Are you a Product or a Brand?

We have repeatedly said, “Yes”, but this is worth considering when thinking about how you contemplate your Product Management versus Brand issue:

[Tom] Peters uses the word “brand” and [Chris] Brogan uses the word “product.” That’s a critical distinction in my eyes. The problem with you as a product is that there’s only so much of you. Let’s say you work 2000 hours a year. You want to make more money. There’s just two choices: make more per hour or work more hours. The first is hard and the second is harder.

A better strategy is to use your time to create products besides you that can be sold or otherwise monetized. This leverages your time and your brand. What kind of products? Software, paintings, podcasts, whatever your skill set leads you to.

So Rick thinks everything is a Product Management problem, and now I’ve been rambling on the Personal Brand issue. Are we just off base? Are the two perspectives exclusive of one another?