The Branding Initiative issue

If you’ve been sent here by a post on ‘The Branding Initiative’ read this first..

I usually don’t get involved in issues where people say things about me as Internet arguments are usually one sided and useless. However there have a been a few things said about me which have been brought to my attention from members of the group who have messaged me both here and via Linkedin which can only be addressed if they are able to hear my side. Every story has two sides so here is my side which might put what you have heard in a much more understanding light… I’ve been accused of copying someone’s system so I want to lay that argument to rest completely.

What you need to know first:

About two weeks ago (8th April) I was introduced by a mutual acquaintance to Chris of ‘The Branding Initiative’ Facebook group. I have never heard Chris’s voice as our conversation was entirely electronic via Facebook (and a Linkedin connection). That means all our conversations are logged completely.

Our initial conversation was simply about what we do and who each other have worked with as we both have an extensive list. We also talked about how 3 is a magic number to me in business as I like to split everything into three parts. After this I was welcomed into the group.

One of my first posts there was to give away my ‘Double Your Sales course‘ for free to the group as part of my welcome message to the group. (I gave something to the group as I intended to become an active member).

Never at any point was I shown a ‘strategy’ or roadmap either in this initial conversation or whilst being in the group.  In fact I thought it was a group for people who want to be coaches and didn’t realise until now that we were essentially clients. To be fair I never asked or clarified either (a mistake I accept on a personal level)

What I repeatedly heard and what is clearly stated on their Facebook Page description is the notion of Brand, Presence and Monetisation – the three steps they emphasise on everyone’s journey. A few people posted examples of how they were personally branding social media images etc (which is already commonplace) and there was a lot of talk about Brand, Presence, Monetisation mentors (BPM) – which kept reinforcing my assumption that we were all being encouraged to spread the notion of Brand, Presence, Monetisation. This was further reinforced by the fact that multiple members are using it on their own sites and linkedin profiles too. So it seemed to be to be widely used by all in the group.

Chris early on also mentioned in a post that 3 was important to me as a number and asked me to explain this, to which I replied about the various ways three is important in my work, including the fact that business is essentially three things: Firstly having something of value + finding people who want that value and then exchanging it. That is the basic notion of business taught in every business school around the world and you can see the similarity with ‘Brand, Presence, Monetisation’ – it’s just a very nice sexy way of wording the same business steps we are all taught.

I will prove a bit later on this page that I’ve been using this notion for many years. Of course not with the Brand, Presence, Monetisation wording to describe it but with all the tools and information created by myself.

It is important to note that whilst there were only a few people who seemed to post in the group, it was mostly articles found online alongside people posting about becoming BPM mentors….. so again I was under the assumption it was wording that was widely used. In fact I was under the assumption that we were all being encouraged even to become BPM mentors ourselves.

On Thursday 21st April I saw a post which even had wording on the lines of ‘Not everyone we invite is ready to accept being a BMP mentor right now – but when the time is right…’ (I’m no longer member of the group so rewriting that from memory but that was very close to what it was) –  this was posted by an admin and it completely reinforced my belief that we were all being encouraged to use BPM and spread it. Quite logical to make that assumption by now

Of course I know now with hindsight that this assumption wrong as I will explain. It is also important to note that whilst I heard the three words within the group there was never anything more I learnt – so there is no question of ‘copying’ any kind of system.

I thought about this group on Thursday night after reading the post mentioned above and thought it would be cool to be a BPM mentor too. Although I have my own system and tools – they all follow business logic which is exactly what BPM is based on and it was  nice to be around people who were super motivated.

On Friday 22nd my guys had already been planning to rebrand my ‘about me’ page for our upcoming relaunch in May. My website gets little to no traffic right now as we do not actively promote it yet – all the new content was coming with the relaunch which we have been planning for months. So I used the wording Brand, Presence and Monetisation to help split my many tools (after the post on the group the day before – I was still holding the false assumption that we were all being encouraged to be mentors). After creating it and finishing by about 2.30pm ish, the team took a look and then sent the link to Chris to take a look.

So Chris was the very first person besides my staff to see it…BECAUSE I SENT IT TO HIM…. The exact wording of my text is below:

The page has a lot of my own text with JUST THREE WORDS taken from the group which were simply used to section header my own created tools (video courses, books and more which were ALL created way before I’ve ever heard of the group)

A few minutes later we discussed in my team whether it really fit our model as we tend to emphasise building value and trust and some of my guys felt we lost that by using BPM so I sent him another note stating that we could change it to Value, Trust and Reward – which is my personal take on the three basic business principles as taught in every business school and which I clearly stated in my first post on the group when I was asked to explain the rule of 3 in my business.

Note – He heard about me using it from ME. He didn’t find this on his own – I told him. I wasn’t trying to be underhand, I assumed we were being urged to use the three specific words (just as many others within the group do) – something in hindsight I know was a silly assumption but something which if you followed along you can see that no matter how silly – there was a number of assumptions that led me here. But I repeat I sent him the link first… so this was never an issue of trying to copy him… if that were the case I would never have sent it him. I used my assumption and then instantly messaged him to check my assumption (of course in hindsight that should have been the other way round).

No one besides my staff and himself had even seen the page until he made a reaction.

His Reaction

Quite simply he lost it. He wrote

 

Do you think I mind ??

So instead of promoting our system you are copying mine ??

You are an idiot and I will get my Lawyers to write to you

After which I was unfriended from social networks such as Linkedin and ‘The Branding Initiative’ Facebook group.

I can understand his reaction but I have to make a few points here:

1. I asked him immediately after putting it up (on the assumption we were being encourage to use the THREE words) if it was ok or if I should take it down   – of course I understand in hindsight that it would have been better the other way round but a number of posts on the group and the fact that many others use it on their own profiles led me to that assumption
2. Nobody currently visits the site – We have great interaction on both Twitter and Instragram (even though we haven’t been too regular with content) but we do not promote the website or my tools on them yet.We wanted to push the site in May once a large number of changes are made
3. Copied his system? What system? I was never taught any system by him or any other member of the group (if three words based on the commonly known business process is a system then every coach and academic institution in the world is in trouble) – common knowledge is not a system
4. Every single tool and technique I listed under the three headers WAS MY OWN. Every single one had a true system which I have created. My Double Your Sales course was originally released six year ago and has great reviews as it’s my take on a technique.. my book ‘Double Your Success as an Entrepreneur’ really helps entrepreneurs define and elevate their value and my work with current clients is based on tools I’m using for all other elements I listed. All MY OWN work.

Having thought about it I can understand why he might be upset that I used his three words to section all my own tools – but since so many people were using it within the group (and people messaging me outside the group now are using it readily on their own profiles which reinforced my assumption that it would be ok to use them) and the fact that I asked him as soon as I made it (not mentioning the number of posts within the group that seemingly encouraged it) –  I was a little by his reply.

Why the reaction?

Although due to my experience of knowing that often these things are simple misunderstanding I may not have reacted in the way Chris did, but this article is not to judge if he is right or wrong but to understand why he thought he needed to use the wording he did and what I could have done to help prevent that. I believe in business that in most cases if someone understands something wrong that it is me who is at fault for not explaining well (also if I misunderstand then I should learn to ask better questions). Here are my thoughts:

1. He didn’t realise that the site is currently not promoted and until he posted in his Facebook group the only people to have seen that page were the people in my office and then himself. No outsider had seen or read it. I should have made this clearer
2. He somehow didn’t realise that I have created my own tool and content for years (I’m going to list this below as it will lay any attempted claim on this to rest forever) so there was never going to be any suggestion of ‘copying’ his – I’ve had content and the steps in place for years.
3. He possibly didn’t realise I would have wanted to be a BPM mentor (elevated member of the group as they were doing exactly what I teach anyway)
4. He didn’t know that the process of Value, Trust and then Reward has been used by me in multiple business (as proved the success of WewanaPlay in these areas, My Video Game store business which was rated one of the best indie stores in the UK by Nintendo, this business Double Your Success and by all my guest posts throughout the years on well known blogs (listed below).

Remember, I reached out to Chris. He did not find out about me using the words by other means. I went straight to him after I created the page and wanted to make sure it was ok (in hindsight having to ask if it was ok meant I wasn’t 100% sure so should have asked first, but since many other people are using it and the post on the 21st encouraging more mentors my assumption was massively reinforced).

I originally wrote this article a day later and I still feel bad about it all – but I’m happy about that. It means I still have my moral compass intact and even when I make mistakes I’m about to reflect and learn.

I cannot believe such a big deal is being made of this when the system is actually my own and I reached out to ensure it was OK. All that happened is that THREE WORDS were borrowed – THREE WORDS which many others were using and certain posts seemed to be encouraging their use personally. NO ONE ELSE BESIDES MY STAFF HAD EVEN SEEN ON MY SITE before Chris was notified of it.

All based on a misunderstanding which is easy to see when you hear both sides. Chris having an angry reaction and then acting on it caused me to write this (I totally understand based on what’s mentioned above why he might have thought that) – in my experience if someone reaches out then dialogue is always the best option first. Don’t assume everything is what you think it is (something which I take from this too)

What did I learn?

• If you have even the slightest of doubts – ask first
• If you ever enter a group/closed network make sure you 100% understand what it is about – in fact repeat it back to them so there is never any confusion.
• Mistakes happen – how you react to it is more important than the mistake. You can’t change the past – you can only change how you adjust going forward

I’m very glad this happened now and not some months further down the line. It was a mistake based on an assumption that was reinforced by multiple people using THREE words and posts within the group seemingly encouraging their use.

In my defence

I’ve outlined above how I made the mistake of assuming that we were being encouraged to use the BPM wording…Most of you will be intelligent enough to have not made this mistake but you can clearly see that even if I did it was never meant to be malicious in anyway

I wrote to Chris within minutes of the page being created. This was not something he discovered from somewhere else, it was something I freely offered and asked if it was OK. The stupid thing that I fully accept is that I really should have asked first as there was clearly some doubt for me to even ask the question. But – no one else saw the site until he decided to spread it in an attempt to ‘show the world I’m an idiot’

I’ve been using the rule of three to simplify business for many many years. I so thankful that at least all my conversations with the group were in written form where they can see clearly that when I was welcomed to the group I was asked to explain why ‘3’ is such an important number for me  in business and in that response I clearly spoke of how business is only three major things to me – Having something of value – finding people who want that value (building trust) and exchanging it. To be really honest this is what every basic business class teaches so it’s easy for anyone to see it’s not a one person created system. My mistake was simply mistakenly using the three words Brand, Presence and Motetisation as I honestly believed we were encouraged to use it. Thankfully I’ve had clients before joining the group too who have been taught my process, so there is never going to be any question of my making my plan based on them (not to mention all my books, courses and tools that have been out for a long time).

Never once have I been sent any documentation/courses from any BPM person and never have I seen their ‘system’. It’s simply a  process which everyone uses all over the world. If there is more to their system I’m extremely happy I was never privy to it.

I actually contributed to the group and one of my first posts there was to offer my course for free. I didn’t go there to leech and I’m 100% thankful the ‘system’ was never revealed to me as then this could get messy. My content is my own – the only mistake I made is that I wrongly assumed we were being encouraged to use the BPM wording. That’s it. (My products were out long before even hearing of the group and the strategy for creating those products was made even longer before then).

Why I used the THREE words:

I’ve written this multiple times in this post but I know some people will skim so I’ll put it here again

• Multiple people within the group are using the words (assumption that we were open to use it)
• On Thursday 21st there was a post by an admin suggesting that not everyone they want is willing to be a mentor yet (The assumption that they were looking for more people to become active promoters of the BPM wording)
• I thought it would be nice to be a mentor too as they seemed an motivated community and I thought showing I’m using them would showcase my fit

Remember as soon as the page was finished I messaged Chris – there was no intent to hide this or try to use it without being discovered. I actual thought the last point listed was true.

What happens next

We carry on – I’ve said my piece. Anyone who does come here will hopefully see that even though it was a mistake on my part it was never supposed to be malicious or underhand. It still bothers me today as I hate the feeling of disappointing others and that is partly why I wrote this.

This is not the first business mistake I’ve made and I cannot believe it will be the last, no matter how much I try. All I can say is that in time all my past mistakes have turned into positives and I hope this one in time will be the same.

I took the page down for a few days as I wanted to write this first before putting it back up.

If all settles and I was ever invited back, would I rejoin?

No. Of course some things have been posted about me which will have influenced a number of people. Surprisingly some of those people reached out to me via my blog and Linkedin with positive words (it is a big group) – but there will no doubt be a lengthened period of awkwardness which is not going to be beneficial for either side. So sometimes it’s best to just part ways…

Final Thoughts

I’m very thankful sitting here three days later that I was given this opportunity to consider the consequences of someone claiming I copied their system. It’s made me think about the risks and take some decisions which will keep me safe going forward.

This whole thing is a now a non issue as even if my version is not to be believed it is fact that I messaged him as soon as it was completed (timestamps will prove that) and no one else outside my staff hit the site (he promoted the page – which is also provable from my stats) alongside the face the offending words have been removed.

It reminds me to never act on anything in anger and to always ask the other person first if what you think is true, is in fact true.

I leave you with a quote I love from an unknown author. This event and the quote is a reminder to work harder and be more visible doing the right things so that when one does inevitably make occasional slip ups – people put it into context. This is where my energy will be for the upcoming months:

‘Live life in such a way that if anyone should speak badly of you, no one would believe it’

 

My job now is to make sure that I make enough positive impression that the accidental wrong ones are massively overshadowed…as if I didn’t already need more motivation to keep work hard. Watch this space

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