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A really great headline!

Welcome to the boards. You have given me a lot to think about.

My business is not up and running yet but I have given me, my brand a lot of thought. I've been working on my brand for a while but I haven't used the internet at all. My goal is to brand and market my agency first. There is a delicate balance I am shooting for where I don't position me as being more than the agency.

Especially in advertising you see people become bigger than the agency, which only ends up hurting the agency. I am very aware of my "person brand," I'm just trying to manage it to avoid this.

Here's my question: At what point should I scale back my personal branding efforts to focus more on my agency's branding effort to reach my goal of establishing my agency as the source for advertising services? How do I avoid them competing with each other?

Okay, I had two questions.

Iwrite

Are You Distinct?? Great question.
Now that I think about it, I have always tried to live my life differently "outside the box".
It has worked for me. I have succeeded in my services as an Accountant and
now I am volunteering in the county and giving back to the community.
You use the "Microbrandologist" on the Members Page. Interesting.
thanks for sharing, LUCKIEST

iWrite

I see - an "Aha Moment.."

Yes this can indeed happen, and coming from the Design industry I would see this play out a LOT, which ultimately became one of the reasons why I began looking into the Phenomena called "Micro Branding"... However; if managed properly, this could be both good and bad right? This is why I say this... AND I will post discussion on both sides if the table.

In this instance, the one you have described here, Mr. Creative Guru - probably built only one side of his brand ID - HIS! LOL!! This is a common mistake that can happen with people who recognizes no line between himself and the Agency. One has to have the ability to set "ego" aside and be willing to raise up the culture of the agency - which is the deeper brand of the organization and at every given moment tie directly back to this ID... Here is an example, I will try not to be to exhaustive - because this is how I earn a living LOL!!

Article Reads...

Example 1: "After discovering that I could directly tie action script back to ajax (a witty discovery I must say...) the team at Creative Guru started leveraging this new knowledge to advance clients toward seamless web/print media integrations..." "The combined efforts of Creative Guru's team took integrated communications to a new level..."

In this article we see a transfer of brand between agency and creative... How you ask? The comment... "After discover that I could... (a witty dis...)" this statement feeds into the personal or Micro Brand of Creative Guru (the man), while the transition "the team at...." transfers this same wittiness to the team at Creative Guru.

Here is the wrong thing to do....

Example 2: "After discovering that I could directly tie action script back to ajax (a witty discovery I must say...) I then began practicing this with the clients that would come to Creative Guru Agency. I have lectured this idea at Arizona State University and Indiana University, and the documentation that I created is now being addressed at Agencies all over the Country..."

In this example the Agency becomes totally subjective to NOW the primary Micro Brand "Creative Guru" (the man).

Personal Branding when tied to company has to be managed properly or it will indeed over take the identity of the main brand perhaps... Here is a good look at this. If you were to Google Mr. Creative Guru.. You may stumble upon this article. If it is written as it is (with tweaks for perfection...) in example 1 you will quickly start to formulate:

1. Mr. Creative Guru is Slick...
2. Creative Guru Agency is a dynamic team indeed and I need THEM on this project

Result:

Creative Guru (the man) - Preserves the witty nature of his brand ID...
Creative Guru Agency - Preserves the fact they are progressive, and team players...

Hope this helps!

Thanks to both. This gives me more to think about.

My question is also an explanation of what I am trying to do. I understand the importance of developing my microbrand but as a business owner, I have to be careful that it does not compete or damage my agency's brand. It is a delicate balance that I am tweaking more and more each day.

My goal is for the agency's name to be linked to any and every search result, not mine. I want people to contact the agency about an advertising issue, and either myself or someone just equally qualified can help them. I don't want there to be any drop off in the quality that clients get. In advertising, anytime the "dreamer" leaves, retires, dies or whatever - agencies tend to go through a period of uncertainty that can either make or break them. Since I want this to be something that my sons can maintain long after I am gone, I have to make sure that the agency's brand is strong. I'm looking towards the future.

I really believe this is an important issue that warrants this discussion - many of us need to be exposed to this idea.

Lighthouse24!

Great Input!! That is a very visual way to look at it! Excellent!!