The Brand Called You

In an era of faceless corporations and online advice, the best way an entrepreneur can succeed resides in his or her ability to market a strong Personal Brand. Individuals who market themselves as “product experts,” or whose services are not adequately unique or specialized, risk blending into the background or being replaced by larger competitors in their industry.
In the face of grim prospects and competition, some thoughtful entrepreneurs are taking a different approach by packaging themselves as the product through creative,and aggressive marketing.

As an entrepreneur, you don’t need to be told about the injustices that exist in any given industry. But Personal Branding is a fair way to tip the playing field to your advantage. To be a leader, one whose client base continues to expand even during down times and who boasts at least a mid-six-figure income, you must create your Personal Brand identity; you must turn yourself into a saleable, valued asset instead of just another face in the crowd. You must build your brand – YOU!
Take the multibillion dollar category of athletic shoes. You have Nike, the colossus. Hard on its heels you have Reebok, Adidas, Fila, and others. What’s the difference between them, other than logos and advertising? Virtually nothing. So why does Nike own the world of shoes?
Brand identity. People buy based on how a brand makes them feel emotionally. They don’t buy based on logic. If “Just do it” strikes a chord with a football player, he’s going to grab Nikes. It’s got almost nothing to do with quality. Your average American doesn’t check Consumer Reports ratings before he or she buys a pair of high-tops.

Charles Schwab was just a broker toiling on Wall Street. Then one day, he decided to turn his name into a brand. He sent the Street reeling with discount brokerage services, which brings up a powerful Personal Marketing principle: differentiation. But more importantly, Schwab turned on the marketing machine and began saturating the media with his name, face, and company identity. Years later, Schwab is perhaps the bestknown name in finance to millions of Americans.
You can do the same for your services and business. All you need to do is follow these fundamental principles when building your brand:

• Differentiate yourself. Schwab and others started out by hanging their marketing hats on something that made them different from their competitors. Whether you choose to highlight your education, your high-tech equipment, an aspect of your service, or your expertise in a certain facet of finance, pick something that sets you apart from others and begin from there.
• Create a position. Your position is the place you occupy in the minds of your prospects. You might specialize in a specific service (Jiffy Lube made millions with this concept) or focus on a specific audience (real estate people often focus on a community; others can pick a dream client with unique needs and goals). Decide what position suits your background, abilities and audience, then build your marketing around driving that position home.
• Consistent and persistent. Once you’ve determined your position and your differentiator, create your brand by advertising yourself — over and over. Use print ads, direct mail, radio, websites, speaking engagements, newspaper articles — and any medium available to communicate your name, your slogan, and your message to the target audience.
• Customize your services. Once you’ve built your brand, begin changing and evolving your services and business to fit your identity. If you preach personalized services, you need to qualify your identity by promising to offer a specified amount of one-on-one time with your clients. If you talk about your large, helpful staff, hire one. If you promise a unique specialty, back it up by offering a focused blend of products and services based on that specialty.

Written by Peter Montoya

 PETER MONTOYA is president of Peter Montoya Inc., the world’s only Personal Branding agency. Through public seminars and private presentations, Peter educates tens of thousands of professionals yearly. He delivers more than 100 speeches each year and spends half the year on the road interfacing with clients.Peter is a busy man. In addition to running an advertising agency and performing over 100 seminars per year, he is also the publisher of Personal Branding magazine and is conducting further research on the personal branding phenomenon. But his true passion is leading the personal branding revolution, transforming armies of service professionals from mere salespeople to master marketers.
Contact him on  twitter.com/PeterMontoya1,www.facebook.com/petermontoya1