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Create a Personal Brand with LinkedIn

What You Need to Know about LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional community in the world with 500 million members and it might interest you to know that 44% of Linked users earn more than $75,000 in a year.  Maybe it’s worth your while to take it more seriously.

LinkedIn is mostly a search engine as well as a social platform.  If you are someone who enjoys socialising you will find plenty of engagement especially in the LinkedIn Groups.

Your LinkedIn Profile

Your profile is the first impression of your brand that these professionals  will see, so it had better be a good one.  Don’t forget to Create an Outstanding Headline.  It needs to capture their attention and show what’s in it for them.   This is one platform where you must have a professional headshot.  You can use emojis in your profile to stand out.   The mac shortcut for emojis is control + command + spacebar or you could use getemoji.com (no app required).

Your profile is your very first point of contact where you can promote you and your brand to potential clients, customers,CEOs, Influencers and other professionals.

How Do YOU Become an Influencer on LinkedIn?

You could start by asking yourself a few questions if you want to be successful on LinkedIn.

  • Do you have a  clear idea of who your target market are and what keywords they are searching for?
  1. What do they need to know about you to feel comfortable  to engage with you and ultimately buy from you?
  2. What can you add to your profile to make you stand out from your competitors?
  3. Why would an influencer engage with you?
  4. Does what you have to offer really provide value and solutions for your targeted audience?

How to Create a Personal Brand

Usually we are trying to find out ways to stand out, but on LinkedIn you must also be careful to “fit in” in certain ways.  Your personal brand may be quite casual on other social media platforms, but you are sharing the LinkedIn community with CEOs and Influencers.

The way you would prepare and turn up for an interview is basically the way you should be turning up on LinkedIn.

Many  LinkedIn members are in the corporate world, so don’t be too scathing about working in the cubicle or talking about J.O.B.s although it can be very tempting.   Bear this in mind when you are adding your value content and telling your LinkedIn Brand Story.  You can of course  remind them of the advantages of the laptop lifestyle and the freedom it can provide.

Don’t Delay!

Although it may seem unfair people do judge you on the number of followers and contacts that you have on this platform.  So you had better start building a list right away.

As with all social media platforms, you must engage with your community by sharing and giving them thoughtful comments.

It’s not all about you and your brand – it’s all about them and what they need to know about you.  It’s not about your needs, it’s about their needs.  Keep this at the forefront of your mind always.

Set out your stall carefully – add at least 10 pieces of relevant content including graphics and video.  Use your hashtag and encourage your followers to use it too.  (My new one is #askhilaryb)   This will give them an opportunity to see more of your brand content and to ask you questions and engage with you on other platforms.

How Can You Use LinkedIn?

Since as we have already established, LinkedIn is  a search engine – people go their to find other friends and professionals, so make it easy for them to find you and what you specialise in.  You can also use it to:

  • Cross promote on other platforms.
  • Create LinkedIn banners
  • Send your followers on other platforms directly to your LinkedIn Profile page.
  • Embed the link on your websites and emails

To change your LinkedIn URL simply go to the ‘Contact Details’ section of your profile and click on the URL link to the bottom left of the section.

Make an effort to get as many endorsements and recommendations that relate to your Personal Brand and whatever you are promoting on LInkedIn

Nowadays people prefer specialists so you don’t want to have too many different endorsements are you may be looked upon as a Jack of All Trades…Many consumers only want to deal with specialists, so when you list too many skills it suggests that you’re a generalist rather than a specialist.

And most importantly make sure that the skills you do list are consistent with your personal brand.  Skills that will help to  solve your client’s challenges, objections.  This will  enable you to get some testimonials, make sure you add them together with the full name of the author.  LinkedIn also enables you to re-order the sections of your profile in any way you prefer.

Does It Seem Too Much Like Hard Work ?

You need to consistently add engaging content.

If all this seems like too much work, then you could use a branding specialist.  If you prefer to do your own branding on LinkedIn then I would highly recommend that you Check This Out

 

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Using Twitter to Grow Your Personal Brand

How to Grow Your Brand with Twitter

Is It Really Worth Bothering?

Are you wondering whether to use Twitter to grow your personal brand?  I am going to share a few reasons why you should be promoting your brand there.  BTW, now that Twitter allows tweets of 280 words, it makes it even easier to get your brand message across.

The number of Twitter users has steadily risen to 330 million (Dec 2017). Over 70% of companies are on Twitter so it is very likely that your competition is there. Wouldn’t you like to get a piece of that pie. It’s become even easier to get in front of your targeted audience there.

What Are The Steps?

There are a number of simple steps you can take to get leads on Twitter.   Always keep in mind your end goal for growing your brand on Twitter.  For most people that will be building your list, getting leads and ultimately making an income with your brand.

One of my mentors has built a 7 figure business by using Twitter to grow his brand.  So it definitely works if you are prepared to take the time to set it up properly.

The first things that most people will look at is your photo and your bio.

  • Get a professional headshot to add to your Twitter page and make sure that you are smiling.
  • You need to put some thought into creating a bio that lets your audience see who you are and what you have to offer at a glance.  Just as in life it only takes a few seconds to create an impression, so it is with your Twitter account.  This is where you can make the most impact in the shortest time on your potential followers and buyers.
  • You can create a Twitter header on canva.com with your social media links.  At a later stage you may decide to use a graphic designer, but in the meantime just get started.

The colors and fonts and design of your header combined with your bio will give people a really great first impression of who you are and of course you are your brand.

If you make an effort to create a great bio and header you will have made a wonderful start to building your brand online

  • You can add links to your social media accounts to make it even more effective.

Your brand is always evolving and hopefully improving so you don’t have to stick with your original header.  Keep testing the colors, fonts, background and above all your tag line and the message in your bio. You can use the link in your bio to send people to your website if your website has a Facebook Pixel.

It is better to send them to an opt in page that leads them to a giveaway. Remember that this giveaway is probably going to be your target audience’s first impression of your content. So make sure that it provides value and showcases your brand in the best possible light. Keep checking your stats in Twitter Analytics and you will be surprised at how many more profile visits you get when you up your game.

You can upload photos, images, gifs, videos and even do live streaming on Twitter – yes so many ways to get your brand noticed on this platform.

There’s no doubt that the Twitter platform is a great place for promoting your business and as well as your brand.

Having a personal brand is no longer an option  You need to be thinking about your brand from the moment you open your eyes each morning.  You are your brand and there are two versions on that – the online one and the experience which people can only get when they meet you in person.

Use the Twitter platform to get as close to showcasing your authentic self as possible.  That is the best kind of personal branding.

Use Twitter to promote your business and your brand and you will not be disappointed.  Build your brand identity and share your skills and knowledge one tweet at a time.  Build your brand identity by giving people what they need and want – never lose sight of this!

You can impress them with your brand but if you are not providing what they are searching for then you are just wasting your time

There are many trainings to get more followers on Twitter. I can recommend a free training that takes some time to set up and if you have the patience to do that, then you can get many eyeballs on your brand on a consistent basis.

For this strategy to work you need to create at least 400 tweets and schedule them to go out at a rate of at least 4 per day.

You can use:

  • Branded inspirational and motivational quotes
  • Industry data
  • Your blog posts
  • Quick questions for survey purposes
  • Lifestyle Tweets (more branding)
  • Value Content
  • Promotional content.

The Ninja Secret to this is in the percentages of each type of tweet that you post.  It is an exact science that has been tested and retested to create a proven formula to promote your own brand on Twitter (whatever type of business or passion that your brand promotes).

If you would like to find out more about building your brand on Twitter, from someone who generates more than 100 free leads per day on Twitter, then  if you would like a free Twitter training that will help you to set up your Twitter Branding Machine. 

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Personal Brand Videos

 This video makes it very clear that Jenni Flinders, the presenter definitely *looks the part” and creates a great first impression. It’s also obvious from the content of her TED talk that she has got Personal Branding sussed out.

The advice she shares in this video is top notch, so I would recommend that you re-watch it at least once and grab the nuggets she has so generously shared.

Personal Branding Videos

If you want to be treated like an authority or a leader or just to be taken seriously you really must put a lot of effort into your personal brand videos. 

Do you want to come across as a person who actually cares about your personal brand?  Ordinary people can now compete with the top brands in the market because the technology needed has become very affordable and a lot less of it is required.  More importantly you need to be prepared put some time and effort into  creating your videos and live-streams.  A lot of research, testing and tweaking is involved. 

How To Get Started

You don’t need expensive equipment to get started, but you do need to make quality videos with good audio.  Audio is the most important part of your videos.  

Although you want your content to be on trend, in some respects it needs to be as neutral as possible.  The appearance and background in all the videos should be consistent and relevant to the brand.  Make sure that most of your videos are evergreen.  Some things may seem quite obvious such as wearing classic clothes rather than the latest trendy fashion and not mentioning dates.

Consider the background too – if your video has snow in the background and it’s mid summer in Australia, it is not going to create a great impression.   You must always bear in mind that in the global market some people are enjoying picnics and fun on the beach, while others may be trudging through snow. Always keep your audience at the forefront of your mind.  Your target audience probably  like to envision themselves living the laptop lifestyle – on the beach -having fun -owning luxury houses and cars and wearing expensive jewellery.

How Can I Improve The Sound?

Using  headphones  will improve the sound on your videos.  Sound is much more important than some people realise.  A Lavalier lapel microphone can be used with your smartphone   You can find them on Amazon – they are very inexpensive.  

You should be prepared to invest some money in your online business  –a “Diva Light  will make a tremendous difference to the quality of your videos.   If you that you can’t afford that at the moment, then try to make as many videos of possible in daylight, because that is actually the best  possible light for photography and video

Here are some tips on how you can create your own brand videos:

Post Your videos with Intent  – Know the purpose of the video before you get started and make it with that in mind.  Are you  trying to build your list, get leads or make sales?  Perhaps you just want to educate or entertain your audience and get lots of views.  A clear message and CTA (call to action) combined with the solution to a problem are the ideal combination.

1  Research

  • Analyse and adjust the data for your videos
  • Analyse the data for your industry
  • Ask your customers what they want
  • Check platforms that your audience are using to find out what they actually want and then give them the solutions  in your videos
  • Great brands always listen to their customers and their target audience
  • Don’t forget to study the competition in detail e.g. when and where are they posting their videos?  How often?  Which ones are getting the most engagement ? – try to figure out why and model them.

2  Preparation

  • Make a List of Topics – It’s so much easier to get started when you have a plan and a checklist
  • Create Branded Intros and Outros with CTAs – You can get apps that will help you with that.
  • Create scripts for  your videos where relevant and use a teleprompter (I use Parrot free app for my smartphone)
  • Plan out a series of videos  (batching) – This will save a lot of time
  • You may find that live-streaming is easier than following a script on a video – I know that I do.

3  Attention to Detail

  • Change your outfit – you may prefer to wear a branded tee-shirt that promotes your company, otherwise don’t keep on wearing the same clothes
  • Change the background from time to time
  • If you are using a home office check that there is nothing lying around in the background
  • Have an editing process in place
  • Produce different styles of videos for different platforms
  • Share the full version on FaceBook and 60 second teasers to drive people to your YouTube Channel
  • Have a structure in your videos

The Purpose of a Personal Brand Video

Here is an example of a structured video with 6 components to promote your brand:  This is a proven formula to generate leads, but you can change or refine it to suit your purposes.

1 Intro

2 Question

3  Proof of Results

4  Content

5 Edification

6  CTA (call to action)

Once you have created your videos, don’t forget that they will be useless unless you are curating them.

You need to embed your video posts on your blog turning them into vlogs – you also need to ask spread add them to all your social media sites.   You can add them to other video platforms.  IBOToolbox has 250,00 visitors daily and it is very easy to upload them there.

How does a Branding Video Differ From Other Videos?

The short answer is that it doesn’t.  Every piece of content that you publish is part  of your brand whether you mean it to be or not.  Every word you utter, every smile, every frown they are all part of the jigsaw puzzle that your viewers are trying to put together so they can decide whether or not they want to do business with you.

Overcome The Fear of Making Videos

It used to be that the fear of public speaking was the biggest fear for entrepreneurs, but that has been overtaken by the fear of making videos or going live.  This is really the same fear – the fear of being judged, the fear of making a fool or ourselves or that our flaws may been seen by an audience.

I remember many years ago going to an internet marketing event in London.  Armand Morin was one of the speakers (if you don’t know who Armand Morin is then just Google him) and something he said has always stuck in my mind.  He said “You have to get over yourself“. 

It’s not an easy thing to do but the more you put yourself out there the easier it becomes.

Basically you need to have a process, a system or checklist and do these things consistently to give yourself the best possible chance to make an impact your with your videos.

The good news is that the more videos you make the easier it becomes.

If you would like to find out more about these components as well as  getting a free module on how to produce such a video you can find it along with a lot more value on this vlog

Ninja Tips:  The 80 % Video

Create a video which answers all the objections to the questions that your target audience are likely to ask.  This can be quite a long video. Make sure that it is the first thing that they see before you mention your product.  Videos allow your viewers to get to know you before you meet and before you start persuading them that your brand is the one they need.

Another Branding Video Tip is to create a short video introducing your brand and what you have that is a solution to their most pressing problem and add it to your email signature.  You will be amazed at how many people watch your video.

Why We Are Not a Good Fit For Video

Create a video that tells them that we may not be a good fit for you because……..  Put this on your about page.  Also position it wherever they can see it before you contact them.

 

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Personal Branding

Improve Your Personal Brand

Yes – strange though it may seem personal branding is all about them and not about you

How Do You Build a Personal Brand?

Let’s face it, whether you have a business or not, you still need a personal brand that really makes an impact if you want to stand out from the competition online and offline.

That brand may have been created by you unconsciously. You may not have given it a lot of thought, but it’s there already waiting to bite you on the butt or make you shine forever!

Whether your brand helps you, hinders you or haunts you is and always will be in your hands.

Like most things in life there is a sequence of events that need to happen in order to build a personal brand online or anywhere else.

  • Firstly it’s a matter of observing yourself, both as you see you and as you are seen by your target audience.
  • Always put yourself in their shoes
  • Would you buy from you?
  • Would you trust you?
  • Would you even like you?

Hard questions, but they need to be answered before you get to work on your personal brand

Build a Better Brand

Whether to spread your content and personal branding stories around the marketplace or focus on one or two platforms is a decision that you need to make at the outset.

Both of these strategies work.  If you have a special skill or talent or you just enjoy making videos, then you could focus on YouTube and build your brand there.

If you enjoy live-streaming, Facebook, Periscope and Instagram might be your best bet. At the end of the day it is all about testing and tweaking until you find the platform/s where you feel comfortable and where you are getting the most engagement.

It also depends to a very great extent on where your target audience is hanging out. If they are on SnapChat or Instagram, then being a hit on FaceBook might not be such a big deal.

If you want to have a really successful personal brand you need to know your targeted audience inside out. Most of you content will be consumed via mobile phone so you need to check out your blogs and images to make sure that they are mobile friendly.

You need to become more courageous about “getting over yourself ” so that you can reach out and engage with your audience across as many devices and use live-streaming and videos to scale your brand and business much faster.

Building your skills and being knowledgeable about all aspects of your business will give you the confidence to let go of your ego and build a brand to be proud of sharing.

By understanding in depth the behaviour of your audience and viewers you will be well ahead of the pack. The technology is available to segment your audience and keep track of them throughout their buying journey.  This makes it even easier to find your targeted audience and offer them what they actually want as opposed to what you think they should want.  Make it your business to find out how to do this.

At the same time you can be encouraging them to take action with stories that will resonate with them. My aunt used to say “Make Every Penny a Prisoner”   Nowadays we need to make every follower a prisoner in  our email box.  There, we can find out what they want and give it (or preferably sell it) to them.  You have the opportunity to put your targeted audience under the spell of your amazing personal brand. Engaging and following up with them is super important.

Having an impactful brand is worth a fortune, so don’t go leaving money on the table through lack of thought or lack of knowledge.

  • You have to work on your brand on a daily basis. It needs to be given top priority – It’ as simple as that!
  • If they don’t like your brand, they won’t pay attention to your business or buy from you.
  •  So make sure you are spreading a message that they want to hear and ..
  • put it in front of them on multiple occasions.
  •  Usually the more you see someone the more you come to like them and so it is with your personal brand.

Don’t under- estimate the power of a personal brand and that power is in your hands. Make the most of it!

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How To Build a Better Brand

First Impressions

  • Your Smile
  • Your Appearance
  • Your Energy
  • Your Personality
  • Your Bio
  • Your Website

How Do You Build a Personal Brand?

  • Research Your Target Audience
  • Where can you find them
  • What is their pain
  • Look for personal branding examples,
  • personal branding books
  • Pay attention to your personal brand because it can have a massive impact on your business.  Everyone is trying hard to get attention in a sea of businesses and marketers.  If you don’t want to become lost in the crowd, you need to focus on your brand.  Constantly improving it and comparing it with your competitors’ brands.​

Create a Consistent Brand

  • Decide Where you are going to promote your brand
  • Create Posting Schedules
  • What can be automated?

Building Your Story Brand

  • Create your story so that it is congruent to your target audience.
  •  Share your pain with them
  • Share how you overcame your struggles
  • Persuade them that they can do the same
  • Create quality branded images

It’s often said that everyone has a story and it is very worthwhile to delve into yours.  You can share the struggles and how you overcame them.  This can provide inspiration and hope to those in your audience who are going through their own personal struggles.

Their is a formula to telling your story in the best possible way that is congruent to your brand.  One of the things that you should not do is to discuss your current struggles.  People don’t really want to know about them.  They are only interested in the solutions to their problems and they want to find a way to overcome their own struggles.

Tell your story of how you overcame the obstacles in your life and specifically in your business are what they want to hear about.

Testimonials are another very important part of your personal brand, so don’t forget to make the effort to ask people you have helped to give you a written testimonial

It would be even better  if they would be willing to record a short video testimonial.  That takes most people out of their comfort zone, but you will probably find that online marketers are likely to find it less challenging.

Writing your story does not have to take forever – there are many shortcuts including recording it and having it transcribed on Fiverr.  Sharing your story can attract your target audience and strengthen your brand enormously.​

How to Build a Better Brand

  • Be constantly growing
  • Continue to create content
  • Take small steps to improve every single day
  • Consider what mighrt be the fastest and most efficient way for you to make an impact
  • Look for personal branding examples and try to figure out the secrets of their branding success.

Gurus may hide some of their strategies and techniques from all but their inner circles, but they can’t hide their branding.  It’s their branding that attracts so many people to go to their websites and/or buy their product.

  • Another way you can find out more about branding is to invest in a few personal branding books that have good reviews.

The easiest way to have an awesome personal brand is to pay someone else to create it for you. If you are just starting out this may not be an option for you.  That just means that it will probably take you longer and you may have to make it a priority in your business.  It can be very satisfying to see the results that can be achieved when you work at this on a consistent basis.

Create a Consistent Brand

One thing that you will find is that the people and companies  that are really successful are very consistent with their brand.  They find out what their customers are looking for and they build that into their brand.  Style and core values also pay an important part.  Work out what your core values are and stick to them. These things apply to a personal brand just as much as a company brand – sometimes even more so, when you don’t have a ton of money to throw at the creation of your image.  Some people are more brand-able than others.  If you are a slim beautiful young woman or a handsome young man you are already a few steps up the branding ladder.

Are you prepared to dye your hair blue or shave your head for the sake of your brand?  Most of us are not prepared to go to those lengths but you could become the person who always wears orange or even a pink hat if that is appropriate.  Whatever brand you choose for yourself or your clients must above all be about your authentic self.  This is the way to gain the respect and trust of your audience​

Your brand should be constantly evolving.  In fact you can totally change your brand and start from scratch if your current one isn’t doing it’s job.  What job is that?  Well that depends on what you are trying to achieve and what audience you are hoping to attract.  Whatever and whoever that may be, the important thing is to gain their trust and have the like-ability factor ( don’t forget to smile).

Livestreams, videos, images, blogs, landing pages, sales pages and cheatsheets can all serve to enhance your brand.  Choose colours and fonts that are congruent on all of them and even before they read a word people will recognise you by your branding.  That is the ideal outcome of all your branding efforts.​

Why Should I Have a Mentor?

  • A mentor can help if you find all this a bit overwhelming
  • A mentor will show you how to chunk it and make buiding your brand a lot less daunting
  • A mentor will find and edit the best images
  • Choose a mentor who has experience in building their own brand or other successful brand

What if you are limited in the time you can afford to spend on your brand or you don’t have the confidence or experience to build one?  What if you are just starting your online business and you want to give yourself the best chance of success?

Even though you may have to start building it yourself, once you become established to some extent,  you will no doubt be ready to take the next logical step.The chances are that although you may be an expert in your field, you may not have the skill-set yet to brand yourself effectively.

Wouldn’t it be better to put this very important part of your business in the hands of a branding specialist?  It needn’t cost a lot, in fact I can direct you to a couple of places on the internet where you can find a lot of free branding information.  So just let me know if that is of interest to you.

Building a personal brand can be fun – after all it’s not that difficult to be your authentic self and that is what you need to be above all both online and off line.You can find my contact details at the top of this page, but I am on  most platforms as hilarybassak – which is of course a shortened version of my Greek surname which is even considered long by the Greeks themselves!​

Want to find out more?   

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Create Your Brand With Social Media

How to Market Your Brand on Social Media

The first thing you need to do before you start to build your brand on social media is to get clear on where your target audience is hanging out.  This requires a lot of research which you may find tedious.   It will save you a lot of time which would otherwise be wasted chasing the wrong audience.  Did you know for example that 79% of 30 – 49 year olds are on Facebook?

There are lots of random facts about social media demographics on the internet.  You need to delve deep and focus on the type and needs of your audience.  What age groups frequent your chosen platforms.?  Collect as much relevant data as you can.  You need to ensure that you have the most possible visibility for your brand. so that you can choose one or two that are in the right age group for your target audience.

If you are targeting baby boomers, bear in mind that only 4% of over 65 year olds are on Instagram, so there is no point wasting your time and advertising dollars trying to reach them there.  I say dollars because 84% of aduts using Facebook are Americans or Canadians.

When you find the platforms where your brand and your content are most likely to be consumed., you are well on the way to a successful social media branding strategy.  If you feel the need for more information and training on the subject of branding click here now​.

Create Your Brand with Social Media

You need a professional and a personal brand on social media.  If you want to reach your target audience you have to:

  •  Know who they are, their interests and where they hang out
  • Let them know who you are and engage with them on a consistent  basis
  • Be sociable.  You need to be relatable and you have to provide them with value content that will solve their problems.
  • Share your interests on your social media platforms
  • Post lifestyle posts on Twitter as well as business data and branded quotes.

It has to be all about them, their interests, what they want and not about you.  You can watch the forums where they are and find out their goals, problems and frustrations  You can ask them what they want on live broadcasts or use some surveys

 

Building Your Brand on Social Media

On all platforms you need a compelling tagline, a smiling headshot and a great profile that let’s them know WIIFT (What’s in it for them).  Have a logo and a colour palette that is consistent over all your platforms and also use only 2 or 3  fonts.  Keep your graphics simple.

 

                                            How to Market Your Brand on Social Media 

  • Make it all about the story – your story. on all your platforms,
  •  Be authentic and consistent on social media.
  • Have a clear purpose and be very specific about what you stand for.
  • Constantly keep investing in yourself (this will help you to improve your personal brand ).
  • Let them know WIIFT (What’s in it for them).​
  • What is your identity? How do you want to be perceived?
  • Know who you are, but don’t tell people who you are  – let them tell you who you are.
  • To build your brand on social media you need a compelling tagline, a smiling headshot and a great profile
  • Have a logo and a colour palette that is consistent over all your platforms and also use only 2 or 3  fonts.
  • Keep your graphics simple.

Create Your brand With Social Media

Is it even possible to create a brand on social media?  Well ask Donald Trump or Barack Obama if you have any doubts about how powerful social media can be.

The Kardashians, Pop Stars, sport stars and  many influencers are creating fortunes with their brand on social media.  Ok- you may say that they have a head start, but that is not a reason to underestimate the opportunity that exists there whether you are a teenager going viral on YouTube or just a someone with a unique brand or engaging personality.  Nurture your brand – it can lead to great things for you.

Find out more about building a brand with social media here

 

 

 

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Your Brand Story


Being Irish, I was delighted to discover just how important a brand story is in creating a personal brand strategy.  Storytelling is a skill that comes easily to some people even if they haven’t kissed the Blarney Stone.   The good news is that even if this is not one of your natural gifts, there are special formulas  to build great brand stories that will bring your brand to life.

Promoting Your Business

One of the most intriguing stories that I read recently is the Wolf of Wall Street.  It’s a story that many might find shocking in parts and far removed from most people’s experience.  Maybe it appeals to our sense of adventure.   AlthoughJordan Belfort found himself in prison at one point in the story, like all good stories it has the happy ending where he gets married and lives happily ever after (up until now anyway).  This story is earning a second fortune for Jordan Belfort.  Not only from the book and the movie, but he has been able to build a consulting and public speaking business on the back of it and is living a life of luxury once again.

Great Brand Stories

Stories can be used to build a brand and there are many examples of brand stories that are know far and wide.  Often it’s the CEO of a company who has a great story that many people  can resonate with.  We have all been through struggles and frustrations in our lives and it somehow feels reassuring to know that these successful people have had similar things happen.  We all love to hear the happy ending.

Best Brand Stories

The best brand stories are the ones that inspire and motivate people not to give up on their businesses.  The hero’s journey is just as likely to be effective in a brand story as it is in a movie.  Stories bring a brand to life and reach people through their emotions.

Describing the laptop lifestyle and sharing the vision and the outcomes of a successful brand spurs the budding entrepreneurs on.  A story can build the know like and trust factor much more than a Facebook Ad or a TV Commercial ever could.  People can forget tag lines and even testimonials but they will remember your story.

Whether you are trying to get a loan for your business or hoping to make a sale the chances are that  you can make these thing happen with  a really good story.

Never underestimate the power of stories when you are building your brand.  You can have different brand stories for different audiences  Long stories or short stories whether spoken or written can work miracles and they do.

    A Truly Astonishing Story

 

I have a very special story, maybe the greatest story to come out of Ireland since the Titanic.  It still has not reached it’s conclusion.  It is part of my brand.  It is a story that no-one could ever have dreamed up in their wildest imagination.   

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When to Start Building a Personal Brand

To Brand or Not to Brand? – That May Well Be the Question


I received an email today from a top marketer suggesting that it is a bad idea to start creating a personal brand at the outset of your business, while you may still be on the Struggle Bus. That kind of stopped me in my tracks, as almost all the other top marketers recommend that you should start building your personal brand from day one. So I decided to give it some thought, before continuing to encourage y’all to spread your no results or low results brands

Whenever you are telling your story, it’s not a good idea to share your struggles while they are happening. It’s fine to share them when you have overcome the obstacles and gained wisdom from the failures. Then you will be able to provide the solutions that they can use in their lives or in their businesses.

Unfortunately people don’t want to know about your product or your struggles – they just want to know how you can help them to solve their problems. So, it follows that they may not really want to know, like and trust you if you haven’t already reached your goals. Nobody wants to follow a no results or low results brand. Perhaps a low profile during that period might be a good idea – don’t you think?

Two of the components of a good brand are:

  • social proof (e.g. testimonials) and
  • edification (but you can’t have either at the start of your business. You could get someone to edify you regarding your character but not in respect to your business.)

What’s The Answer? _ Do You Create a Personal Brand or Not?

So, what are the choices?

  • Do you fake it until you make it? ……………………………………….Definitely not!!
  • Do you procrastinate in building your brand? ……………………..Another No No!!
  • Do You give up on Personal Branding?………………………………Certainly Not!!

When Should You Start?​​

Think of your brand as a Brand Building – you have to start with the foundations i.e :

  • Your core values
  • Your mission
  • Your Vision
  • Your Bio

Building Your Brand Brick by Brick

It will be hard work and you will need to be committed to spending the time and the energy to build it. It will be worth it because a great brand can be more valuable than anything else you will ever build in your life. Whatever else you are doing in your business – ALWAYS BE BRANDING.

Every post that you make, every image that you share on social media, every worksheet, landing page, website must be created with your brand in mind. The colors and fonts must be congruent with your personal brand. Your livestreams, your videos and your webinars are all a part of the overall picture. Your appearance, even your voice must all blend in and yet stand out at the same time.

You have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

Always dress better than the people you are trying to impress. I have seen this work over and over again. You can test this out for yourself. Observe the difference in the way you are treated when you have dressed to impress. You don’t have to be formal conventional in your appearance or behaviour, you can be quirky.

The best part of a personal brand is that you can be YOU, the authentic YOU. It’s all about branding YOU and even if you are building this all in the background, when you are ready you can share your brand and your story with the world.

How Can I Create an Effective Brand?

Some people have a certain look, a certain style, a certain voice or personality that makes them stand out at one glance.  Will I Am, Tom Jones, The Kardashians are just a few who come to mind (probably because I was watching TV last night).  Success seems to come to them effortlessly, but usually that is not the case . In the background there are branding specialists, stylists, make-up artists combined with a lot of hard work and commitment from them. So it will be with your personal brand.

You will probably have to learn some new skills such as copywriting or even photography to improve your content creation.

Can I Monetise My Brand?

The good news is that you can use your brand to attract targeted followers – some of whom will become fans and these are the people who will buy from you. The brand will become more important than the product and the brand is what will build your long term lucrative business.

The bad news is that the money often comes near the end of the brand building process. So it’s best to hang on to your job or offline business until your brand is well under way and working it’s magic to bring you enough income to become a member of the laptop lifestyle.

What Else Do I Need To Know About Personal Branding?

Perhaps you have decided that you just don’t care anymore about what people think of you. This is how you are escaping from the naysayers and the negative people in your life. This can be a great strategy for dealing with those people, but you need to have a different system for interacting with your targeted followers.

If you have targeted followers, these are like – minded people who are the most likely to buy your products. You need to care about what they think and how they perceive you. They will judge you whether you like it or not, but they also present you with a great opportunity. The opportunity to create a great first impression – with your appearance, your content, your products and whatever else you wish so share.

All you need to do is be the person you would like to follow or as they say on social media -Be the person your dog thinks you are!  So I’m asking you now and you need to ask yourself the same question – Can you do that?

Both of us know the answer to that one –  Of course You Can!

 

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How To Build a Personal Brand Online

Pay attention to your personal brand because it can have a massive impact on your business.  Everyone is trying hard to get attention in a sea of businesses and marketers.  If you don’t want to become lost in the crowd, you need to focus on your brand.  Constantly improving it and comparing it with your competitors’ brands.

Look for personal branding examples and try to figure out the secrets of their branding success.  Gurus may hide some of their strategies and techniques from all but their inner circles, but they can’t hide their branding.  It’s their branding that attracts so many people to go to their websites and/or buy their product.

Another way you can find out more about branding is to invest in a few personal branding books that have good reviews.  The easiest way to have an awesome personal brand is to pay someone else to create it for you.  If you are just starting out this may not be an option for you.  That just means that it will probably take you longer and you may have to make it a priority in your business.  It can be very satisfying to see the results that can be achieved when you work at this on a consistent basis.

Create a Consistent Brand

One thing that you will find is that the people and companies  that are really successful are very consistent with their brand.  They find out what their customers are looking for and they build that into their brand.  Style and core values also pay an important part.  Work out what your core values are and stick to them.

These things apply to a personal brand just as much as a company brand – sometimes even more so, when you don’t have a ton of money to throw at the creation of your image.  Some people are more brand-able than others.  If you are a slim beautiful young woman or a handsome young man you are already a few steps up the branding ladder.  Are you prepared to dye your hair blue or shave your head for the sake of your brand?  Most of us are not prepared to go to those lengths but you could become the person who always wears orange or even a pink hat if that is appropriate.  Whatever brand you choose for yourself or your clients must above all be about your authentic self.  This is the way to gain the respect and trust of your audience.

Building Your Story Brand

It’s often said that everyone has a story and it is very worthwhile to delve into yours.  You can share the struggles and how you overcame them.  This can provide inspiration and hope to those in your audience who are going through their own personal struggles.

Their is a formula to telling your story in the best possible way that is congruent to your brand.  One of the things that you should not do is to discuss your current struggles.  People don’t really want to know about them.  They are only interested in the solutions to their problems and they want to find a way to overcome their own struggles.  Your story of how you overcame the obstacles in your life and specifically in your business are what they want to hear about.

Testimonials are another very important part of your personal brand, so don’t forget to make the effort to ask people you have helped to give you a written testimonial   It would be even better  if they would be willing to record a short video testimonial.  That takes most people out of their comfort zone, but you will probably find that online marketers are likely to find it less challenging.

Writing your story does not have to take forever – there are many shortcuts including recording it and having it transcribed on Fiverr.  Sharing your story can attract your target audience and strengthen your brand enormously.

How to Build a Better Brand

Your brand should be constantly evolving.  In fact you can totally change your brand and start from scratch if your current one isn’t doing it’s job.  What job is that?  Well that depends on what you are trying to achieve and what audience you are hoping to attract.  Whatever and whoever that may be, the important thing is to gain their trust and have the like-ability factor ( don’t forget to smile).

Livestreams, videos, images, blogs, landing pages, sales pages and cheatsheets can all serve to enhance your brand.  Choose colours and fonts that are congruent on all of them and even before they read a word people will recognise you by your branding.  That is the ideal outcome of all your branding efforts.

Why Should I Have a Mentor?

What if you are limited in the time you can afford to spend on your brand or you don’t have the confidence or experience to build one?  What if you are just starting your online business and you want to give yourself the best chance of success?  Even though you may have to start building it yourself, once you become established to some extent,  you will no doubt be ready to take the next logical step.

The chances are that although you may be an expert in your field, you may not have the skill-set yet to brand yourself effectively.  Wouldn’t it be better to put this very important part of your business in the hands of a branding specialist?  It needn’t cost a lot, in fact I can direct you to a couple of places on the internet where you can find a lot of free branding information.  So just let me know if that is of interest to you.

Building a personal brand can be fun – after all it’s not that difficult to be your authentic self and that is what you need to be above all both online and off line.

You can find my contact details at the top of this page, but I am on  most platforms as hilarybassak – which is of course a shortened version of my Greek surname which is even considered long by the Greeks themselves!

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Creating a Personal Brand Strategy

How Do You Build a Personal Brand Strategy?

  • Research Your Target Audience
  • Where do they hang out?
  • What is their pain?
  • Define the one thing that they want
  • Help them to resolve their frustrations
  • Give them a plan and a vision
  • Improving the lives of others will create a viral brand
  • Find and model personal branding examples,
  • Read personal branding books
  • Constantly ask yourself this question How Do I Create My Own Brand? and note down all your ideas so that you can use them in your branding strategy
  • Make a Personal Branding Mindmap

First Impressions

  • First impressions count a lot in the world of personal branding
  • Your Smile – smile more often in your live-streams and videos – when appropriate
  • Your Appearance – Decide if it should be formal, casual, designer clothes for a luxury brand or not -take care of your appearance in every piece of your content.  Remember  you are always building a vision with every aspect of your brand.
  • Your Energy – Listen to some upbeat music or do some affirmations to get raise your energy before broadcasting
  • Your Personality – Let it shine through
  • Your Bio – Don’t let people know if you are struggling. Find the positives in your life and business and share them in your bio where most of your prospects will get their first impression of you.
  • Your Website may be the first or second place people will meet you online – So put your best foot forward.  Don’t be stingy with the amount of time and attention you are prepared to spend on it.
  • Make sure that you are sharing stuff that will help and inform your target audience. If you want to be followed by interesting people – be interesting.  It’s called “The Law of Attraction”
  • Want to know How to Create Your Personal Blog as simply as fast as possible? – I can give you the perfect solution.

Create a Consistent Brand

  • Decide where you are going to promote your brand – The more platforms you are seen on the faster your brand/business will grow provided you are sharing value content.
  • You can decide to focus on one or two platforms or just be everywhere – both methods work as long as you are persistent and consistent
  • Create Posting Schedules and stick to them
  • Automate as much as possible

Building Your Story Brand

  • Create your story so that it is congruent with the needs, hopes and desires of your target audience.
  • Your story is the most powerful tool in your branding arsenal – be the hero of it
  • Share your pain with them
  • Share how you overcame your struggles
  • Persuade them that they can do the same
  • Create quality branded images or pay someone else to create them for you
  • Post with purpose and make sure that most of your content is congruent with your brand image

How to Build a Better Brand

  • Focus on how to build a personal brand online –  it will be your greatest asset
  • Continue to create content
  • Be constantly growing
  • Take small steps to improve every single day
  • Consider what might be the fastest and most efficient way for you to make an impact
  • Always keep in mind the why, where, who and what of your brand
  • Why?  Are you planning to become a millionaire, billionaire or do you just want to  gain freedom from the rat race by sacking your boss.
  • Where?  Do you need to impress only your local market or are you creating a global brand
  • What tools and skills do you already have that will help you to build it?
  • What tools and skills do you need to acquire?
  • Who are your target market?  What are their demographics and psychographics?  (If you  don’t know what that means, just Google it)

Why Should I Have a Mentor?

  • Using a mentor is the most efficient ways to learn how to create a personal brand
  • A mentor can help if you find all this online stuff a bit overwhelming
  • Don’t just wonder “What does a mentor do?”  Find one and ask them exactly what they will provide for you and at what cost.  Make sure they have the skills and experience and results that you are seeking (e.g. ask to see some examples of their work or testimonials.)
  • A mentor will show you how to  make building your brand a lot less daunting by chunking it
  • They will show you where to find and edit great images
  • Choose a mentor who has experience in building their own brand or other successful brands
  • The right mentor will help you create the best CTAs (Call To Actions), so that you will achieve the ultimate results of creating your value brand and that is of course a ton of sales!

Would you like  more information on how to build and grow your personal brand?