If you don’t know who the Macho Man is, go on to the next story.

Growing up Macho Man was one of those celebrities of my childhood that was larger than life. Macho Man Randy Savage was signed to the WWF in 1985 according to his wikipedia. His character was over the top and even as I started learning that the WWF was not so authenticate, Randy just increased his brand.

Did you ever just once think Randy did not believe he was Macho Man? No way … through and through from the SlimJim commercials to WWE, Macho Man succeeded at successful branding.

here is a video of Macho Man from 2007, still the same Macho Man. About the 4 minute mark he talks about brand value. Macho Man was great, and if you hadn’t heard …  Macho Man passed away last week. Rest in Peace Macho Man! Espn has a great article written by Bill Simmons called “At its apex, Macho Man was wrestling“, great read. Heres a video I found via that article, Macho Madness … its madness no doubt!

Where do people fail with branding? NOT believing in themselves! Which probably starts with believing in the product or service they are trying to sell. If your process requires branding yourself I suggest you take the necessary steps in doing it correctly.

• you must have a product or service you believe in, in my mind this is not a option.
• start by looking at yourself as the business, you will need a branding plan, or business plan.
• plan for the long haul. Years down the line, branding takes time or money.
• be 100% consistant.
• have specific message you convey every time.
• colors matter a lot. There are lots of studies on marketing and color they may help you or may help confuse you.
• try reading a couple branding books, analyze techniques and choose the best ones for you. A good place to start is with this book “Self Marketing Power: Branding Yourself As a Business of One“.

it takes dedication, but the rewards are worth it considering media marketing costs today in print, radio and tv. Once you have created a successful brand, your marketing costs can become exponentially less and less as your brand continues to grow until its peak.

if your lucky enough to recognize your peak, then its time to rebrand.

UPDATE: something I learned through reading stories on Macho Man was that Miss Elizabeth died of a overdose in May of 2003, sad. Here is Miss Elizabeth’s Wikipedia.

heres a video ..