This topic took me straight to John, an interesting guy I met in Atlanta in 2009 at an eBay On Location Event. I figured that we know how famous people came into their branding but what was the real story of someone who was on the rise. How did they come to be? Where are they heading? Those questions I was curious to ask John so I asked him to participate in my research paper. My question and answer sessions produced great insight into how his branding works for him. Through our conversations I discovered that he is an original entity in the making. I also learned that once bitten by the lure of e-commerce and where it could lead to changes your life.
John humble beginnings started after selling a pair of Elton John tickets on eBay for a profit and once bitten he went from an average guy working a unfulfilling 9 to 5 job to selling everything that was not tied down on eBay and never looked back. He co-founded an e-commerce business called 3rd Power Outlet http://www.3rdpoweroutlet.com/ which specializes in urban wear and accessories. The company had a meager beginning but John an idea. I posed this question to John “A lot of people are aware about your video about the “how to fold a bandana”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tovZwQF_LuA How and why did you come up with that idea? What did that video do to help propel your branding? His response was:
“Oh man, that video is sick! I had just gotten a new Canon Elph that capable of taking videos. This was back in 2007 so a camera with video was still kind of “new toy” and I wanted to play. I really did not know what I could do, but I wanted to do something for my business. So I had this idea about showing people how to tie bandanas. Since we sell them on our 3rdPowerOutlet.com site, I thought showing how to fold one would be cool. Plus people were always asking us how to fold one like 2Pac Shakur. So I shot that video on “How to Fold a Bandana” on YouTube. To date it has gotten over 175,000 views.”
“One day I attended a business conference and Brent Leary, a business speaker/consultant was there doing his on-stage presentation on this new “social CRM” presentation. Then BANG, it is a shot of my VIDEO! He used my video as one of the examples of good customer engagement. He did this same presentation several times during that year and in turn my video started getting play around in social circles. It was my first time giving a presentation in Florida, when some guy in the audience hears me speak about the video and he shouts out “Yeah, I saw some social media guy using your video in his presentation”. Then I understood the video’s impact. Basically that video did help shape my story and it continues to amaze and provide long-term data on this social marketing medium. What I did back then now is a case-study on best practices for long-term marketing success with the video. The successful results is really was the reason why I today I continue to make videos.”
This was how John got started in e-commerce and the first phrase of him slowly finding his own branding.
My next question was “How did you evolve from John Lawson to become John “ColderIce” Lawson”? After careful deliberation he proceeded to explain his story.
“I think the brand just naturally evolved from being my blog namesake to my “personal brand”. At first I fought the name but then one day, my partner said that I should embrace what was going on organically and not fight it. That day I just let it go and really allowed it to happen. I do not call myself “ColderIce” but others like to call me “ICE” sometimes and being called it does not faze me anymore. I have fully embraced evolving into John “ColderIce” Lawson.”
These revelations lead me to ask “When did you know that your branding ROCKED? His response was:
“The day I knew the ColderIce brand rocked was the day when I was on one of my first radio shows. It was with Auction Wally and Phaedra Stockstill, on the Seller Circus show. On the show I was introduced as John “ColderIce” Lawson and I liked the way it sounded. After that show, everyone started calling me by that name. Initially I did not really create the name for me personally; as I said before I just wanted to use it for my blog. After that I started using it for my contact information. After being addressed as “ColderIce” on the show, by me using the name as part of my blogs and people started calling me by name “ColderIce”, I realized that I had a name that ROCKED!”
Since then John has become well-known in the Social Media circles as the “go to guy” and expanding his branding name. My next question was “What do you bring to the table that allows you to continue to have a rocking brand name and how does Social Media fit”? Reflectively his response was:
“The ColderIce brand then has never really been about social media, it has always been about MEDIA and that is why you will see ColderIce Media popping up more and more in my branding. But it was always about media for me. Media, music and video are passions for me.”
The first time I met John, he was speaking at an eBay On Location in Atlanta in 2009. His live presentation was verbally colorful and he spoke in a manner that anyone could understand. His way of speaking made me gravitate towards him and made me want to get know the person who giving his honest opinions on e-commerce, social media and CRM. Since that time I have heard him at several different conferences and each time I hear him you realize that he has evolved and continue to do so. Some would call him a motivational speaker but I wanted to know if he considered himself as one. His thoughts were:
“As for speaking, yes I do consider myself a motivational speaker, always have. I did not speak publicly until 2 years ago. At first I started speaking about social media, or that is what I got hired to do. How my branding caught on was most times people seem to find out about “ColderIce” via some comments I made about my activities in social media but actually I was just using social to spread the message. So I learned about social media uses and benefits and was an early adopter. That made me an “expert” in social media simply because I used it, so I ran with that”.
“Trying to not get pigeon-holed, I have recently done some more generalized business sessions that was more motivational. The world of business speaking is enormous and I do not want to be labeled as just a social media speaker, I got way more than that to offer any event planner or business organization. It is a hard climb, but I am starting to see more buzz for me in all areas as a speaker. Hopefully this trend will continue.”
Since John’s style is unique to this medium my next question was “Your style (personality) is casual yet colorful but do think in a sometimes stuffing business environment that your branding maybe ill received? If so why or if not why? Also “Is there something you would like to change in your branding? Is there flexibility in branding yourself that allows change or evolvement without losing your base while gaining a larger base? He responded:
“My style is just that “Mine” and it is me and I could not maintain a false image. When I made the conscious decision to be a personal brand I also made a decision that the brand would be 100% John Lawson and not just the gushy fun part, but 100% real JOHN. I could maintain with no effort and I would only attract those who were attracted to that persona…John. It did not concern me if a corporate entity or a person would accept or reject me. Now since they were seeing me for who I am and what I have to offer in being the real JOHN they would never be disappointed.”
“What is SO great now about that decision is that today I am working with some of the BIGGEST corporations in my field. I have been contracted by brands like American Express, eBay, Yahoo and international brands like Deals Direct for my services proving the theory was a solid one. And I can still make my way to the bar after the board room meeting is completed. In the end I can only be ME 1000% of the time that makes it pretty easy to keep the brand face on all the time. So I am not going to run into the issue that I think some run into with jumping between the old “base” and their new direction. That is what I hope to feel from my followers and friends as well.”
I personally think that John has the right idea and was a great move since it is obtainable.
My final question for John was “Where do you see John “ColderIce” Lawson in the next 5 years? And his response was profoundly interesting.
“Going forward I see the brand of ColderIce to eclipse me as a personal moniker and translate into a global conglomerate of e-commerce educational success catalyst for all forms of online marketing. I hope to see us doing things that will transform the understanding of mom and pop markets as well as enterprise level organizations. The principles of what I teach have been tested world-wide and they resonate with the full audience of online sales and marketing teams. My desire is to simply see that grow to its full potential over the coming years. That is my goal and I believe that is my destiny. Time will tell…stay tuned!”
Today, John is the CEO of 3rd Power Outlet an online retail company. He is the creator and the editor of ColderICE.com/blogs. http://3rdpoblogs.com/colderice/ He is a platinum eBay Seller and a certified eBay Specialist. John has taken his expert knowledge of and experience with social media to educate small businesses on the merits of E-commerce, the uses of social media, the importance of ROI and CRM. His recent accomplishment was making the 100 Small Business Influencer 2011 Champions – North America’s Top Small Biz Influencers. http://ow.ly/6kbYs The acronym of ICE now stands for Internet Commerce & Education. Within a few years, John has been featured in an American Express commercial, has become a much sought after speaker, and has become a voice and face of E-commerce, especially when it comes to social commerce the incorporation of social media and E-commerce. He has managed to accomplish all these accolades by remaining true to himself as the “cool dude” that keeps it real and at the same time he created a branding that ROCKS! The things John spoke about validates the concepts of the importance of social media, CRM and branding. The best thing I take from speaking to John is that he shows you how things work for him and the possibilities for you to incorporate his knowledge but he is able to do this without saying he has the answers for one size fits all. I look forward to witnessing great things happening for John “ColderIce” Lawson as the chapters evolves.
I want to thank Mr. Lawson again for allowing me to invade his brain and allowing me to share my findings with the public. It is honor to be a small part of “Team ColderIce”. If you are attending eBay “On Location” in Orlando, I hope get the opportunity hear him speak and the pleasure of meeting him in person. http://www.ebayonlocation.com/
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