How’s Your Personal Brand?
By Linda Hembry
Have you ever been driving down a city street or walking along a restaurant row and smelled the aroma’s of a succulent meal being prepared? Were'nt you drawn to discover where the smell was coming from? Perhaps you followed your nose and rearranged your day to indulge in a meal from that restaurant. Your senses will either draw you toward or draw you away from an experience, much like your personal brand. What is a personal brand, you ask? Everyone has one. Like a company brand, a personal brand is the persona that you reflect that ignites, convincing, meaningful perceptions in the minds of those you come in contact with. These perceptions shape how the receiver may feel they will either benefit or be hindered by an experience with you. Basically, it’s who you are, the actions you take and what makes you unique from someone else. Consumers seeking a quick hamburger nearly anywhere in the world are more likely to seek out a McDonald’s over Joe’s Hamburger Joint (unless Joe’s has a darn good reputation), because of the reliable brand McDonald’s has created. Why is a personal brand important? If you are an entrepreneur, a good personal brand is crucial to your ability to gain credibility and influence your targeted customer to increase business. If you are an employee, your personal brand is an important key to influencing those who have a say in your career advancement. A personal brand encompasses how you dress, talk, walk, where you live, what you drive, your character and your abilities. Unfortunately, people make judgments about you more on the superficial areas of your persona than your actual abilities. Test it out, as you sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or a latte, observe passersby. What are your perceptions about a fit, custom -suit- wearing gentleman, verses a short-sleeved -dress shirt- outdated tie wearing, beer belly of a guy, with yesterday’s shampooed hair? Be honest , one guy gets a better perception than the other.
How do you know if you need to improve your personal brand? Here are a few ways to find out if you are in need of a personal brand improvement:
1. You are not attracting the kinds of people or customers that you intend to attract.
2. You are earning considerably less than you know you are capable of.
3. Your business is slow or inconsistent.
4. Others perception of you does not line up with what you intend to project.
5. You are passed over for promotions or unable to obtain business on repeated attempts.
6. Your credibility is threatened; people do not trust you.
7. You are out of touch with those you are trying to attract.
8. You present conflicting or inconsistent messages.
9. You lack visibility in the marketplace or workplace (you are a wallflower).
10. You have out dated or no marketing material.
If you can relate to any of these areas of improvement, you may be in need of a brand makeover. If you need a brand development consultation, contact Launch Marketing Solutions at (240) 788-0670.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Busy Entrepreneur's Marketing Plan
Marketing is essential to business success and it all begins with a plan. Whether you start with a few pages or an elaborate manual; a good marketing plan will give you a strategic blueprint to attract new customers, while keeping your current customers excited about doing business with you. Busy entrepreneurs need not be concerned about the time it will take to write a marketing plan. Follow these seven simple steps and you'll have the basis for a marketing plan that you put to use right away.
Step 1- Determine Your Target Customer's Needs- Research what makes your target customer take the desired marketing action you want them to take. If you are planning a direct mail campaign, know what message, design or packaging will motivate them to buy, call, click or do to achieve the marketing outcome.
Step 2- Write Down the Purpose of Your Marketing Activity- Ask what the desired marketing outcome is. Avoid implementing a specific marketing activity that seems popular. First determine if the trend fits into your overall business strategy and if it does, how will it give you the greatest return on your investment.
Step 3- Write Down How You Will Reach Your Purpose-What will it take for step one to be accomplished? If you are social networking for selling a product, ask what benefits must I deliver on each post that will make potential buyers take the desired action? (Caution: Avoid sending a link to sell your product on every post. Be creative).
Step 4- Write Down How You Will Stand Out from Your Competitors- Ask questions like: Will you offer more products for the price? Will you have an exclusive product? Will you offer an unusual product guarantee? Will you give tailored service to each customer? Will you deliver faster than your competitors? Make this a clear statement that you can implement through out your business that becomes obvious to every customer.
Step 5-How will You Reach Your Customers? This is important. You must know what marketing mediums your customers are likely to respond to most. If your target customers are retirees or seniors Twitter or Facebook is not the best way to reach your customer. Do a survey or focus group to find out your potential customer's communication preferences.
Step 6- Write Down Your Company Brand Identity-Describe in detail your company identity in terms of how you want your company to be perceived by your customer. Your company brand is similar to a person's personality. Your company identity should be in line with your target customer's preferences. Is your business located in an exclusive neighborhood shopping center? In order to appeal to your target customer, your brand attributes should be in line with the tastes of exclusive shoppers.
Step 7- Determine Your Marketing Budget-The amount of money you allot toward marketing your business can be the difference between success and failure. A new business should spend 10-15% of their overall budget on marketing. When you determine your budget, write out each marketing activity in a time specific schedule. Resist the temptation to use your marketing budget for other expense categories, this could cut your sales by the same amount.
These simple steps can be used as a basis to help you stay on target to generate the sales you desire to keep your business profitable. For a more comprehensive plan, consider hiring a skilled marketing professional or taking a class at a local university.
Step 1- Determine Your Target Customer's Needs- Research what makes your target customer take the desired marketing action you want them to take. If you are planning a direct mail campaign, know what message, design or packaging will motivate them to buy, call, click or do to achieve the marketing outcome.
Step 2- Write Down the Purpose of Your Marketing Activity- Ask what the desired marketing outcome is. Avoid implementing a specific marketing activity that seems popular. First determine if the trend fits into your overall business strategy and if it does, how will it give you the greatest return on your investment.
Step 3- Write Down How You Will Reach Your Purpose-What will it take for step one to be accomplished? If you are social networking for selling a product, ask what benefits must I deliver on each post that will make potential buyers take the desired action? (Caution: Avoid sending a link to sell your product on every post. Be creative).
Step 4- Write Down How You Will Stand Out from Your Competitors- Ask questions like: Will you offer more products for the price? Will you have an exclusive product? Will you offer an unusual product guarantee? Will you give tailored service to each customer? Will you deliver faster than your competitors? Make this a clear statement that you can implement through out your business that becomes obvious to every customer.
Step 5-How will You Reach Your Customers? This is important. You must know what marketing mediums your customers are likely to respond to most. If your target customers are retirees or seniors Twitter or Facebook is not the best way to reach your customer. Do a survey or focus group to find out your potential customer's communication preferences.
Step 6- Write Down Your Company Brand Identity-Describe in detail your company identity in terms of how you want your company to be perceived by your customer. Your company brand is similar to a person's personality. Your company identity should be in line with your target customer's preferences. Is your business located in an exclusive neighborhood shopping center? In order to appeal to your target customer, your brand attributes should be in line with the tastes of exclusive shoppers.
Step 7- Determine Your Marketing Budget-The amount of money you allot toward marketing your business can be the difference between success and failure. A new business should spend 10-15% of their overall budget on marketing. When you determine your budget, write out each marketing activity in a time specific schedule. Resist the temptation to use your marketing budget for other expense categories, this could cut your sales by the same amount.
These simple steps can be used as a basis to help you stay on target to generate the sales you desire to keep your business profitable. For a more comprehensive plan, consider hiring a skilled marketing professional or taking a class at a local university.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Instant Social Networking Chemistry
Gain Instant Social Networking Chemistry
By Linda Hembry
Okay you’re on all the trendy social network sites you’ve got a profile and a few followers, now what? How do you connect with others? How do you gain instant social networking chemistry? Virtual chemistry defies the age old law that opposites attract. Instead it says, like attracts like. Scientists have defined chemistry as the reaction between [people] with their accompanying energy exchange. People like people who are like themselves. Here are a few quick tips that will help you gain instant virtual chemistry on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and others.
1. Search for people that have similar interests as yours and connect with them and their friends or followers. Remember likes attract like. Let’s say that you’re a cycling enthusiast and your favorite cyclist is Lance Armstrong. Search social network sites for Lance Armstrong fans or maybe even his page. Someone famous, like Lance Armstrong, will likely have thousands of other cycling enthusiasts for you to gain instant chemistry on the basis of your interest in cycling alone.
2. Be Selfless- Think of others interests before your own. People are drawn to givers, not takers. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of social network junkies that are self focused and more concerned about their own interests than others. Stand out from the countless social networkers strictly pushing their own agenda by being genuinely interested in others . Your friends and followers will feel connected to you, when you comment on something that is important to them.
3. Always post a relatable picture on your profile page. One of my pet peeves is when people have a profile picture with the site’s gender silhouette. I call these ghost pictures. Ghost pictures are like blind dates-scary. Come on folks, what are you hiding? Put your picture, logo or an image up so that someone can relate to you. A picture says a thousand words. For chemistry sake, a picture of yourself is better than a logo or a visual image of a landscape or something. People relate to people, not ghost pictures or landscapes. Logos are okay, but personally, I think they are only meaningful when they belong to large corporations that nearly everyone recognizes. If you are a small business trying to brand your company and connect with people, your personal brand will be far more indelible in the minds of potential customers much sooner than your company logo.
By Linda Hembry
Okay you’re on all the trendy social network sites you’ve got a profile and a few followers, now what? How do you connect with others? How do you gain instant social networking chemistry? Virtual chemistry defies the age old law that opposites attract. Instead it says, like attracts like. Scientists have defined chemistry as the reaction between [people] with their accompanying energy exchange. People like people who are like themselves. Here are a few quick tips that will help you gain instant virtual chemistry on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and others.
1. Search for people that have similar interests as yours and connect with them and their friends or followers. Remember likes attract like. Let’s say that you’re a cycling enthusiast and your favorite cyclist is Lance Armstrong. Search social network sites for Lance Armstrong fans or maybe even his page. Someone famous, like Lance Armstrong, will likely have thousands of other cycling enthusiasts for you to gain instant chemistry on the basis of your interest in cycling alone.
2. Be Selfless- Think of others interests before your own. People are drawn to givers, not takers. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of social network junkies that are self focused and more concerned about their own interests than others. Stand out from the countless social networkers strictly pushing their own agenda by being genuinely interested in others . Your friends and followers will feel connected to you, when you comment on something that is important to them.
3. Always post a relatable picture on your profile page. One of my pet peeves is when people have a profile picture with the site’s gender silhouette. I call these ghost pictures. Ghost pictures are like blind dates-scary. Come on folks, what are you hiding? Put your picture, logo or an image up so that someone can relate to you. A picture says a thousand words. For chemistry sake, a picture of yourself is better than a logo or a visual image of a landscape or something. People relate to people, not ghost pictures or landscapes. Logos are okay, but personally, I think they are only meaningful when they belong to large corporations that nearly everyone recognizes. If you are a small business trying to brand your company and connect with people, your personal brand will be far more indelible in the minds of potential customers much sooner than your company logo.
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