3 myths of personal brand
“This is me. These are my values. This is my personality” → Me, Me, Me. It’s focused on you and not on the ones you serve. How are you to be of service and help, if you’re the most important person in the room? “You’re the product” → If you’re a product… then you have no conscience. No morals. No ethics. Because a thing can’t have those. A person does. 🙂 “You build a brand” → Not. Your customers build a brand for the business to thrive.
Legacy branding
Legacy branding is all about bells and whistles. How YOU or your company —or worse, agencies— build “winning” brands. Because when you have a “winning” brand, you’ll stand out and everyone will care for it. That’s not the case. I have some bad/good news here: People don’t care about your brand. Your customers don’t care about your brand. They care about how they can get what they want —and if your business can help them transform and get delighted, they’re all in. Businesses can’t (and don’t)…
The same results
What do you find that gets your business stuck? (Yes, I’d love a reply if you feel like it and see if I could help you or connect you with someone who could) Now, look ahead 3 years from now and we’re having coffee. You’ve achieved your goals and feel things are moving forward. What has happened that got you here? Now, come back to the present and ask yourself, are you doing the same things you’ve been doing —while expecting different results? What’s making you stop from a different way?
Send me a price
While it appears to be an opportunity to start a new deal, there’s lots going on in the background —especially if you’re in a nuanced, expertise business. It also means: I’m shopping for a price. I’m doing the assessment by myself. I’m already comparing other options. I’m checking features. It also means your prospect has the upper hand. Your negotiation power is low and hope is more of your “strategy”. There’s a simple fix though. Qualify your prospect. See if they’re the right ones for your…
On this one, I’m afraid.
Have you ever felt you made something but (under the faux-disguise of “modesty” —but in reality, fear), you don’t promote it? That’s what I’m getting right now. The lovely Jonathan Stark invited me to his show, Ditching Hourly, and we explored a POV re: personal branding —and why it doesn’t really exist. So, here I am, inviting you to give it a listen and let me know what you think. And yes, while feeling vulnerable on this one, I’m good to take a few punches. 🙂 Let me know your thoughts on…
How not to stand out
When it’s all about yourself (and your brand), it’s hard to stand out. When you get to think —like, really think— of your customers, it changes it all. You don’t show up to sell, but to help them to buy.
How can you balance authenticity and sales on social media?
You don’t. It’s like asking “how do you make fries and play football while diving?” Makes no sense. They’re 2 different things that don’t take off from each other, so there’s nothing to “balance”. Authenticity has to do with how you bring your POV in a consistent manner. How you keep true to your beliefs (values). Sales, with how you guide and bring your prospects to make an informed decision —being that decision in their best interest and not necessarily you. Selling is leading. And to lead,…
The marketing way to do marketing
Give as much as you can, at scale, to help the ones you serve. Write, speak, present, podcast… you choose. As friend-of-the-list Jonathan Stark says: “Help people you like get what they want.” Helping is the only way to do marketing. PS.- While I’m at it, if writing is one thing that grabs your interest, Jonathan is launching Email365 this upcoming monday (Nov 14th) —he’s actually guilty of me being in your inbox everyday for the last 349 days and counting. It’s a game-changer.
You’re a hostage
That’s the approach Meta, X(?), YouTube, and other social media platforms are taking. You don’t feel you should pay? Sure. We’ll put you in front of ads (aggressively) every 2 tweets (if they’re still tweets?), after every 3 posts, or in every video you’re about to watch. And if you pay, well… yeah, we’ll still sell your data to the highest bidder. “It’s just business.” Now, if you’re trying to get in front of the people you serve relying heavily (or only) on social media, odds are you…
PSA
For fun to keep being fun, you also need to take some good rest when needed. Just your friendly reminder that work is part of life. Take a small break. Enjoy. Then go back to it.