Thing 3: Branding and Spin-offs (aka Am I CSI:Miami or Joanie Loves Chachi?)

This week's topic is branding, which I have found has brought out some interesting questions today.

I have been on Twitter for a couple of years now and ever since the big explosion of ebooks in libraries, I have found myself talking more and more professionally on Twitter, and now has carried over to my personal blog with some posts about OverDrive and ebooks. When CPD23 came along, I thought it would be the perfect chance to split off the more professional discussion and go back to keeping my blog full of books and yarn and chickens. I created a blog name that suited me (three gadgets plugged into the outlet as I type), have been thinking about sprucing it up, and deciding how much I want to post and the topics I am most interested in (ebooks, Web 2.0, technology). I can definitely brand myself this way.

However, I have realized something: aren't I already branded? I have been "booksNyarn" on the Internet for over four years now. I have my real name and real photo up in most places. I talk with other librarians, publishers, editors and companies on Twitter. My opinion pieces on ebooks and OverDrive have been some of the most read posts on my other blog (along with my desire for chickens), so why did I think I needed to recreate the wheel?

I followed Jo's advice on the CPD23 blog by searching my name in Google. It seems that Kristi Chadwick is not as uncommon as it could be, and the assorted spellings are enough to knock some of my results several pages in. However, then I added "libraries" to it, and that made it all me for the next couple of pages (although that photographer Kristie Chadwick sneaks in somehow). I was amazed to see how many results I had. In fact, I was surprised to find an April article from Library Journal which actually quoted from my blog, which I didn't know about until today. I am already branded this way.

Which is what brought me to thinking for this post. Am I creating a spin-off that can be successful, or is this going to fold after a season? CSI has made it work from Las Vegas to Miami to NY. Law & Order did it across police departments and the country.  I did love Happy Days when I was a kid, but everyone knew it was Richie and Fonzi that made that show work, not Joanie or Chachi.

Being a librarian is a large part of me, but is there really enough of me to go around? Should I keep trying to give myself two brands, or just evolve the one that is already established? Should I fold this one back into the other blog, keep it for this project, keep going with it? Go ahead and take a look at my earlier posts here and at my other blog. What do you think?