Personal branding isn't high on the list of 99% of all online marketers, home businesses, or coaches. Many people don't even know what it means. Well, I'll define it as how you present your business to your niche, so that your customers see the value you deliver. If you sell wine and I can see that fine wine is your passion and you can give me a choice of excellent wines for my price range of $12. - and then help me choose the best wine for tonight's dinner, you've got me. I'm your customer.
Even though personal branding has been around for decades, it's been used primarily by corporate workers and management. It's time for entrepreneurs and online marketers to reap the rewards of this powerful business tool. The fact is, if online marketing keeps growing ( and it will), you're going to need every tool at your disposal to differentiate yourself from your peers. A brand identity gives your home business a huge advantage if you know how to create it with a combination of creativity and marketing savvy. The only question is will you be ahead of the curve or behind it? Here are 5 reasons for you to be in the vanguard.
1.POWER Most people give other people power instead of claiming it for themselves. The same is true for one-person businesses. You see the big corporations with the huge brand names and the big budgets. You even know the famous marketers and entrepreneurs who have made the well publicized fortunes. If you are going to put yourself in the league of the latter group, you must put more than your name out there. (Unless perhaps you are already world-famous.) A strong, well-developed personal brand identity makes your business a player in your niche!
2.VOICE Your company needs a voice, or a VOICE. And even if you are a good writer, that by itself will not make your brand identity LARGER THAN LIFE. Where will your voice come from? What will be the platform for your communications? How will you make a memorable connection to your customers so they'll buy from you? How will they find you? Without the name TIDE, P&G would only have detergent powder. Without A SMARTER PLANET, IBM wouldn't have a place to hang their proverbial hat.
3. IDENTITY In the movie, "The Bourne Identity," amnesia is a terrible thing. Well, is your business forgetting something? (I'm stretching to make a point.) I've studied over 100 websites recently and I've discovered that their true identity is often hidden. The owner of the business hasn't found it. So their customers can't either. Does your business suffer from a case of missing identity?
4. GET KNOWN Yes, get your name your face, your brand, your logo out there.
Do you realize why so many Fortune 500 corporations spend vast sums of money to develop brand identities? Because it not only makes them famous, it also keeps them famous. One-person businesses can learn from this. There are personal brand consultants out there who can help you become the known expert in your niche. Choose yours carefully.
5. HAVE FUN Develop the right personality for your business and you'll see how much easier it is to write sales copy, blogs, hold events, and speak in public. Because you'll be known as the dude who does X. (Oh, yeh, that dude!) Creativity makes business more innovative, and more profitable. Everyone has access to information, information, information. Only a select few can shape it with a personal brand so that it becomes something different than all the noise everyone else is making.
Richard K. Bloom is a consultant on personal branding for solopreneurs. He has over twenty years of experience in some of New York's best-known advertising agencies -- working on brands like IBM, Land Rover, Sunglass Hut, and Mobil Oil, among others. For more perspectives on personal branding for your small business, visit http://richardthebrand.typepad.com
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