Songwriting, Performing, and Yes...Branding - Christine Kane

Okay, I’ll admit it. I actually engaged in a discussion about branding.

This week, I was interviewed by Anna Farmery, the host of the very popular podcast and blog, The Engaging Brand. Anna and I spoke for a half hour about songwriting, performing, entertaining, being a leader, teaching workshops, and of course, how to find your brand.

Anna is a fantastic interviewer and quite a remarkable human. It’s an honor to send my readers over to her blog today to listen to the podcast. Click here to listen.

p.s. Coincidentally, here’s a great post by Liz Strauss on the topic of branding.

p.p.s. If you are new to my blog, and want to buy some of my music, my store has FREE SHIPPING on everything!

tags:

13 COMMENTS ADD A COMMENT
  • Caren

    Wow, Elaine –

    That’s a lot to think about! Because if I focus on Who am I? and Who do I want to be? then my actions will arise from being that person… being myself. I know one meditation practice just consists of sitting with the question “Who am I?” regularly over a long period of time. Hmmm… I do sometimes need to focus on what I want to achieve, otherwise I find myself floundering, but if I bring to that some focus on Who do I want to be? I bet that would be a different experience.

    I hope you enjoy the rain! I remember several years ago, when my youngest was about a year and a half old, I had a breast infection (horrible! worse than the flu!), which caused me to just STOP everything, and focus on nursing the baby as much as I could, and resting. During those days, it started raining… and raining, and raining… and I so appreciated the time I had to just BE (ahem!) and watch the rain. I hope you take some time to do that! I treasure that time, breast infection and all. It was a wake-up call.

  • Elaine

    Hmm… still thinking about the BE and DO…

    Many of us in life, I think, tend to focus on the DO and set our goals around what we think we want to achieve which is often influenced by external factors: peer groups, other people’s demands around us (these could be ‘perceived’ or ‘real’). We become too goal focused. People will often talk about what they DO rather than who they want to BE.

    Focusing on the BE stimulates our own internal reflection and thinking… back to the inside out approach. You certainly need to BE before you can DO.

    The question I should be asking myself is:’who/what do I want to be?’ and may be ‘who am I now?’ rather than ‘what do I want to achieve?’

    (I was right… it’s raining!!!!)

  • Ignacio

    Great interview Christine. I was particulary interested on the bit about songwriting, building a relationship with a song/idea, and ridding yourself of judgment to welcome your creative self. I address guitar and music in my blog, particularly helping people to “create” music and use this creation for essentially living a more fulfilled life (vs. reading about guitar gear, etc.).

    Do you have any tips on how you “capture” your song ideas as you work on those relationships with songs? If somebody is going from noodlin’ to creating, how do you capture those ideas? What kind of tools (preferably simple and easy to use) do you use to capture your guitar playing and singing as you write? How do you approach going back to those ideas each day and building from them? I am planning a series of blog posts on “going from noodlin’ to creating” and this is one aspect I’d like to focus on. Let me know your thoughts. I’d love to incorporate it somehow, or maybe have a full blown contribution by you. Thanks so much and keep up the good work!

    Best,
    Ignacio

  • Elaine

    You have to BE before you can DO… this really sums it up. I love the inside out approach too. I think I’m getting my head around what Personal Brand really means now!

    Have a great weekend! – it’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK (soooo… we usually expect rain!!)

  • Christine Kane

    thanks susie and kay!

  • Kay

    What a great interview!! As everyone else has already said, YOU ARE A BIG STAR, in so many ways! And, as Anna said at the end of her interview “Your blog is incredibly inspiring.”

  • Susie

    Hey Christine,
    Congrats on the great podcast…it was fun to listen to. It was nice to hear how you became involved with one of Steve’s songs and I think it’s fair to say that many of your listeners become engaged in your songs…I know I do!

    P.S. It’s too funny that you mentioned how some folks mis-type your website and enter a porn star’s site…I told my Aunt to look up your blog once and she came back asking me, “Now, Susan, just what exactly are you looking up on the Internet!?!” Too funny 😉

  • Christine Kane

    oops! i missed you michelle! yea – the idea of branding remains a mystery to me in many ways too… though i heard lots about it at sobcon last weekend!

  • Christine Kane

    Hi Elaine – Great observations and thoughts there. What you write is the core of it all that so many people forget – especially in their quest to market products or themselves: that you have to BE before you DO. Who you ARE is your brand – from the inside out. (and that’s kind of trite. but you get what i mean.) Anyway, thanks for your kind words…(I don’t know if self-help book is really a part of my “brand.” :-))

    thanks ruth!

    anna – it was great to talk with you too. i hope we meet in the future when I’m on my world tour – passing through the UK!

  • Anna Farmery

    You see, said you were a star!

    I loved the interview and thank you for making the time – I really do believe there is a strong link that maybe we can explore more in the future. I love interviewing people who bring a different aspect to business – and you certainly did.
    Thanks again for making my day Anna xx

  • ruth

    Great interview. I LOVED hearing you laughing!!!!

  • Elaine

    Hi Christine

    Just listened to the POD cast – a brilliant interview…’really…you are a star!!!’

    Working in the world of leadership on a very regular basis I would like to build on Anna and your discussion, from my experiences. Leaders are human first (though very occasionally an alien does slip through the net – and usually ends up attending one of my workshops!!!) )I think some trainers, leaders etc can forget this human element and focus too much on processes (they forget that the ‘whole person’ comes to work). I currently seem to meet so many people who are burnt out ‘order-takers’ in business.

    Leaders/humans can really grow/learn from the words, whether in a song or in a passing conversation. It’s how those words stimulate that person’s thinking; igniting their fire within to enable them to move forward or make change… this can really make a difference to the whole person.

    I also find in business that many leaders/managers are stuck in the ‘do-do’: they become ‘order-takers’ and process managers rather than ‘real’ leaders, because they come to work ‘to do’and to make others ‘do’ too!(usually their line reports). These leaders/managers do not to come to work to ‘think’… why?… many of reasons: heavy workloads, expectations (perceived and real)and fear of being allowed to ‘think’ in work time! This stifles creatively, confidence and innovation. Creating some ‘reflective space’ and thinking time at work can make a huge difference to the growth of an individual personally, and the achievement of their business outcomes.

    I believe that personal branding (I’m still learning about the terminology!) can make a difference. I see this as:understanding yourself to understand others. Truly understanding yourself and then listening with an intent to understand others; rather than with an intent to respond and ‘bark’ solutions!! I think Daniel’s Goleman’s concept of Emotional Intelligence has great value in the work place.

    Great Post and interview – You certainly are one of the most authentic, genuine, encouraging and inspiring people I have met. My person growth over the last two months has been phenomenal! Thanks again for your wisdom (Ohh…and… hurry up and make some audio self help books!!!!)

  • Michelle

    Branding is still somewhat of a mystery to me though I’ve tried to learn more about it, thanks for a good post on the subject.