In today’s personal brand example, we take a look at James Altucher, a Hedge Fund Manager, Author, and Entrepreneur.
Example: Personal Brand Logo
The personal brand logo used by Altucher is creative, and catches the eye. It includes his first and last initials in blue and white bolded font, with both letters mixing within each other to distinguish the difference between the two letters. This type of personal brand logo is memorable, because the font and color choice is unique and easy to remember.
Personal Branding Tip: Using uncommon font and color choices for your personal brand logo will separate you from others, and will be more recognizable.
Example: Personal Brand Statement
From James Altucher’s website:
“Hi, I’m James. I’m an entrepreneur and angel investor. I’ve achieved the rank class of chess master. And I’m the author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling book “Choose Yourself”. I’ve started 20 companies, 17 of which have failed. But I’ve learned a lot along the way.”
The personal brand statement used my Altucher on his website provides a brief overview of what he has accomplished, in a casual tone.
He lists his professions of being an entrepreneur and angel investor, while also listing a couple achievements, such as his best-selling book and the amount of companies he has created. These accomplishments give him a competitive edge over his opponents and really speak to his target market.
By saying that he has started 20 companies yet 17 of them have failed, he relates to his audience in the sense that he has experienced hardships but kept trying, which led him to his successes.
Example: Personal Brand Tagline
James Altucher does not have a personal brand tagline.
Example: Personal Brand Story
Altucher’s personal brand story is located in the About tab on his website.
At the beginning, he discusses when he first moved to New York City, and what he was looking to get out of that experience. He wrote tons of novels and short stories before moving, and when he got there he was rejected over and over again by publishers, agents, and journals. He wanted success, to build companies, and to write books, so he kept working hard and refused to give up.
His personal brand story then transitions into a question and answer ordeal, where he answers questions about his success, his books, authors and books he recommends, psychology, his thought process, and more.
By answering questions instead of simply writing out a story, there is more of an interview feel. His thoughts are separated and focus on specific topics, while giving answers to questions his audience may be curious about.
Personal Brand Tip: Share your personal brand story on multiple channels and in different formats.
Altucher’s personal brand story on Youtube, called My Story, is located at the very top of his Homepage on his Youtube account.
In this video, he talks about the story to his success, full spectrum. He starts with discussing his childhood, and how he was taught by his parents to go to college, get a corporate career, get married, and follow that ordinary, expected life process.
He made a solid attempt at this process by going to college and landing a job at HBO, but was not happy and was not enjoying himself. He started doing side businesses that he liked, and eventually quit his job at HBO to become an entrepreneur.
Altucher struggled with failure in companies he created, including going broke and gambling a lot. His parents denied him money to help him out, which contributed to a bad relationship with them.
From his bad decisions, he learned how to be smart about money, to improve his personal and professional network, and to make successful trades and investments. From this he started writing about the information he obtained, and was featured in big publications such as Forbes and The New York Times.
He talks about his ups and downs, and focuses quite heavily on the bad decisions he’s made and how they negatively impacted his life. This proves that his change in mindset and the knowledge that he gained and now tells to others really worked, and helped him to create a happy and successful life for himself.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQlx2klE_aNrPhz2OyKRdg
Personal Brand Tip: Think about how you can use some of your bad experiences and turn them into a powerful part of your personal brand story.
Example: Personal Branding Website
Altucher uses https://jamesaltucher.com as his personal branding website.
On his website he includes information about his blog, podcast, links to financial newsletters that he writes, as well as a list of publications that he is featured in, such as Forbes, Ted, and the Financial Times. By including information and links to his blogs, podcasts, and financial newsletters, his audience can quickly access his writing, and will know exactly what he has to offer. Him listing what publications he is in gives him an upper hand over others, and proves why his viewers should choose to listen to his advice and knowledge instead.
Personal Branding Tip: Listing specific examples of accomplishments creates a sense of expertise in your field to your audience, demonstrating your leadership in that field.
Example: Personal Branding for Social Media
Next, let’s take a look at how James Altucher has personally branded his social media profiles.
Altucher’s Facebook profile gives quick insight into who he is as a person.
His profile picture is a casual headshot, with the picture being from the neck up. His header is his personal brand video, the same one from his YouTube account, that plays continuously. By seeing this video right when you click onto his Facebook profile, his audience can listen to his overview of his life instantly, and can know where he came from, what he’s been through, and where he is now in a matter of minutes.
There are no links on the header to his website or social media platforms, they are just included in his Facebook bio further down the page. With this type of profile picture and header, Altucher doesn’t come across as too pushy to sell his viewers on his services, but is rather more personal as he is sharing an awareness of who he is and what he does.
Altucher’s Twitter profile includes more content to promote himself than his Facebook profile.
His profile picture is the same casual headshot as his Facebook profile picture, and is very discernible, but his header picture is different. The top left corner of his header includes the name of his podcast, The James Altucher Show.
See what he did there? Yeah, named the show after himself. Personal branding in action…
The middle of the header includes the words “Check out my new website!” and the URL to his website, allowing easy access.
On the right side is a black and white headshot of him, similar to his profile picture. His bio comprises of a clever way to promote his blog, as well as a link to his Instagram page as well.
Pro Branding Tip: Use your social media headers as calls to action, showing where and how your audience can connect with you.
YouTube
Altucher’s YouTube profile includes a substantial amount of information to promote his personal brand.
His profile picture is a casual shot of himself smiling at the camera and sitting in front of a microphone for his podcast. His header picture is an animated image of himself, with text that says The James Altucher Podcast, and that there are “new videos uploaded every week”.
See that? He did it again, naming the show after himself. Personal branding in action…
The header also includes a box at the bottom right corner that has a subscribe button for his YouTube account, and buttons to take you directly to his Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Quora accounts. Including information about his podcast and links to his other social media platforms promotes all sides of his personal brand, and provides a prompt way to reach them.
He also has his personal brand video pinned at the top of his YouTube account, called My Story, so that it is the first video you see on his page.
Personal Branding Tip: Pin your personal brand story to the top of your YouTube page to make it more prominent and assure people who connect with you see it first.
Altucher’s Instagram profile presents straightforward information about what he has to offer with his personal brand.
His profile picture is the same one as his Facebook and Twitter profile picture, which creates a sense of continuity with his images. His bio highlights what he does, saying he is an Author of a bestselling book, an Investor, Entrepreneur, and the host of The James Altucher Show. This provides a quick summary of his profession, and why he is superior to his competitors.
He also included the link to the latest episode of his podcast in his bio, administering easy access.
Personal Branding with Books
Altucher has published many motivational books written to help his readers improve their mindset, their finances, and their lives.
Two of his books, The Power of No and Choose Yourself, are Wall Street Journal best-sellers, and many of his others are highly purchased.
His book topics and content directly correlate with his personal brand, and are directly in line with his podcast as well. Some of his books include:
- Choose Yourself
- The Rich Employee
- How to Be the Luckiest Person Alive
- The Power of No
- Reinvent Yourself
- I Was Blind But Now I See: Time to Be Happy
- Trade Like a Hedge Fund
Personal Branding Tip: Writing consistent quality content across various outlets such as books, blogs, your website, and social media posts will heighten your level of proficiency in your field.
What did you notice about James Altucher’s personal brand and how will you apply it to your own?
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