{"id":170,"date":"2018-12-28T23:34:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T23:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.speakersinstitute.com\/mockup\/2018-12-28-three-ways-that-elon-musk-built-his-personal-brand-and-three-musk-mistakes-that-you-must-learn-from\/"},"modified":"2018-12-28T23:34:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T23:34:50","slug":"2018-12-28-three-ways-that-elon-musk-built-his-personal-brand-and-three-musk-mistakes-that-you-must-learn-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speakersinstitute.com\/online\/2018-12-28-three-ways-that-elon-musk-built-his-personal-brand-and-three-musk-mistakes-that-you-must-learn-from\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Ways that Elon Musk Built his Personal Brand (And Three Musk Mistakes That You Must Learn From)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When you think of the tech sector, you think of Elon Musk. He\u2019s created such a powerful personal brand that it overshadows his own companies. Here\u2019s what you can learn from the methods (and mistakes) in Musk\u2019s brand-building quest.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Elon Musk, you have an entrepreneur who\u2019s bigger than his companies. Musk founded the likes of Tesla and SpaceX with a vision of catapulting the human race forward. And in doing so, he\u2019s created a powerful personal brand.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the man you think of when you hear those company\u2019s names. In fact, his brand eclipses those of his companies. Musk is one of the go-to guys when you think about modern entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

The point is that he\u2019s done an amazing job of crafting his own brand that\u2019s completely separate from those of his companies.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something that you should aspire to as a speaker. While you want to build a business, you also want your audience to connect to you. You want people to care about your story.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s achieved just that. Here, we look at how he managed it, as well as examining some of the missteps he\u2019s made along the way.<\/p>\n

Tip #1 \u2013 Show Your Story With Your Brand<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What do you think Musk aims to do with Tesla?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s looking to completely transform the automotive industry. With this company, he wants to move us away from the fossil fuel-driven vehicles of today. Through vehicles powered by electricity, he aims to create a brighter future.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all part of his story as much as it is Tesla\u2019s vision. Musk\u2019s great ambition is to move humanity forward in new directions. Tesla is essentially one of the vehicles that he\u2019s using to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

As a result, he\u2019s showing you his personal story through his company brand. The vision of his company is a direct result of the personal goals that he has.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an amazing by-product to this technique. It creates an instant connection between the business brand and Musk\u2019s personal brand. When you hear about Tesla, you instantly understand Musk\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Better yet, he commits to building his brand through Tesla. Musk has a reputation for being a visionary, but he\u2019s also known for his accountability.<\/p>\n

When a Tesla car caught fire in 2013, Musk didn\u2019t hide away from the issue. He responded with a blog post that immediately tackled it.<\/p>\n

In doing that, he showed people that he\u2019s accountable for what his companies do. In fact, he\u2019s so accountable that he takes the time to respond to such issues personally.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all part of his story too. While he wants to pull humanity forward, he also knows that he needs checks and balances. Such direct responses show that he\u2019s engaging his audience. In doing so, he makes his personal brand more powerful. His commitment to accountability gives people a reason to trust him even when things do go wrong.<\/p>\n

That trust creates a strong connection between Musk and his audience. It\u2019s a crucial part of the brand he\u2019s built and the story that he\u2019s showing.<\/p>\n

Tip #2 \u2013 Make Your Audience a Part of Your Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With all that Musk has achieved, you\u2019d expect him to cast himself as the hero of his story. He\u2019s the visionary that\u2019s dragging the rest of us forward. Follow him to the Promised Land.<\/p>\n

If he represented himself that way, his personal brand would go up in flames. People don\u2019t connect to those who lord over them. They grow to resent them, which means they don\u2019t buy into the person.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s a visionary, but he knows how important it is that his audience participates in that vision. That\u2019s why he makes them a part of his story.<\/p>\n

Think about what happens when someone buys a Tesla vehicle. They\u2019re attracted to the story behind the brand. Musk\u2019s probably played a large part in influencing the purchasing decision.<\/p>\n

When that purchase gets made, the customer instantly becomes a part of Musk\u2019s story. They\u2019re taking on all of these amazing qualities, such as being future-focused and environmentally conscious. They\u2019re joining Musk on his quest to move humanity forward. And in doing so, they become the heroes of their own stories.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s just the guide on the journey. It\u2019s the customer who\u2019s the hero. They get to show people their own values and story through the action that Musk inspires them to take.<\/p>\n

A personal brand isn\u2019t about making sales. It\u2019s about connecting with people and getting them to engage with your vision. Your story becomes a part of their story, and vice versa. And when that happens, your personal brand becomes even more powerful.<\/p>\n

Tip #3 \u2013 Commit to Your Brand as You do to Your Work<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Musk\u2019s work ethic borders on legendary. He\u2019s known for regularly working 80+ hours per work to ensure all of his businesses succeed.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, that work ethic plays into his personal branding. People see how hard he works to achieve his vision and instantly connect. He\u2019s not a faceless CEO. He\u2019s in the trenches with his people.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not what this point focuses on. Instead, it\u2019s about making your personal brand as much of a focus of your work as your business.<\/p>\n

Musk has two massive businesses. It wouldn\u2019t surprise anyone if he split his working hours between them and didn\u2019t do anything else.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the case, he\u2019s active all over social media and interacting with people on a regular basis. He\u2019s creating amazing content and attending events. Musk gets himself out there and shows people what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

These efforts may benefit his business brands. But they\u2019re more important for building his personal brand. He\u2019s putting information out there and actively working on how he wants people to perceive him.<\/p>\n

Take his direct interactions with Tesla customers as an example. Those aren\u2019t about building the Tesla brand. These interactions help him to build trust and engage his audience. In doing that, he\u2019s improving people\u2019s perception of him and guiding it to where he wants it to be.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n

Your brand isn\u2019t something that just appears as a result of your work in your business. It\u2019s something that you have to actively craft and maintain.<\/p>\n

That means you have to put the hours into building it.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk\u2019s Big Mistakes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For all of the success that Musk has enjoyed while building his personal brand, he\u2019s also an example of how mistakes can derail things.<\/p>\n

In 2018, a team of young Thai footballers got trapped in a labyrinthine cave system in Thailand. Water blocked their escape route and the rescue effort gained international publicity.<\/p>\n

Musk offered his services in the form of a submarine that he believed could save the children. Unfortunately, the practicalities of the situation made the sub unusable. Instead, a team of divers rescued the children without Musk\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s response did massive damage to his personal brand. He used Twitter to make serious allegations against one of the divers.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll need to recover from that situation. But here\u2019s what you can learn from Musk\u2019s big mistake.<\/p>\n

Tip #1 \u2013 Don\u2019t Attack Others<\/em><\/h1>\n

Your personal brand is all about you. It\u2019s not about your competitors or people that you may have a dislike for.<\/p>\n

As soon as you start attacking other people, you\u2019re showing a side to your personality that people haven\u2019t seen before. In Musk\u2019s case, it was a side that a lot of people didn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

Focus on you instead of other people.<\/p>\n

Tip #2 \u2013 Accept When You\u2019re Not the Hero<\/em><\/h1>\n

Ironically, Musk\u2019s biggest mistake in this situation was his desire to cast himself as the hero.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something he\u2019d avoided well up until this point. But his attack on the divers smacked of jealousy that they\u2019d received the plaudits instead of him.<\/p>\n

Musk tried to make himself the hero of a story and it backfired. A better response would have been to congratulate the divers on their efforts and move on. He\u2019d have done no damage to his brand if he\u2019d just overcome his desire to be the hero.<\/p>\n

Tip #3 \u2013 Remember That Emotions Count<\/em><\/h1>\n

When you have a personal brand, you become an influencer. People connect to you on an emotional level. That means your emotions can influence theirs.<\/p>\n

Musk was clearly upset about the way things played out with the Thai rescue operation. Unfortunately, his response was to vent those emotions all over social media.<\/p>\n

In those moments, he made the situation all about him in a negative way. He also stirred up negative emotions among his audience. Some rebuked him whereas others joined in the unwarranted criticism he levied against the diver.<\/p>\n

Building a personal brand is all about creating emotional connections between you and your audience. Always consider the emotional impact of your message before you show it to the world.<\/p>\n

The Final Word<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By and large, Elon Musk offers a stellar example of how to build an amazing personal brand.<\/p>\n

But his actions in 2018 highlight some of the mistakes that you can make along the way. Learn from the good and the bad and you\u2019ll have a better chance of creating an amazing personal brand.<\/p>\n

Speakers Institute can help you to put all of this into practice. We recommend that you do the following:<\/p>\n