Personal Branding Without Being a Douche • Hacker News Board

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#21

Post by pamelafox » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:09 PM UTC

jasonshen wrote: post #8

logjam wrote: post #7

"My blog is my public face to the world and if I post something horribly offensive here, my brand goes with it." Friendly advice: folks might be more inclined to take your advice and your "brand" as something actually post-adolescent if your public face to the world consisted of choices of words other than your odd, repeated use of variants of the word "douche" in your writing and in the headline you self-posted here…

Thanks for the advice. I recognize that not everyone will jive with my style or choice of words, but similar to Zach Holman's use of swear words, I chose to pick the word that I feel works best. I think most people are familiar with the term "douche" or "douchebag" and that it's usage is similar to "bastard" -- very far removed from the original meaning. I certainly don't mean to offend anyone but like I mention with…

There's actually an entire podcast on "Savage Love" dedicated to the subject of whether "douchebag" is offensive to women. Many women called in and said that since douching has been discovered to be harmful to the vagina, it's good that douchebag is used as an insult, because it reinforces that douching is a bad thing, hopefully discouraging women from partaking in it.

Doesn't mean that people won't be offended by it still, but an interesting way to think about it.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#22

Post by jasonshen » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:15 PM UTC

llambda wrote: post #4

georgieporgie wrote: post #3

Isn't this "100 pushups" and "cold showers" guy? Um...

No that's the author of 100-Hour Body (definitely not my opinion of worthwhile literature), right? But I think I understand why you'd have that impression. This kind of "personal branding" definitely has a similar taste to that kind of ethos. Although I don't think it's fair to necessarily opine on this particular blog post, there's nothing abjectly wrong with it, by the same token it does seem a little off for HN. S…

Haha - thanks for the edit. Also, I think you're trying to refer to Tim Ferriss -- but his book is called "The 4 Hour Body". Definitely sounds a bit less taxing than 100 hrs. =)

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#23

Post by klbarry » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:17 PM UTC

gxs wrote: post #20

I'm not one to lunge personal insults around - but is it bad that when I read the title "Personal Branding Without Being a Douche", the first site I thought of that could use help in this department is the site below? sebastianmarshall.com Then again, I did think of it, so maybe they're doing something right.

I adore SM's brand - it's quite refreshing to me, and possibly the only blog I read every single new post of.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#24

Post by jasonshen » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:19 PM UTC

tycho77 wrote: post #17

The throwaway paragraph about fashion holds much truth, I have found. I decided a year ago to learn how that stuff works. I can't even begin to list the benefits that come with it - it isn't only women that like you more, but men are more likely to take you seriously if you aren't walking around in jeans and a t shirt. Here's a good site to get started: http://www.magnificentbastard.com/ Lots of good advice, I agree…

Hey tycho77 - welcome to HN and thanks for the tip. This site looks really useful.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#25

Post by jasonshen » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:21 PM UTC

gxs wrote: post #20

I'm not one to lunge personal insults around - but is it bad that when I read the title "Personal Branding Without Being a Douche", the first site I thought of that could use help in this department is the site below? sebastianmarshall.com Then again, I did think of it, so maybe they're doing something right.

I'm actually friends with Sebastian. But before we knew each other personally, definitely admired his blog from afar. His style is not for everyone, but I think his content is really really good.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#26

Post by davesims » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:23 PM UTC

jasonshen wrote: post #19

davesims wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Jason, thanks for responding. I liked your post, and I appreciate that you didn't coin the term -- 'personal branding' has been around a long time. But the idea of 'Public Rhetoric' has been around far longer, and that's what we're really talking about -- the connection between what I present in public speech or other forum, to a truth about myself -- the 'ethos' of rhetoric. It's an ancient problem, and the conce…

Hey Dave, It's great to have a discussion about this. I think the concern that people have with businesses is that profit is a rather cold motive. We wonder if at the core of every corporation is an empty vessel, an icy void, a dispassionate pursuit of the bigger bottom line. As I mentioned in the post, I think the best brands (and businesses) have a mission that is higher than profit. Of course, some might dispute t…

I completely agree that business can be more than just commerce. I actually love my current gig for that very reason. I would love it if companies that value local commerce and community responsibility could co-opt our typical idea of business back into something bigger.

But language tends to go the way of our cultural stories, and the question here is, which narrative about business is dominant -- the narrative of disconnected douchey 1-percenters or the more benevolent narrative put out there by companies like American Apparel?

Unfortunately, it would seem that the former is what our society tends to associate with 'business' and 'branding', and companies like American Apparel (assuming you, er, buy into their whole story of championing local industry) haven't turned that tide. Maybe someday. For now, imo, Mad Men still rule the day.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#27

Post by jasonshen » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 9:42 PM UTC

pamelafox wrote: post #21

jasonshen wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the advice. I recognize that not everyone will jive with my style or choice of words, but similar to Zach Holman's use of swear words, I chose to pick the word that I feel works best. I think most people are familiar with the term "douche" or "douchebag" and that it's usage is similar to "bastard" -- very far removed from the original meaning. I certainly don't mean to offend anyone but like I mention with…

There's actually an entire podcast on "Savage Love" dedicated to the subject of whether "douchebag" is offensive to women. Many women called in and said that since douching has been discovered to be harmful to the vagina, it's good that douchebag is used as an insult, because it reinforces that douching is a bad thing, hopefully discouraging women from partaking in it. Doesn't mean that people won't be offended by it…

Really interesting. I could see an argument being made there. I think the bigger thing is that douche is relatively disconnected with women. It's not as direct as, for instance, calling someone a "pussy", which is more directly negative toward females.

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#28

Post by joelrunyon » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 10:04 PM UTC

I was at DefragCon the other day and James Altucher had a quote based on his experience with personal branding.

"Anytime you hear someone say 'Personal Branding' it means 'I'm going to lie to you and steal all your money'"

I thought it was pretty spot on based on my experiences with all the people that are so gung-ho about the buzzwords. :)

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#29

Post by jasonshen » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 10:23 PM UTC

joelrunyon wrote: post #28

I was at DefragCon the other day and James Altucher had a quote based on his experience with personal branding. "Anytime you hear someone say 'Personal Branding' it means 'I'm going to lie to you and steal all your money'" I thought it was pretty spot on based on my experiences with all the people that are so gung-ho about the buzzwords. :)

Thanks for the love Joel... =)

Re: Personal Branding Without Being a Douche

#30

Post by billpatrianakos » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 10:36 PM UTC

jasonshen wrote: post #11

georgieporgie wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cold showers aren't self improvement. It's the most contrived and limited form of self-punishment I can think of. Much of the developing world showers this way all the time. Promoting pectoral-shortening exercises among an audience of people who a) largely do not understand how to exercise their bodies in a balanced way and b) spend most of their days hunched or slouching in front of a computer, is not self-improveme…

Thanks for your thoughts. I wrote about my personal experience with cold showers and how I feel they have improved my life. This is an experiment with an N of 1. Most notably: "It also helps me temper my emotional responses to things. I no longer have the panicky feeling that a ton cold water on your skin gives you for more than a few seconds when I take my cold showers – I’ve trained myself to calm down and overcome…

Dude, you're getting a fair amount of hate on this thread and I commend you for the way you handle it. Every time someone comes along knocking you, you just respond with "Thanks for your thoughts" then go on to explain yourself. You can't say you don't practice what you preach.

In all honesty, this is the only post of yours I've ever read. I might dig in further and decide that I think you really are a douche. I don't know. But so far I like your style. Especially how you handle all the negativity.