From Individual to Empire: A Guide to Building an Authentic and Powerful Brand

by Laura Bull

Ever wonder what makes household names like Oprah, Ellen, or Beyoncé so powerful?

It’s all about influencer branding, and Laura Bull will tell you everything you need to know.

Bull spent ten years with Sony Music Entertainment, becoming one of the company's youngest executives and spearheading artist development and marketing for globally recognized brands. She is an expert who specializes in transforming entrepreneurs into viable brands and teaching what it takes to become a powerful "influencer."

Whether you are an artist, blogger, performer, politician, author, or thought leader, this book will change the way you think about your “brand” and your future.

Bull marries positive psychology principles with traditional branding strategies and reveals her revolutionary Brand Matrix that will have you soaring past personal branding into the very different world of influencer branding.

This intelligent, breezy read provides tools, exercises, and additional resources that offer real-world support to tackle your own engaging, competitive, and authentic brand identity. Entertaining examples from pop culture and politics round out this book that can truly take you from individual to empire.

A consultant and speaker, Bull has been an adjunct professor since 2013 teaching disciplines in marketing and music business at multiple colleges and universities, including SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Ebooks

218 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2020

About the author

Laura Bull is the founder and CEO of The Brand Management Company, a bestselling author, and a brand strategist who specializes in transforming people into competitive and sustainable business brands. Early on in her career, Laura spent ten years with Sony Music Entertainment, becoming one of the company's youngest executives at the age of twenty-eight. During her tenure, she spearheaded artist development and marketing for globally recognized brands including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Johnny Cash among hundreds of other artists from Arista, RCA, Columbia, Epic, and Monument records.

Now an Amazon instant bestselling author in multiple categories like Marketing, Direct Marketing and Marketing for Small Business, From Individual to Empire: A Guide to Building an Authentic and Powerful Brand offers insurmountable knowledge to teach others what it takes to become a powerful "influencer." Everyone in the marketing arena keeps discussing the power of influencers, but no one is discussing how an influencer becomes powerful. Now she redefines the term “influencer” by expanding its scope offline, highlights positive psychology principles in terms of branding, and reveals the proprietary Brand Matrix that gives entrepreneurs step by step directions to discover their own authentic and competitive brand.
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​A consultant and speaker, Bull spent six years as an adjunct professor teaching disciplines in marketing and music business at multiple colleges and universities including SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute. She has a BBA from Belmont University’s Mike Curb School of Music Business and a Master of Liberal Studies from Southern Methodist University.
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​She currently resides in Dallas with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this book from Goodreads. Lots of helpful ideas regarding brands and how build yours but more in the way of influencers. Simple, basic information with good examples and follow up questions at the end of each chapter. Good resources.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author had success at Sony at such a young age, so this book is written by someone that knows the value of branding and how it can assist in making your business unforgettable. The resources and exercises she offers, along with real examples from politics and pop culture make this a must read for anyone that has a business and wants to stand out.

[Casarah Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

My desire to read this didn't stem from me wanting to become an influencer, if I did have that drive at this point I would think the tools in this book are spot on. The author relates stories of well known names in music, politics, acting, and how they were branded and used their brands to achieve a higher reach of influence. I think at some point we are influence those around us, for me being a parent I influence my child, the truths in this book can even help me in parenting and presenting myself. I love the honesty, positivity and finding truth that can really apply to all walks of life. This book is going to be helpful now and later as a tool for keeping the self in the right direction. I liked the references to well known people like Oprah, Ellen, Taylor Swift, and others to be examples of success. This was a really good self help book.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Well written. Insightful. Useful. Easy to understand.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of From Individual to Empire in a Goodreads Giveaway. This book provides an overview about how to build an authentic brand. There are many examples and exercises throughout the book. A nice primer to help one think about who they are and who they present to the world.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with a lot of valuable information on building a brand!

[José Arturo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si buscas una estrategia para posicionarte en la industria del entretenimiento, este libro es para ti.

Pude ahondar de manera específica en las preguntas que estaba buscando. Debido al trabajo que Laura Bull ha ejercido, sus referencias giran en torno a personalidades del área musical, estilo de vida o escritores. Por lo que sus ejemplos cayeron como anillo al dedo a lo que yo estaba buscando.

Sin duda, lo más valioso del libro es su concepto del "Brand Matrix". He comenzado a aplicar esos diagramas de venn a artistas similares a mi disciplina, y me ha ayudado bastante a aclarar qué los ha posicionado en mi mente. Y cómo puedo posicionarme yo en ese terreno. Lo curioso es que el concepto de brand matrix, lo comencé utilizando con artistas que ni siquiera usan tanto redes sociales, como Phoebe-Waller Bridge, Donald Glover, o Bo Burnham, y aún así me ayudó a identificar cómo está posicionada su imagen, narrativa y producto en mi cerebro.

Si no tienes tiempo de leer el libro completo (aunque es una lectura rápida), lee sólo el capítulo de Brand Matrix. ¡Pero aplica los conceptos!

Por un lado es interesante analizar lo que funciona de las personas "exitosas" que admiramos. Por otra, estamos entrenando nuestro ojo a ver todo el "empaquetado" de la persona que representramos. Construir una marca personal habiendo analizado lo que funciona para otros es mucho más fácil.

[Kristina Aziz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an unpleasant surprise

I initially thought this book would be about marketing a product or business. And I suppose it is, with the capitalist ideal that people are products and businesses are people.

Don't let my socialist bias deter you, this was a fascinating book. You can definitely see the real world applications as well as use for LAMBs -- y'all remember how the Mockingjay was branded in the Hunger Games.

I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!

[Andres Coca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful book.

I guess you could say a lot of it is common sense... but it's only common sense after you read it!

Very helpful book that puts a structure in the madness and gives you the tools you need to start thinking as a brand.

Laura's website has useful resources as well, check them out.

[Regi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, especially as I am
transitioning to more content creation and developing a social media presence. I would argue that anyone (not just influencers) could benefit from reading this book, as we all have a personal brand, whether we know it or not, and the more you are aware of that, the more you can refine and use it to your advantage.

The author, Laura Bull, included east frameworks to follow, personal and professional anecdotes to help convey a principle or method, and offered online access to a worksheet to help you through your own branding exercises. It was a quick read but it took me a little longer because I kept taking my own notes. Lots of great info in here, check it out!

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐

From Individual to Empire is a valuable resource for anyone looking to craft and establish their authentic personal brand, both in the online and real world. Laura Bull's extensive nine-year experience at SONY lends a unique perspective to the book, making it particularly relevant for musicians, although its insights can benefit a wide range of people.

The book offers insightful analyses of the personal brands of celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, Martha Stewart, and JSP, showcasing how diverse brand elements can seamlessly integrate into a cohesive brand narrative.

For those embarking on the journey of personal branding, From Individual to Empire proves to be a valuable and informative guide.

[Karen Knab · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Gen Xer, personal branding and being “an influencer” was not in my natural vocabulary. I noticed that some of Millennial friends were much more comfortable with having a personal brand and I was curious. But when I started my business a couple years ago, I couldn’t avoid learning about branding anymore. This book was recommended to me and I really enjoyed it. You can tell the author is a professor as the book is a very easy read. I liked how she outlined the branding journeys of certain well-known people to illustrate her points. The chapter on Hillary Clinton was especially interesting. Highly recommend!

[Kuleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with Examples

This is a great how to guide for any beginning/intermediate influencer looking to define or refine their personal brand. The author gives personal anecdotes, provides ample examples through well-known case studies, and resources for doing the marketing work. I found the additional web resources and reading list particularly helpful.

[L E]

Thank you Goodreads, author and publisher for the free copy of this book. I don't necessarily want to be "an influencer" but I am interested in being more intentional and aware of my brand. This book did a good job of laying out that process.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this Kindle book from Goodreads.com in exchange for an honest review. Ms. Bull gives excellent advice regarding developing your own brand. She starts out slow, gives great examples and gives you tools to construct your brand based on YOU.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in weekly installments with Thriving Artist Academy in fall 2024. Group web discussions of content and homework helped me stay on track. Homework guided awareness of characteristics I display or want to display as part of my product, image and narrative.

[Booksparkled · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[John]

Great I won the giveaway, will start reading soon

[Madi Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so clear from this read that Laura Bull is an EXPERT in this field. All the information is backed by examples, clearly written and immediately actionable. Highly recommend!

[Mia Caven · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read for all influencers/content creators etc.

[Annisa Teich · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit technical and almost all examples focus around the music industry so it's hard to relate in your own life and work outside it.

[Lauren Zahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good lesson in personal branding.

I won this ebook as part of a Goodreads giveaway.