Take a tip from Oprah, Martha Stewart or even Donald Trump. Personal branding works. When Oprah recommends a book, it rockets to the top of the best-seller lists. When Martha pulls out her glue gun, the shelves of craft stores are left bare and when The Donald puts out the word, investors line up to be part of his latest project.
Martha, Oprah and Donald may be Oscar winners in the world of personal branding, but we all can use some of the same branding techniques to build our business or to turbo-charge our career.
Of course, branding isn’t new. Its roots were set when consumer product marketing discovered that connecting everyday commodities to our dreams shaped consumer preferences. Soon women with Dove-soft skin were also flashing Crest-white smiles. Today, show me a company on the Fortune 500 list and I’ll show you a budget of millions spent on promoting and protecting a brand – particularly when the economy hits a rocky time.
Branding moved out of the corporate world when Tom Peters, the management guru (yes, that’s his brand), coined the phrase “personal branding” in an article in Fast magazine in 1997.
Personal branding is really all about reputation – building it, managing it and sometimes repairing it. When businesses were much more local, our reputation was known by our customers, clients, bosses or co-workers. Today, with reputations built and lost in a Tweet, personal branding is a strategy you can’t afford to ignore.
If you’re ready to reach for the stars and start to brand yourself, here are some things to consider:
Start with the end in mind: Becoming well-known is only a strategy to get you to your ultimate goal, whether it’s bringing in business or advancing your career. Building a brand starts with doing what you do really well and doing it consistently. After that, be sure that every action you take communicates and strengthens that personal brand.
Check your inventory (or look in the mirror): Google your own name, review your LinkedIn profile, Facebook postings, YouTube videos, tweets and blogs. Do they reinforce your own unique selling point or do they send the wrong message? Since social media has come out of the backpack and into the boardroom, what we have online can build or damage your career or business.
Spotlight your brand: Leadership happens, but only if people know and respect your talents and experience. That means work – lots of it. Some sure-fire ways to build that brand:
- Write articles and share your expertise.
- Be interviewed by reporters that cover your field.
- Speak at seminars or on panels.
- Post comments on blogs or write your own blog.
- Participate in social networks.
- Post TV interviews on your Web site and on YouTube.
These are all building blocks to a strong personal brand, and while they are time consuming, many can be delegated and managed by others. In fact, the fastest growing area of Epoch 5’s business is writing and maintaining Facebook pages for clients who want to stay in touch with their customers or potential customers.
Protect your brand: A strong personal brand is very much an insurance policy against some of the inevitable bumps in the road in one’s career or business – so protect that brand. Coke will sue a small soda shop for substituting another brand and calling it “Coke” and Disney has an army of lawyers at the ready for anyone who misuses one of its characters. On a more local level, every one of us has to protect our brand by being sure that we don’t post less-than-flattering messages on the Internet or in angry letters to the editor. Be vigilant about checking your reputation or your company’s reputation by monitoring the Internet on a daily basis and respond quickly to negative comments.
If your reputation does take a hit, just keep in mind that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who was rejected from his own company and became the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, came back to become Fortune magazine’s “CEO of the Decade.”
Personal branding works – and it can work for you.
Katherine Heaviside is president of Epoch 5, a full-service public relations firm with specialty areas in real estate, health care, energy, education and professional services. Visit www.epoch5.com or contact Katherine at kheaviside@epoch5.com.
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