It Comes Full Circle

There are things in life that just always seem to come full circle.  Do you remember as a child watching favorite shows like Sesame Street.  Well, here I sit with my son early in the morning and what one thing is he completely absorbed in doing right at this moment?  Watching Elmo on Sesame Street.  There are those things in life that just always will be it seems, and isn't it comforting. 
I watch my son looking on with awe as Elmo talks to Dorothy and asks her questions only she can know the answers to and remember when my daughter did the same ten years ago.  Then I wonder if I had that same expression of sheer awww at the wonder of every puppet.

There is no doubt about it, the repetition of familiarity is so very comforting.  Who doesn't love for their children to be as thrilled about the same things you were thrilled about when you were a child.  There are some things that just are always a steady comfort, like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse and of course, who could ever forget Big Bird and Clifford and then there is always Curious George.  Some things stay with us always and then our children.  Is this branding?

Branding is an amazing concept bringing riches to many who learn how to use it properly.  When you think of refrigerators what is the first name that comes to mind?  Do you know why?  They call it branding and it can change the way people choose services and goods.  Without branding you are just another fish in the sea.  Can we use branding when it comes to a career in writing books?  I think that John Grisham and R.J. Rowling both would agree that yes, we can.

Learning about branding is just the tip of the iceburg I am finding as I head into the world of professional writer and hopeful author.  Every step we take to make ourselves known in a huge field is one we need to accomplish our end goal.  We sell books based on our writing skills sure, but we sell more books based on the memories of our past writing skills and the popularity of our materials.  Marketing is not to be taken lightly in the world of writing, whether we write fiction or non-fiction, our success in becoming a well known and sought after author is based on our popularity and the popularity of our material.  These two are not necessarily synonmous.