Hi Dr. Mani,

As usual, a very thought-provoking and well thought-out post.

I’m also glad you asked, because I think you’ve done an amazing job of branding. Why? Because you truly “get” that branding is not “what you look like” but it starts with “who you are.”

By being the brand with openness and integrity, you ‘grease the skids’ and make it a lot easier to get people to join the conversation of your brand.

I believe your branding strategy is pre-disposed to success because 1) it’s different 2) because, for some reason, authenticity is hard to come by (but betting more common, in my view).

I also believe that, in order to reach a larger audience and more passionate audience — to “get to the next level” so to speak — your brand platform needs to be tightened up.

In my opinion, it is, indeed too dispursed for a one man show. It’s really, *really,* difficult for any company to maintain more than one brand.

If you look at the multinational consumer brands, you’ll see an amazing support infrastructure for every brand they own.

Of course, the world of branding is changing and, through the interconnectedness of the Internet, it’s a lot easier to build a brand — but, it’s still hard to split the focus of an organization between multiple brands.

Now, add to it that you have a significant presence in two very different markets. In fact that is one of the key elements of your brand — being a heart surgeon who is also an infopreneur.

I also see multiple brands within your IM niche. They are all unified by the Dr. Mani brand, and you’ve done an admirable job of knitting them together, but it doesn’t look like a unified whole.

Most of this is, I’m sure, nothing new to you. I’m also sure you have a vision for your brand that you are working toward. Great brands evolve, and your’s certainly is.

So, my advice:

* Hone the ‘point’ of your brand to a single very sharp focus

>>> There’s no reason your vision of CHD awareness can’t be the driving force behind your business, but you might look for ways to separate the CHD brand and the IM brand.

>>> IMHO a ‘product’ brand is much stronger and commercially viable than a ‘personal/guru’ brand. The person should always be there, but it’s the difference between blogging as the CEO/Visionary behind XYZ product/brand or blogging as an individual. They are both effective ways to go, but it’s hard to do both.

* Again, IMHO, but I think it is very, very, difficult to grow a single organization that serves the needs of two very diverse audiences. So, the more separation (in terms of the organization and brand) you can get between the CHD foundation and your Infopreneur-focused business, the better.

In any case, I have no doubt that you will continue to be different (remarkable, yes.) and authentic. I’ve learned a lot by just observing what you do.

Doug