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There’s always room for growth. Do you know how many startups fail?

90%.

During years two through five, 70% of new businesses fail. If that statistic doesn’t intimidate you, I’m shocked. I run a startup and that statistic intimidates me! Why do so many startups fail? Probably because there’s no roadmap to this kind of lifestyle. Whether you have a business like I do (focused on a personal brand) or you have a business that focuses on a consumer brand, there are similar struggles.

However, consumer brands (think your favorite sock company or backpack) have different problems with raising capital and making sure they have consistent revenue models, which aren’t problems I encounter as a personal brand. That brings me to the question, should all founders have a personal brand?

This depends heavily on how comfortable you are being on camera or discussing your product. I watched an interesting documentary last month on the company Ashley Madison (yes, that company), and as unethical as that company is, that founder was a PR whiz. Between building his brand and scaling the Ashley Madison name, he was able to achieve a s*** load of press behind two brands. Enough so that he could’ve resigned as CEO (which he did!) and scaled his brand.

To build a personal brand you need to:

1. Know your niche. You may run a sock brand, but now the brand you’re running is you. What do you find yourself talking about with new hires or people you meet at a bar? You might realize that you love talking about building websites or how to make fewer errors early on as a founder. Run with the theme you feel like you’re an expert in!

2. Hire someone to do this for you. Unless you’ve sold your company or plan to quit involvement with it, you can’t run two companies at once. Building a personal brand has taken me 10+ years, so you need to have an outside perspective and give you an inside perspective without an unbiased opinion.

3. You need a media kit and a proper bio. I find so many founders don’t have either yet their “actual” company has got more than enough material behind it. You are the brand now, stop acting like you’re not as cool as your sock brand!

Stay fearless or die trying,

Alexa

This newsletter is sponsored by Amber Petty. Amber Petty is a published writer who has also worked with one of my favorite rappers Childish Gambino!

A: How do you advise young people to be fearless and start writing without proper editorial experience?

Amber: I started freelance writing as a side gig to support my acting life, so the initial decision wasn't hard. It was a fun way to use my creativity and not have to serve beers to drunk audience at a comedy shows (one of my previous side jobs). As I kept writing, I found it was more satisfying than waiting around for auditions. Even if I was just writing for Snooki's blog (a real job I had), it was exciting to see my work only with my name on it. Still, it was hard to leave acting. I'd spent my whole life devoted to it! Though I whole heartedly knew moving to writing was the right choice, it was hard to let go of all the dreams I'd had since singing "Part of Your World" at my 1st grade talent show.

But I did it. I was sad and I did it anyway. Sometimes, people believe they need to have all the confidence, courage, and a plan for success before they move into something. In reality, that never happens. But you can try. You can send out a pitch, write a story and post it online, and do the tiny steps that can eventually lead to a whole new career.

A: Your pieces have appeared in Buzzfeed, Eater, Huffington Post and more - how did you get such large press as a newer writer?

Amber: Editors need a lot of stories. They don't have enough staff to do it on their own and the internet requires a lot of content. When you pitch a story idea to an editor, the story idea is much more important than your experience. If the story fits the editors needs, they're likely to give a new writer a chance because there's not much at stake. They're not hiring you for a lifetime, they're working with you on 1000 words. So, all you need to do is try. That's an oversimplification of course, but the biggest thing that got me and my students bylines is the fact that we sent out an idea, even when our experience wasn't setting the world on fire.

A: What was it like working with Childish Gambino?

Amber: I did improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater at the time and knew Donald Glover from there. In fact, I beat him in a rap battle. A comedy, improvised rap battle, that I won because I look like a weird white cat lady and Donald Glover was obviously a talented rapper. So, the fact I wasn't utterly embarrassing took the audience by such surprise that I won. Let me be clear - Donald Glover is an infinitely better musician than me in every way. Anyway, during the 2008 writer's strike, Donald decided to make an album in his spare time. He knew I sang a bit, so asked me to sing some backup parts. Donald is awesome, an incredibly nice person, and amazingly talented. I mean, he was on strike from his TV writing job and used that time to make an album! I would have used that time to make an album called "I didn't get off the couch: ambience sounds of sleeping all day."

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