LEVERAGING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND TO ADVANCE YOUR BUSINESS PRESENTED BY 1
2015 IS THE YEAR OF BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND More than ever, the public craves authenticity and connection which they find with people, not corporations. Contrast a corporate brand such as Coca-Cola with a personal brand Richard Branson, Marie Forleo, Oprah. Which brand evokes more emotion? Which brand do you want to follow on Instagram? Which brand do you identify with and want to be a part of? It s a no-brainer. This guide is designed to jumpstart your personal brand, including the strategy for how to make it happen. We ll walk you through how to start communicating your personal brand to the world for maximum impact (and more money in your pocket). 1
There s Only One Oprah and Only One You! When you build a compelling and engaging brand, you: Attract more, and better, clients while retaining the ones you have. People intuitively want to do business with an authentic, real person. If you want to gain a new client base, project trustworthiness and success align your personal brand to evoke feelings of security and satisfaction. People intuitively want to do business with an authentic, real person. Gain industry recognition. It s not enough to put out a product and occasionally post on your blog (was that ever enough); it s about being at the forefront of your industry. Position yourself as a thought leader to show the marketplace that you re constantly innovating, and are a trendsetter. Can begin freelancing or consulting. Maybe you re not ready to go fullon solopreneur but you want to dip your toes in the water. Or maybe you want to take on more creative projects in addition to your regular work. By freelancing or consulting you can build a catalogue of your work to show off at the right time. And remember, practice makes perfect. Will boost your chances of finding a new, more fulfilling job (if you re job hunting). A personal brand is crucial during the job search and your LinkedIn profile is a great place to start. Potential bosses need to see you as more than another resume they need to see a real, live asset to their team. To begin building your personal brand, you ll need to take a moment to reflect inward. We ll walk you through each step of the process. 2
CREATING YOUR BRAND IS REALLY JUST FINDING YOUR BRAND Here s the big secret: You already have a brand! Your personality, your strengths, and what you bring to the table personally and professionally all contribute to the story that is uniquely you. All it takes is drawing out YOUR brand and then telling that story. Start here with our Find Your Personal Brand Worksheet to determine your personal story you ll discover your brand by the last page we promise! 3
Find Your Personal Brand Worksheet Personal branding starts with defining yourself, your story, and your vision. This interactive worksheet is designed to draw those three things out of you fill it out and watch your personal branding crystallize! What are you about? List the traits you use to describe yourself. Talk to your family and friends how do they describe you? How do you want to be perceived? List or write how you d like to be perceived in the public eye tie this in to the traits you ve listed above. 4
What do you want to be known for? What are your passions? Why are you here? 5
What is the unique problem you are trying to solve? Why are you the person to solve it? How are you uniquely fitted to help? Now, write your story you ll need to distill it down, practice writing and saying it. 6
GET OUT THERE! Once you ve discovered, and, more importantly, defined and distilled your brand get yourself out there! Now it s your job to communicate your story to the world, using the results of our Personal Brand Worksheet as your foundation. Follow the four steps we ve detailed below to communicate your brand: create a killer website, become a content machine, beef up your social media presence, and book speaking gigs. Be strategic in every interaction your brand has with the world; it s your chance to strengthen your relationship with your current and prospective customers. 7
Step 1: Create your (branded, totally uniquely YOU) website. We ll start with the obvious. You probably already have a personal website, but if you don t, we love WordPress easy-to-use website builder. With seemingly endless themes to choose from, you can set up a killer site without an expensive designer. If you re already familiar with and/or using WordPress, check out our article describing three easy-to-use tools to optimize your site. (Bonus: If you re an ONTRAPORT customer, you can install a plugin that allows you to have your website, membership site and affiliate center integrated with ONTRAPORT s CRM platform.) Here we break down all the must-have elements of your website and the easiest way to put them all together: Your Logo: Brand recognition begins on your homepage design a personal, easily-recognizable logo or have a designer do so. Your logo should reflect design aesthetics that align with your brand in terms of color, texture, font and so on. One strategy is to have a company like Logo Design Team provide you with several designs (from different designers), with revisions and redraws, until you ve been wowed by one that feels uniquely you. There are countless other logo design companies to select from as well. Your Brand Statement: You re already over the hump when it comes to creating your home page content pull heavily from the brand statement you created in our worksheet. Your About Page: Create a personalized About page featuring photos of you that, again, represent your theme. If your brand is fun and youthful, take photos that represent that. If you re a financial planner, on the other hand, your photos should be more traditionally professional. 8
We absolutely recommend having a professional photographer take your photos. You won t just use them on your site you ll use them through all your online and print materials. This is one area where you shouldn t skimp. Customer Testimonials: Pepper your site with customer testimonials there s nothing more convincing than social proof. We recommend placing testimonials on the homepage, as well as creating a separate indepth Testimonials page on your site.. Also, utilize customers logos to gain social proof.. We find a cloud of logos provides a visual pop that a text list of companies just doesn t. Whatever direction you decide to go when setting up your website, ensure that you re following best practices for user experience. Check out our article on 5 Steps for Optimizing Your Website for User Experience as a reference. 9
Some of Our Favorite Sites: Check these top two personal brands (and ONTRAPORT clients!) Marie Forleo s site or Kris Carr s site for inspiration. Each of these women have truly infused their websites with their unique personalities and passions, and it s compelling. 10
Step 2: Become a Content Machine Building a content-heavy brand is crucial to building your business. Relevant and engaging content helps you become known as a trusted, educational resource (and, in time, expert in your field). Here s how to integrate content creation into your schedule: Keep It Current: Add a blog on your personal website and update it regularly (at the very least weekly). A mix of actionable how-to articles, industry news, and some fun content should be enough to promote both aspects of your brand: what you know, and what s unique about you. Multi-Media Mix Up: Don t feel that you have to stick to written blog posts. Mix it up with video and podcasts! This article, The Formula for Creating a 1,000,000 Download Podcast, gives you everything (no, really ) you need to know about creating a podcast. itunes provides step-by-step instructions on how to distribute your new podcast. As for videos, check out Wistia s complete how-to section for everything you need to know about video. (Side note: Wistia is known for their awesome video engagement analytics. Full disclosure: We integrate with them, and love how they dovetail with our software for video audience follow-up.) Plan It: It s easy to fall off of a regular blog posting schedule. We recommend creating an editorial calendar whether in Google Docs or software like Divvy HQ and pre-planning out an entire quarter s content to see the big content picture. Are you missing a certain type of article? Are you focusing too heavily on another? Use the calendar to hold yourself accountable to your blogging schedule. Guest Blogging: Look out for guest blogging opportunities. Find reputable blogs in your field and reach out to them regarding guest blogging opportunities. (You ll often find guest blogging submission guidelines on their site.) Pitch an article with a working title, outline, and sample introduction. Guest blogging may not always pay, but getting your unique expertise and writing style, bio, photo and backlink to your 11
site in front of new eyes earns you priceless credibility. Once the guest blog is published, promote it on your social media platforms and in your email newsletter. (Sidebar: We always welcome guest bloggers!) Marketing 101: Email marketing is another way to get your brand out Check out our article on there. Make sure to include an email how to craft the perfect newsletter sign-up form on your site. marketing email and the (Marie Forleo prompts web visitors key elements of email marketing success. to subscribe when they enter her site, and the email subscription bar scrolls along with you.) Email newsletters can be anything from personal news about you to a weekly digest of blog posts. We send out a Weekly Digest with preview blurbs about each article published on the blog during that particular week. 12
Step 3: Get Social Let s talk social media! Create a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and Google Plus profile with your awesome new photos and logo. (Note: Make sure you set up a Facebook business page to promote your brand, rather than utilizing your personal page.) Squeeze the most out of social media: Frequency: Post once daily on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus, and at least a few times a day on Twitter. Follow the 80/20 Rule: 80% of your posts should be non-promotional, and 20% about you and your services. Post your content as well as other content by thought leaders and front-runners in your industry. It s important that the content you repost reflects your own brand identity be selective about what you share. Don t forget to properly attribute authorship and source. Here s an example of how we share inspiration and knowledge from others in the industry on Twitter: 80% of your posts should be nonpromotional, and 20% about you and your services. 13
Engage with your leads, customers and other thought leaders in your industry, particularly on Twitter. Show your true personality when you respond, in real time, to comments and mentions on Twitter. Everyone loves chatting with a real live person; that s why you re creating your personal brand in the first place! Share their work, say thank you when they share yours, and comment (when relevant) on what they post. Check out out this piece on brand advocates you ll see how a coffee brand made one of our writers a lifetime fan. Add social media posts to your editorial calendar to hold yourself accountable. Step 4: Book Speaking Gigs Research conferences in your area of expertise and apply to speak at them. Also, add a Book Me page to your website with your speaking information. Create an Introduction video for your website. You ll probably also need to submit one to the event committee as part of your speaking application. You ll need a: Demo Reel / Sizzle Reel (if you have one). Speaker Kit: one-sheet and bio. If you re shy about public speaking, we highly recommend Toastmasters, an organization devoted to the art of making reluctant speakers shine in front of audiences. 14
CONTINUE TO EVOLVE Your personal brand should never stay stagnant let it evolve as you do! Think about Oprah; she and her show have changed quite a few times since her start in the 80s. If your brand starts to feel inauthentic, it s time to look inside again (we recommend using the Find Your Personal Brand Worksheet it works just as well the second and third time!). Consider it a living, breathing document that needs a little TLC every now and again. The key to an enduring personal brand is that it can t survive if it s not 100% you; any less and it will feel forced to both you and your audience. You just can t fake it. And why would you want to? A personal brand is all about your truth. And that s why only you can create and grow your brand from start to finish this project needs to come exclusively from you. Happy branding! 15
GET A DEMO Schedule a free demo with ONTRAPORT and discover what automation would look like in your business and how our platform can save you time, make you money, and transform your business. No strings attached our Business Solutions Specialists only want what s best for you, even if that means referring you to our competition. Get My Demo Don t keep this info to yourself. Share it with your friends and colleagues! SHARE 16