, too, of course) became almost invisible, at least in large cities.
Why?
Because people wanted the real thing, the real Coca-Cola.
Everyone in any industry and buying any product, be it B2B or B2C, is willing to pay more for one thing: reputation.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before: people don’t care about you and your brand, they care about what you can do for them.
This makes people sound incredibly self-centered and egotistical, right? Well, we are but not always.
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There is one situation where people care about what you’re selling, your brand, the journey, the product, and everything else. It’s when people buy reputation. Invest in your reputation above everything else to get paid more, more consistently, and more easily.
As self-centered creatures, we all want to be associated with reputable brands. It’s why people who can afford it pay for Louis Vuitton and Hermes instead of the cheap knock-offs.
It’s not just about quality, although it’s hard to replicate the leather quality in an Hermes bag; it’s about status symbol and wanting the best for yourself.
It’s reputation 101. People do care about YOUR brand because what they buy says a lot about who THEY are.
Reputation = the key that unlocks all doors
I got the idea for this issue from Tim Ferriss, whom David Perell interviewed on his podcast. You can watch the interview here. The bit that caught my attention is at the 21-minute mark.
“I have policies for all sorts of things in my life and a lot of them are around this scarce resource, which is very easily destroyed, called reputation, credibility. And this is going to become increasingly scarce and increasingly valuable.”
This idea hit home for me because this is my core value as well.
Remember American Cola, the knock-off brand I mentioned above? The buyers never really trusted it, they just bought it because it was cheaper. As soon as they could level up to “the real deal” they did.
The same goes for any brand in any industry: you can compete on price but that’s rarely a winning strategy in the long run. Most people will ditch you the second they can afford the product/the consultant/the service provider that’s more expensive but with a better reputation.
“The LONG game of credibility”
The phrase belongs to Tim Ferriss but the emphasis is mine. I added it because people underestimate how long it takes to build a credible, trustworthy, reputable brand.
I wrote about credibility and trust before, so today I want to approach it from a different angle.
Most online gurus will tell you that “it’s never been easier to get started”. I almost threw up 🤢 a bit in my mouth as I typed that because this statement is everywhere and it’s not wrong — just criminally incomplete.
Yes, Chad, we know it’s never been easier to start a business. But what about growing it and staying in that business?
You see, millions of people around the world know that it’s never been easier to put a website together and start posting on social media. Social media is free and there are countless services with a freemium option that allow you to build a landing page or a full website for exactly $0.
You no longer need to know how to code or even understand the basics of web and graphic design. You can cobble together something passable with a modicum of patience.
Then again, so can everyone.
If the entry barrier is low, the growth barrier is towering. I’ll keep saying this as often as needed. Because
Reputation is tough to compete on
In the podcast I quoted above, Tim goes on to argue that there is a finite amount of trust that people or consumers can put into other people and so “they’re gonna choose the people with the highest signal of credibility”.
Let’s say you need to buy a ring light. Which one do you choose:
- The one with a 5.0 rating out of 6 reviews or
- The one with a 4.7 rating out of 1243 reviews?
Most people would choose the latter.
Reputation is a matter of both quality and quantity.
Credibility signals get stronger when they come from multiple people. No matter what you sell, you will always fare better if:
- More people refer you to their friends or peers.
- More people talk about you and your work.
- More people leave you glowing testimonials.
- More people say you left a mark on them.
A personal example: when I first started posting on LinkedIn, I invited people to comment and ask for strategy advice. Whatever they were struggling with, I wanted to help, 100% free.
A couple of people took me up on it but that was it. Because my reputation on LinkedIn wasn’t strong enough.
I was still the same person with nearly two decades of experience in marketing strategy but I was not perceived as such.
There were a lot more people on LinkedIn with less experience but a better reputation. The crickets were loud on my post!
[Note to self: now that I’ve built a solid reputation there, I need to try this again.]
If Warren Buffet still offered financial consulting, he would definitely charge more than a first-year finance student. The same way Seth Godin would charge more than me and pretty much any other marketer out there.
People pay for their reputation, not for their know-how, or the minutes they spend together.
Want to get to a place where your name effortlessly opens any lucrative door? Start here:
How to safeguard and enhance your most precious asset, your reputation
We all have a reputation. It may not be Warren-Buffet-level but it’s there. It’s our responsibility to nurture it and, above all, to make sure you don’t lose it.
It’s tempting to say yes to any opportunity that comes your way or to half-ass your work when you don’t feel like it. Yes, even when your client is a jerk (it happens!).
I call it respect for your craft. Beyond monetary gains, the respect for your craft will get you the kind of reputation that sets you apart in the most competitive of landscapes.
A few things you need to build your reputation:
- Invest in great content, whatever format you publish in. Every company is a media company and your content is what sets you apart. Trite, surface-level content is already commoditized by AI. Reputation-building content is original and authoritative, like your own research or opinion pieces.
- When in doubt, it’s better to repurpose an excellent piece of content than to write a mediocre one.
- Choose your partnerships carefully. If you’re a creator, brand deals will come your way sooner or later. Tempting as it may be to say yes to every single one of them, say NO to those that don’t align with your values. You don’t want to be known as a sell-out.
- Develop a moral compass and a spine. Reflect on your values and make sure every piece of content you publish is aligned with them. Stand for what you believe in without worrying that you’ll push some people away. You might, but that’s a good thing, as counterintuitive as it may seem.
- Always back up your claims. If you say “99% of people do X”, make sure there’s data to back this up. Don’t pull data out of your arse, leave hallucinations to AI — you’re better than a machine.
- Invest in social proof as early on as possible. There is no growth lever and reputation-building asset than other people vouching for you. Collect testimonials and reviews from day 0.
- Build partnerships with other companies or creators. Lift each other up and work together on various projects. This is a great way to tap into new audiences and enhance your reputation.
- Learn to distinguish between popularity and authority. Conflating the two is a silent reputation killer.
I’m teaching all of the above and more in the Audience Accelerator course launching in July. Audience without reputation is useless, so my goal with this course is to help you build the right kind of audience, with focus on both quality and quantity. Join the VIP list and be the first to learn when the course is live:
Before I sign off, a final warning: reputation is hard to earn (it takes years!) and very easy to lose. Don’t get comfortable once you feel like you’re in a comfortable place, reputation-wise.
All it takes is a double-crossed client or an ill-fit partnership to lose years’ worth of work in a second.
That’s it from me today! Next week, I’ll be addressing one of the most frequent questions I get during strategy sessions: when to start creating on a new platform aka are you ready to diversify?
Here to make you think,
Adriana
Adriana’s Picks
- Creators vs business owners. I’m debating this topic on June 5th with my friends Hannah Szabo and Michael Scott Overholt in a free audio event. Join us here.
- OpenAI formed a new safety and security committee — led, in part, by Sam Altman — to advise the board on “critical safety and security decisions.” The committee’s first 90-day project will be to build out the company’s “processes and safeguards.”
- Apple is reportedly developing AI-generated emojis with iOS 18, which would allow iPhone users to create custom emojis based on their texts. I give it 3 days max until something gruesome/hateful hits the internet and they put guardrails around it.
Need me in your corner? There are three ways I can help you:
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- Book a 1:1 strategy session with me. Let’s unlock your growth in 60 mins!
