How Good Self-Branding Works

Image by Nicola photographs……. via Flickr

Every successful person is good at authentic engagement. Success in the social media age is knowing what makes us unique and authentic, and communicating our uniqueness clearly, concisely and compellingly.

A Mary Kay lady, a new restaurant owner and a Farmer’s insurance agent share a challenge: most prospects think they know all about their service. They completely identify a business owner with how they perceive his or her the service. But they never learn what really differentiates the business owner from all the  other Mary Kay ladies, or restaurants, or Farmer’s agents.

We’ve been programmed to define ourselves as project managers, HR people, IT sales people, etc. It’s hard to separate ourselves from what we do. Problem is, everyone makes a buying decision based on how connected we feel to the individual who’s selling. And we’ll only give them ten seconds to establish that all-important connection.

Don’t forget about the poor job seekers, either. Competition for every job is so fierce, it’s even hard to find work volunteering at a non-profit!

Successful social media messages make the blogger or poster seem authentic and knowledgeable. We always sense their uniqueness and the value they offer us in exchange for our precious time.

All of us are standing out or fading out. One or the other.

In my four-step self branding process, a business owner identifies his or her intangibles: attitude, approach and intent, etc. They thoughtfully distill them into a core message or marketing mantra: three words that sum up what makes a person or their business unique and memorable. Then we develop marketing content built on their Mantra, and eventually a content platform which can support a whole community or what Seth Godin calls a “tribe.”

One Mary Kay lady I know is an experienced teacher, and there’s a community out there looking for her wonderful expertise and wisdom. Her products or services aren’t what people are after–they feel special when authentically engaging with her. She is someone who can help all of them succeed and gain a new appreciation of their own unique combination of wisdom, knowledge and gifts.

You should see the glow on the faces of people after our sessions; the glow of new self-realization and hope, of confidence and poise. Recognition of how much social media communication can do for them, once they have their Mantra and some extraordinary content.

My session only takes two hours, and is quite reasonable. Let me know if you’re interested.