It’s True . . . A bit of BS is required to Be a brand!

When people think of you what do they think?  Do you know?

Are you clear on what you want them to be thinking about you?

Are they thinking of you at all?

The answers to these questions have everything to do with your own individual brand.

Here’s how it works.  Designing your brand is made up of the same 5 steps that any corporation, such as Volvo, uses to build theirs.  Over the past 20 years I’ve observed that most everyone from corporations to individuals want to jump ahead to Step 4: Getting the word out or Building Brand Buzz.  The truth is before you have anything to share about your brand you need to start with a bit of BS – that’s Brand Strategy.  This is where Steps 1 – 3 come in.

Before you’re ready to Express your Brand (Step 4) you need to first know what you want your brand to be and what goals you want it to help you achieve.  This will dictate all of your choices including things like where to work, or who to hire, where to be seen, your message(s), what mediums are best to reach your targets and the list goes on and on.  Literally all of your choices will be directed by your Brand Strategy.  It’s critical and it starts here:

Step 1: Introspection

You need to begin to take a genuine accounting of yourself.  What skill sets you come to the table with, what talents you have, what your historical experience is that will help to differentiate you and tell a unique story – one that is authentic and memorable to your audience(s).  The questions you’ll want to ask yourself are available on the personal branding questionaire.

Step 2: Competitive Analysis

You need to know who else your audience(s) are engaging.  This is true whether you are talking about professional target markets and buyers or if you are trying to get accepted into a school or if you are dating – how are you similar and how are you different than those ‘competitive sets’.  Professionally, you’ll want to consider if there are others who have specific and unique talents within a particular target segment that is the same as yours?  Perhaps they focus on Entrepreneurs of a certain size or geographical area.  Or perhaps they specialize in working with Medical Professionals or School Systems or REITs or ________you fill in the blank with your own area of specialization.  Once you’ve identified who they are, you need to differentiate yourself to help your target audience choose to work with you; with a certainty this is the only choice they would consider making.

Step 3: Unique Messaging

How do you position yourself?  How do others introduce you?  You need to make your message clear and compelling.  What do you do?  Who do you do it for? And then give them a reason to care – or tell them the benefits or a story that exemplifies what they may stand to gain by working with you. So, let’s say you’re in financial professional services responsible for engaging new business . . . ‘I help (your target audience, for example, Surgeons and Medical Professionals) consider the best investments to leverage their hard-earned monies in lucrative and safe portfolios so that they are free to focus on their patients and their families with a sense of confidence that their financial matters are in excellent hands.*

Step 4:  Getting your message out there – Creating Brand Buzz

You need to be in front of the right target audience with the right message.  Perhaps you can speak at medical associations, you can host a dinner for a group of physicians where you can share relevant information about how you can help them, you can write an article for a trade pub they subscribe to, you can network amongst other advisors they have relationships with to gain introductions.  You can become a thought leader and create followers on Twitter and drive them to links on articles of interest, articles you’ve written, your blog, etc. You must select areas for promotion that utilize your best skills and give you the greatest return on your time and efforts.

Step 5:  Maintenance

Your Brand doesn’t get built once and then go on auto pilot.  Your competition is constantly changing, your target audience and their lifestyle and needs consistently evolve, new relationships are available and need new introductions continuously.  New modalities continue to emerge from Linked In and You Tube to Twitter and, who knows what’s next?  Those that stay current will lead with their Brand Buzz. How do you stay fresh and relevant to your audience?  What new skills, tools, talents, opportunities, do you bring to the table to further the relationships you currently have and to remain competitive in light of new opportunities?  If people associate Volvo with safety, what do they associate with your brand?

When you take the time to design and manage your brand, you exhibit the behaviors that support that brand – and do so consistently. A little BS gives you the foundation to authentically ‘be’ your brand.  The result is you create a consistent demand for you, your products and your services.

Building a strong brand for yourself means you’re in position to align with the people you want to engage and they are ready to receive you – Before You Even Arrive!

* The content of this hypothetical unique message is based on several notable distinctions including an understanding that surgeons and doctors are not typically big risk takers (exception: when they are also entrepreneurs.)  What they care deeply about is getting it right!  They cannot afford to make mistakes.  So, words like ‘best’, ’safe’ and ‘excellent’ are a natural fit.  If there’s one thing all doctors and surgeons are, it’s overworked.  By referring to leveraging their hard-earned monies two concerns are addressed: their investment in a long-term education and the long hours they work, as well as, working smarter by leveraging what they’ve worked so long and hard for.  Most surgeons and doctors lack time; often with patients and certainly with family or for self.  Addressing this and presenting the possibility of gaining more time to this target segment is particularly relevant.  Your own unique message would be further refined by your unique skill sets and experience within this market.

Written by:  Michele Lando, President of Skilset Communications, Inc. and author of the internationally acclaimed IndiBrand^TM, Individual Branding, workshop series.  For more information you may go to www.skilset.com or you may write mlando@skilset.com or phone 323 255.8900 x130.