Step out of the shadows,
and into your own personal brand spotlight.
“🔥 🔥 🔥 great book! Highly recommended!
A spectacularly useful guide to personal branding that pulls off the difficult trick of being both realistic AND inspirational. A must-read, regardless of where you are in your own brand-building journey.”
– Jay Baer, NYT best-selling author, Talk Triggers
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Too many people for too many years have labored in obscurity.
Why? Because that’s the way it’s always been. Work for someone else. Let them profit off your labor. And remain nameless, letting others take credit for your hard work.
In 1997, the brilliant Tom Peters outlined the tenets of a new concept—Personal Branding. Since then, smart people of all ages have decided to turn that concept into daily practice, and the results speak for themselves. Fact is, if you’re not actively branding yourself based on who you are, what you do, and how you do it, you are leaving opportunity on the table. But with this book, and a little bit of work, that opportunity is 100% yours to own—starting today.
From the Introduction—
“I am not a fiction writer.”
A long time ago, at the very start of my copywriting career, I worked at a certain ad agency in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s not that hard to figure out which one (just look on LinkedIn), but for now, let’s maintain the fig leaf of anonymity for a moment. Where I worked in not important. What I learned there is.
It all started one ordinary day when I received a creative brief for a print ad. A creative brief is a multi-page document, labored over by an earnest, diligent account manager that has worked out the details of a given project with the client. And in general, the creative brief is something frequently ignored by the Creatives assigned to the project.
I, as the designated copywriter, did exactly that: ignore the vast majority of the creative brief. But I focused with hawk-like intensity on the copy points it contained. Again, for those fortunate enough never to have cracked the seal on a creative brief, copy points were the ‘rubber hits the road’ facts, specifications, and messages the client wished to convey via the selected advertising channel. And in this case, the copy points were very terse, shallow and simple—and entirely unsatisfactory.
“Write some stuff.”
That’s the only copy point I saw, because it was the only copy point listed. And I was pissed. So I grabbed my copy of the creative brief, marched down the hall to the moron, err… account manager who scribbled the brief to have a conversation about its complete lack of specificity and clarity.
The first words out of my mouth were direct, and just a little bit salty. “Dude, what that @#$% is this?” That interrogative was immediately followed by the words making up the title of this section of the book. Why? Because when it comes to writing advertising and marketing copy, I have absolutely no problem with buffing a turd to a high gloss, but said turd needs to be based on an inalterable foundation: the truth.
At the end of the day, everything turned out fine. I did indeed ‘write some stuff.’ The client signed off on the ad with no great problem or concern. And all were happy. Except me.
“I am not a fiction writer.” That’s not to say I couldn’t write fiction, if I wanted (which thank the stars you do not have to be exposed to), but if I’m writing ad copy, it’s got to at least have a scintilla of truth about it. But this incident really got me thinking—for something like 22 years.
If I’m not a fiction writer, what am I?
That’s a good question, one worth a couple of decades of pondering. And so, I have. What I realized is that I am, in fact, a non-fiction writer.
But my internal realization didn’t stop there. It began extending itself to the larger topic of branding, eventually leading to the writing of the book you’re holding right now. If I’ve learned only one thing over the term my career that I will take to my grave, it’s this:
Branding is all about simplicity. And simplicity is hard.
Ah, but worry not, gentle brander. I’m going to walk you through this thicket of complexity, sharing what little I’ve learned over the years in such a way that you’ll fling this book down when finished and yell, “Well, that’s pretty darn obvious!” because that’s the way truth works. Initially obscure, then immediately recognizable when illuminated by even the weakest of light sources. That’s the way non-fiction writing works—and NonFiction Branding does too.
This book is my hard-earned philosophy recorded for posterity. Hopefully, you’ll be able to get something out of it—especially the motivation to put yourself out there, to claim and proudly own what is entirely yours, and to help make our shared world a little bit better place to live. How? By sharing your unique voice and demonstrating exactly who you are, what you do, and how you do it via your ‘completely true / completely you’ personal brand. – DP Knudten
Reactions to NONFICTION BRAND—
“Ready to show up & make an impact? This is personal branding raw & real. The book that will take you behind the scenes so you can see how it all happens and will get you inspired to do it yourself. A great combination of relatable examples, spiced with the one and only DP humor that will make it an unforgettable read!” – Bea Pole-Bokor, Founder, B!Social
“Knudten’s ‘Selective Authenticity’ concept is to Branding what Simon Sinek’s ‘Why?’ is for Leadership. You can’t fake it, but you can—and should—find it and hone it. NONFICTION BRAND shows you the way.” – Darin Tessier, VP/Marketing Director, SBCP.bank
“DP has an ability to see things that others can’t. He sees the story of you and your brand and has an ability to communicate this in an empowering and enlightened way” – Christian Small, Founder, Momentum Golf
“Reading DP Knudten’s NONFICTION BRAND, is at once both fabulously comforting and deliciously confronting. His warmth, humour intelligence and creativity ooze through every word, like butter melting on wholewheat toast. But the work is challenging, he asks us to dig into who we really are, to squash our imposter syndrome, embrace our experience and put ourselves ‘out there’. But the great thing? DP has got our back every step of the way, with a wealth of great ideas, tactics, and examples of how we can learn to love the ‘us’ in our business.” – Kate Toon, Founder, Stay Tooned Pty Ltd
“Authenticity is the key to connection, and this book shares the inspiration and examples needed to unearth your true self and share it with the world.” – Melanie Deziel, Author , The Content Fuel Framework
“Whether you’re an employee or an entrepreneur, if you don’t live, breath and practice the art of personal branding in the twenty-twenties, you’re going to get left behind. DP Knudten gets this, and his book, NONFICTION BRAND, will equip you with the inspiration, blueprint and tools needed to launch your personal brand.” – Paul Ramondo, CEO, RamondoMedia
“An industry veteran with decades of expertise under his belt, when DP talks about personal branding, people listen. Quite literally in his great podcast series, NONFICTION BRAND, served as the base for this fantastic book that explores the many faces and stories of self-branding.” – Balázs Ferenczi, Contributing Editor, FratelloWatches.com
“I remember meeting DP and thinking, ‘He sees it like I do,’ talking about Social Media and branding in a way that most people just don’t get. Building an honest brand and bringing value to a community is what it’s all about. DP has put it all together in NONFICTION BRAND, with so many great examples. Every time I read a chapter I think, I need to work that.” – Roger Wakefield, The Expert Plumber, Top YouTube influencer
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