Personal Branding Tips

Personal branding is the process of promoting and marketing yourself. The reasons for personal branding center around promoting a feeling of trust in you and your capabilities for the purpose of enhancing your company or career, create an environment where new ideas and opportunities find you, and to shorten the sales cycle of your products and services.

To create a personal brand you need to market yourself as if you were some fantastic new product that your customers can not possibly do without. Step one is to believe that the above statement is true and act on it.

When creating a personal branding strategy there are several steps you can follow that will help you to be successful.

1. Decide who you are at what it is you want: This first step can prove to be deceptive in its simplicity.

2. Create a personal brand statement: Your personal brand statement is the short version of who and what you are. It should be used with every other aspect of your personal branding strategy. These simple one or two sentences should tell what you are or do, who you do it for and how you do it. For example a personal brand statement for someone who is in real-estate may be something like; John, bringing people together with their dreams in Florida since 1979.

3. Sell: Once you know who you are and what it is you want to be seen as an expert at it is time to sell yourself to others, which of course requires a personal branding strategy. The internet has made the ability to create a personal brand easier and faster than ever before. With the internet you can create a personal branding website, use social networking such as Twitter and LinkedIn, make video commercials and infomercials for uploading on sites like YouTube and most importantly create a blog where you can prove your worth.

4. Find and introduce yourself to at least ten strong personal brands: You are who you know is not just a cliché.

5. Comment on blogs with high readership in your niche: The more you can get your name and opinions out there the more people will begin to recognize your name and look for your opinions.

6. Interview as many of the top personal brands in your niche you can on your blog.

7. Volunteer to write guest blogs for other strong personal brands in your field. When others begin to recognize you as a strong personal brand you are half way there!

8. Link to other people and personal brands in authority in your niche. Again most people see people and judge them by who they hang out with, if you are seen with the top movers and shakers people will believe you are also a mover and shaker.

If you need some help with your personal branding strategy or reinventing yourself, contact me for a free consultation.

“If no one is sold on you, no one will buy from you”

Welcome to the world of personal branding.

This is the era of the brand. A lot is said about product and corporate branding but human beings are part of the interface between brands and the product or company. The inescapable result of this fact is that you must also begin to look at and work on yourself as a brand.

Let’s get this right, the choice you have is not to have a brand or not but what kind of brand to have. Why? Simply because everyone has a brand: bad, good or somewhere in between, knowingly or unknowingly. The difference between you and the person who has consciously built a virile and vibrant personal brand is that the person has taken control of his/her personal brand. The result is one of someone who radiates all the attributes and qualities which s/he has predetermined to exude.

The concept of personal branding is closely related to that of leadership and at the heart of it is passion. The professional who takes his/her personal brand development and management serious is bound to rise to the top and act as a path for others to follow.

One fundamental purpose of branding is to differentiate one product or service from another. The same purpose underlies the process and outcome of personal branding: to differentiate you from the others in your field. A personal brand is therefore a definite combination of expectations and associations which are nurtured and projected over time.

In a world which is in constant need for professional services, success can only belong to those who can stand up and stand out of the crowd, those who can prove that they have something to offer before being given the opportunity to sell a product or service, those who have developed a rounded, viable, virile and vibrant personal brand.

A personal brand is not a result of laboratory alchemy or rocket science. It involves and is all about you. It however, takes time to build, maintain and sustain. It must be nurtured carefully as people’s perception of you is what determines their level of involvement with you.

Your personal brand is not a quest for a holy grail but the result of a planned and sustained program which has a definite outcome.

You personal brand stands you out and elevates you above the mass realm preventing you from being bogged in the swamp of sameness and avoiding the ‘me too’ impression. While it will not confer upon you the status of a movie-star when you are an accountant, it will make the critical connection between you and your target market. A personal brand is a must in contemporary society and a key factor in your success.

Article Source: http://bit.ly/hYojZ8

Success in Business Requires Branding Your Name

One of the biggest mistakes I see network marketers make when they start their business is they brand their company name and not their own name. So many times I visit websites that have URLS like hotxyzmlm.com or earnmoneywithmlm123.com. If the person does remember to register their own domain name, it is usually being forwarded to the website their company gives them to refer prospects.

However, the bad branding strategy doesn’t stop there. I can’t tell you the number of people on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook who create accounts with their MLM company’s name instead of their own. Even their Facebook fan page uses some version of their network marketing company’s name.

Branding Your MLM Business is Not a Good Idea

There are numerous problems with doing this. First, most multilevel marketing companies do not allow their distributors or independent business owners to use their name in any type of marketing. This is because the company wants to protect their brand from any abuse or misuse that may occur. In addition to that, they don’t want their brand name diluted by people who oftentimes don’t know what they are doing when it comes to marketing.

The other major problem you run into when you don’t take the time to build your own personal brand is the fallout that happens when you switch MLM companies or start up a completely different project. All the time you spent marketing your business, making connections, and building up the brand is now going to waste because you are not able to use any of that in your new venture.

I can understand the temptation to use the company’s name rather than your own. Chances are pretty good that their name is more recognizable than yours because of all the marketing they have done to promote their business. But this, in itself, can be problematic too.

If you have joined with a good company, then you benefit from the goodwill they have generated in the world. However, if you unknowingly joined a bad company, then their poor reputation can drag you down too and make it extremely difficult for you get anywhere with your prospects.

Branding your own name instead of your MLM’s is more challenging but provides substantial benefits such as:

* Being able to easily switch between MLM companies without losing any of the momentum you built up with your marketing efforts.

* People search for your name on the internet and make a buying decision based on what comes up. By branding your name, your profile will appear in the search results which will make prospects more comfortable buying from you.

* Prospects don’t always remember company names but they will remember your name and face.

* By branding your name, you can leverage it to expand into other opportunities. For example, you could get into public speaking or write a book in addition to building your network marketing business.

* You will stand out from the millions of other people who are still branding their MLM company names.

It is never too late to start branding your own name. Contact me for a free consultation and I will take you through the process. In today’s digital world you cannot afford to be anonymous. Take the time to brand your name and watch your profits soar. Visit my archives for more articles on branding.

Who are you? No, really, who are you? If I Google your name what will I find out about you?  Will the search results pull up your professionally designed blog that will tell me all about you or will it pull up those embarrassing photos you took at that party? Worse, will nothing come up at all?

The internet has integrated itself deeply into the fabric of life. So much so that people are turning to search engines and social media outlets to find out information about businesses and individuals. If the wrong information comes up or, worse, no information at all, then your prospective clients may hesitate to do business with you. This hesitation can cause you to lose business to a competitor who has put in the time and effort into their business and personal brand.

It is a common misconception amongst small and independent business owners that personal and business branding is only for the “big guys”. Maybe at one point in time that was true but I can safely say that is no longer the case. The internet has leveled the playing field and provided anyone with a dream and the willingness to work a way to build a successful business. As a consequence the marketplace is chock full of people trying to get the attention of prospects and the only way to be heard above the noise is to brand yourself so that your prospective clients remember you when they think about your particular industry.

For example, a real estate agent who takes the time to cultivate a personal brand as an expert in the real estate industry will sell more homes than a person who doesn’t. This is because when people need help buying or selling a home, they will go to the person who has demonstrated that they have the knowledge, skills, and solutions they are seeking. Think about it. When you need help with a problem, who are you going to turn to? Someone who has proven to you that they know what they are talking about or someone who says they do but you have no way of knowing for certain.

Business and personal branding is not as difficult as it may first seem and anyone who has a business should have a strategy in place for doing it. The easiest way is to start a blog and to begin writing articles about the industry topics that are important to your clients. Not only should these articles provide information that your prospects can use to make good decisions, they should also position you as a knowledgeable expert in your field.

Business owners aren’t the only ones who need to have a personal and business branding strategy in place. Even if you are employed, you need to take steps to build a personal brand for yourself outside of your job. The world is gradually switching over to a freelance mentality which means rather than being “employed” by a company you will be “hiring yourself out” to the business that offers the most benefits in exchange for your skill set.

Read the rest of this entry from guest author Debbie Russell»

With so many people online promoting their business, branding is more important than ever. However, most people don’t have a clue where to turn to even begin the process. MyBrandingSystem steps into that space and allows new business owners to make their mark on the internet quickly and easily. If you are looking to build your brand or learn more on how to do it, then click to listen to my interview with Joe Locke.

You will learn:

* Why it is important to brand yourself
* How I got started with building my brand
* What you can do get started building your business and personal brand
* How MyBrandingSystem can put you on the fast track to building your brand
* How you can use the system to help other people make money building their brands

Click the play button to start changing your life:

Branding is the Future

I’ve talked a little bit about branding and how to build a personal brand in the past but today I really want to dig into the subject. The use of social media by individuals and businesses continues to expand. With thousands of people joining social networking sites every day, it has become more important than ever to brand yourself if you want to stand out from the crowd.

What is Branding?

According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is “a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller.”

This technical explanation focuses on the tangible aspects of a brand that comes to mind when we think about it. The Nike Swoop and their ‘Just Do It’ tagline, Twitter’s blue bird, and Microsoft’s 4 color logo are examples of the physical aspects of a corporate brand that are immediately recognizable.

There are also intangible aspects of a brand, such as how the brand makes us feel, that can’t be put on a logo but which shape our interaction with a brand nonetheless. There is a reason why Jimmy Choo shoes sell for $500 a pair or more. Sure the company uses high quality materials. But how you feel in a $500 pair of luxury shoes vs. how you feel in a pair of $5 shoes from a value shoe store are completely different.

Whether the brand makes you feel grateful, extravagant, superior, fashionable, frugal, ugly, smart, savvy, or any number of feelings, that’s all a part of the brand as well.

Why is Branding Yourself Important

There are several reasons why you would want to brand yourself and your business. Your brand is what sets you apart from the other people out there doing business. Your competitors are selling the same types of products you are, offering the same kind of service, and charging the same prices. Oftentimes, the only thing that will distinguish you from them will be your brand.

Branding presents your clients with a consistent image and message that will make it easier for them to remember and recognize you. Expose people to your brand often enough and they will begin to connect you to the product or service you offer. For example, when people think of Nike, they think of sports shoes.

Lastly, after you have built up a memorable and effective brand that people love, you will be able to leverage the power of your brand for other purposes. If you wanted to branch off into other products and services, it will be much easier to launch your new venture with the power of your existing brand behind it.

Tips for Branding Yourself

1. Start with one focus. Every business is multifaceted and provides multiple ways in which you can connect with your potential clients. However, pick one dominant message and stick with it. For instance, you may be to talk to your clients about entrepreneurship, marketing, making sales, being a work at home mom, making money on the internet, and hundreds of other topics but if you try to connect on all of those points you will muddle your brand and confuse your customers. Choose one focus point. You can always expand it later.

2. Condense your brand into one line. When people ask you about what you do or what your business is about, you should be able to answer them in one sentence. If it takes you 5 minutes to tell people about your brand you can be certain that it is probably unclear or overcomplicated and, therefore, not as effective as it could be.

3. Don’t follow the crowd. Your brand should stand out from the crowd, not blend in. It is alright to get inspiration from other people but always put your own personality stamp on anything that you do. Your brand will feel more authentic and be easier to market.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help in branding yourself, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

(photo credit: scbr)

Read more of my articles on branding.

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Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

Your Personal Brand is Important

By now you have probably heard about the importance of personal branding and how creating a compelling personal brand can give your business the boost it needs to compete effectively in the crowded internet marketplace. However, you may be struggling with figuring out just how to develop your personal brand so that it supports, rather than hinders, your marketing efforts.

While developing your personal brand does take time and effort, it is not a difficult process. In fact, I’ve broken it down into three simple steps you can take that will put you on track towards developing a personal brand that gets the results you want.

How to Develop Your Personal Brand

Step One – Determine what your personal brand is

In order to successfully develop your personal brand, you need to first establish what it is. Take some time to figure out what your core beliefs and values are, what makes you different from other people in your field and exactly how you want to be perceived by your peers and customers.

Use this information to decide on the image you want to project to the world at large. Write this information down in a notebook and refer to it often when working on the next steps.

Step Two – Create your brand’s physical presence

Once you’ve determined what your personal brand is, you’ll need to cultivate your brand’s physical presence. You need to decide on the name, image and tagline you want to have associated with your personal brand. Since you are developing your personal brand, this would mean using your own name, a picture of yourself and a personal motto.

Your brand’s physical presence should communicate the ideology behind it. So someone who wants to come across as a serious entrepreneur should probably use a picture of themselves wearing professional business attire. On the other hand, someone wanting to communicate an easy going and laid back attitude could get away with using a picture of themselves in casual clothes.

Step Three – Wherever you go, take your personal brand with you

People have to be exposed to your personal brand several times before it will make a lasting impression on them. Start promoting your personal brand by creating a blog and using it to share your expertise. Branch out from there into social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and connect with others who can help you spread your brand around. Guest post on blogs that focus on the same topics you write about.

Your name should show up in every place your topic of expertise is being discussed so that eventually whenever someone thinks of that topic, they’ll think of you. Consistency is a key factor in your success, so be sure to always use the same name, image and biographical information on every site you participate in.

Your personal brand is the most powerful weapon you have in your arsenal of marketing tools. Take the time to develop and promote your personal brand and you will be rewarded with the prosperity and authority you deserve.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including building a personal brand and other internet business tools.

A Personal Brand Attracts People to YOU

Creating a compelling personal brand is a vital component to building a successful business. In a time when more and more people are starting their own businesses as a result of a job loss, it is important that you do something to stand out from the crowd. Developing your personal brand will give you the edge you need to cut through the noise and grab the attention of your customer.

Unlike a business brand, which is the story of your company, your personal brand is the story of you. It is the image that pops up in people’s minds when they hear your name. Whether you realize it or not, you already have a personal brand. Ask any of your friends, family or business associates what they think of you and they will tell you exactly what your personal brand stands for.

Your personal brand is not only your perception of yourself but also how others perceive your. The problem is that you may not have ever taken the time to actively and consciously develop your personal brand. As a result, you end up with an image that may not reflect who you truly are.

Your personal brand has an enormous effect on whether or not someone wants to do business or be associated with you. Therefore it is important that you take the time to develop a personal brand that attracts rather than repels. But before you can actually develop your brand, you must figure out what your brand is.

How to Determine What Your Personal Brand Is

To discover what your brand is, take out a notebook and write down the answers to these three questions.

What are your core values and beliefs?

Your values and beliefs influence everything you do. From the style of clothes you wear, to the way you handle compliments to how you react to getting cut off in traffic. You could say that your personal brand is the tangible result of all the things you believe about yourself and life in general.

Therefore it is important to sit down and think about what those values and beliefs are especially the ones that determine how you interact with others. This will go a long way towards helping you determine what your personal brand is now as well as what you want it to be.

How are you unique?

In other words, what makes you different from the other people in your field? This could be a unique perspective about your industry or a particular skill set that enhances your ability to get the job done. Distinguishing yourself from everyone else requires that you highlight those differences that make you who you are.

How do you want people to perceive your personal brand?

As much as we’d like to deny it, our reputation is based as much on what other people have to say about us as what we have to say about ourselves. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t take control of the conversation and have people saying the right things about you.

Determine the personal brand you want to have. This will be immensely helpful in developing strategies that gets others saying the things you want them to say about you.

A personal brand isn’t an exclusive tool for celebrities and rock stars to use to sell more movies tickets and records. It is something you can also use to help you build a successful business.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including building a personal brand and other internet business tools.