MarketingMel

Public Speaking is a great way to build your personal brand.

Our personal brand is quite simply, how others perceive us. It’s what they think of when they hear our name and see our digital and in-person image.  As we move into the New Year let’s each take a quick assessment of our own personal brand and what we can do to better ourselves in 2014.

1. Google yourself– What do you find? Is it fresh? Is it negative? Does it need a PR boost? I once advised a prospective client who was looking for start-up capital for a new venture to google himself.  A simple search produced a five year old negative news story about his business. I knew that if I saw that so would his potential investors. There are ways (creating blog posts for example) to drive the old and ugly down.
2. Does your brand transfer to social/mobile? More and more consumers are on both social media platforms and mobile devices. According to Business News Daily, “companies will be finding new ways to target mobile devices and users.”
3. How are you visually “showing” your personal brand? Have you made plans for a new professional head shot? If your head shot is more than a few years old it’s time for a refresh. (I’ve already made plans to see one of my favorite photographers, Tina Wilson, next week.) The article mentioned above states that Trends predictors are saying that with our short attention spans it will increasingly be a “show don’t tell” world.  How are you “showing” your personal brand?
4. Who is your target audience? What communications channels are they using? Each year I look back at all of the new social media channels that I joined. In 2013 it was Instagram, SnapChat, WeChat (international) and Vine. I entered those channels because I’m a professional communicator eager to check out the trends, but there’s no question the “tried and true” of Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are where I connect with most of my business contacts.
5. How do you plan to promote your brand in 2014? Through guest media appearances? Your blog? Podcasts? Social media? Your e-mail signature? Video? Civic clubs? Chamber of Commerce? Winning awards? Take time now to assess what has brought you business in the past and do more of it this year.
6. Do you have an editorial calendar planned for 2014? Remember, social media provides a tremendous opportunity for you to be both content creator and publisher. No one knows your business like you do! Create your own content and plan ahead for the seasonality of your brand.
7. Are you or do you expect to look for a new job or new client in 2014? If you’re reading this you are probably interested in finding new jobs or new clients. Maria Peagler and I developed a free one-hour personal branding webinar for you that includes more profit-making tips at www.personalbrandinghowto.com.

Please share what you’re doing to successfully boost your brand in the comments section below. All the best of luck to you in 2014!

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Photo: BryceCanyon.com

Sunday our minister referenced that breathtaking financial company ad where the woman climbs a summit and a gigantic panorama unfolds in front of her. His sermon analogy was that the year 2012 lies before each of us as a panaroma right now.

With that in mind, this is the year to create or work on your personal brand. Tom Peters pioneered the concept with “The Brand Called You”. The points he makes in the article still ring some 15 years later (only the brand names have changed!)  As we move into another New Year let’s each take a quick assessment of our own personal brand and what we can do to better ourselves in 2012. Here are some tips I’ve provided to my clients in customized one-on-one sessions and am glad to share here with you.

1. Google yourself– What do you find? Is it fresh? Is it negative? Does it need a PR boost?
2. Does your image/Web site transfer to mobile? The growth of smart phones and other mobile devices will continue to explode in 2012.
3. Who is your target audience? What communications channels are they using? Be sure you are present on them. Example: My clients are business professionals. Most all of them are on LinkedIn and there is an excellent LinkedIn Personal Branding group.
4. Do you have an elevator speech? The next time you bump into Future Big Client X do you have a quick description ready for the business you have and the products and services your provide?
5. How do you plan to promote your brand in 2012? How are you using your social media channels? Do they show you constantly complaining about life’s mundane things? Remember, it’s your image that’s coming through (as if you were broadcasting!) Do you have guest media appearances and public speaking engagements planned? Do you have a blog? (It’s one of the best ways to kick start your web site’s SEO!) How about podcasts? Your e-mail signature? Videos?
6. Do you have an editorial calendar planned for 2012? Remember, you are a publisher. Now is the time to think seasonal and timely in your future writing and publishing.
7. Are you building your brand on twitter? I’ve formed so many great relationships thanks to the magic of twitter. It’s hard for me to believe that some people still think twitter is just about celebrities and what you had for lunch. If you haven’t done so already, try a twitter chat (look for the hashtags) for a field of your interest. Neal Schaeffer provides this excellent tutorial on twitter chats. Your positive contributions on tweetchats will help build your brand in your industry group or field of interest.
8. Dive in! Experiment with some new social media channel and meet some new friends along the way! In 2011 it was Google+ and Pinterest for me. What were some of your favorite new social media channels?

With an 8.6 percent nationwide unemployment rate more people than ever need to be sure they are building their personal brand both at in-person networking events and online.  The business atmosphere is in a state of constant change (just look at what’s happened to some of the stalwart brands.) These tips will help you be in control of the message broadcast by your personal brand, no matter what hand economic conditions may deal to you. All the best of luck to you in 2012 and remember, your personal brand is always with you!

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What's your personal brand?

Recently I had the opportunity to conduct video “man-on-the-street” interviews asking people about their New Year’s resolutions. This was a project to help one of our church ministers with his upcoming sermon. I learned several things:

1- Generally people do not like to talk about resolutions. Most likely it’s because they remind them of broken promises.

2- Unless they think they look good they don’t want to talk on camera. People obsess about their clothes, hair, make-up, etc. (This goes for men as well as women although the men I met weren’t worried about make-up.)

Ultimately resolutions reflect on our personal brand. As we move into the New Year let’s each take a quick assessment of our own personal brand and what we can do to better ourselves in 2011. Here are some tips I recently provided to two of my clients in customized one-on-one sessions and am glad to share here with you.

1. Google yourself– What do you find? Is it fresh? Is it negative? Does it need a PR boost?
2. Does your image transfer to mobile? People will be on their phones more than ever in 2011.
3. Who is your target audience? What communications channels are they using? Do you have your elevator speech planned for the next time you bump into Future Big Client X?
4. How do you plan to promote your brand in 2011? Through guest media appearances? Your blog? Podcasts? Social media? Your e-mail signature? Video?
5. Do you have an editorial calendar planned for 2011? Remember, you are a publisher. Now is the time to think seasonal and timely in your future writing and publishing.

All the best of luck to you in 2011 and remember, your personal brand is always with you!

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