Faux Pas

I made a mistake this week.

Once you have some of your own stories on the web (see right if interested), you become your own publicist. That means you have to work to get every follower, every friend, every name on your mailing list, because each one becomes a potential customer, a potential buyer of your product.

So unless your brand involves pissing people off, like that abuse-the-customer bakery in New York, one has to be careful to act accordingly. My brand, as you can see from above, involves three things: novels, self-publishing and screenwriting, not necessarily in that order. Not calling bull$h*t when people start spewing negativity, lies and/or plain nonsense.

Unfortunately, sometimes one's personality doesn't always fit with one's brand. I, until recently, followed a gentleman, we'll call him Leroy, and all this guy does is watch TV and tweet about how stupid the show is. Unless, of course, the show involves a certain British TV character. Where that show is concerned, the man is a dedicated fanboy.

So, I told him I was tired of his negativity and intolerance for everything on TV. Why does he bother watching if all he does is complain and moan?

Well, it didn't occur to me this guy might have a brand too, and I was telling him it didn't work. So he tells me I'm being rude. Maybe I was. I don't know. I sure wanted to know why he bothered to watch TV he hated, though.

So I call him on his baloney, turn the machine off and go to bed, not giving it another thought. The next morning, I'm down 30 Twitter followers.

They must have liked his brand.

I didn't, so I unfollowed. I don't need people bringing out the worst in me.

The moral of the story? Not everyone understands you. Your brand will not appeal to everyone. But, and here's the tricky part: One should be careful not to alienate those your brand attracts.

You'll sell less.

So, harshly learned lesson of publicity number one: Don't be a jackass.

Unless that's why people like you.