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Everything you do is linked directly to your Personal Brand. As entrepreneurs
and small business owners, we have a distinct advantage that larger companies
do not. When it comes to our brands, we have the ability to get very
personal.

Larger companies strive to establish a relationship with their target audience
by making their brand feel more personal or relatable. This is one of the
reasons why spokespeople are such a commodity – larger companies piggy
back off of the relationship an audience has with that spokesperson. Those
experiences are then tied directly to their product or service thanks to the
Personal Brand draw of their spokesperson.

Take Tiger Woods for example. W hen he is hired by Nike to represent their
latest ad campaign, the mere image of him stands for perseverance,
determination and overall excellence. Nike benefits from those perceptions
simply by having Tigers brand lined up with theirs.

You don’t have to take such expensive measures, as a small business owner,
because you have the ideal spokesperson to represent your brand – YOU!

With that said, there are 7 keys (the 7 C’s) your brand must possesses to
establish that personal touch, and ultimate loyal following, with your target
audience. They are:

Character: Everything begins and ends with you. Your character is
at the heart of your brand. As you develop your Personal Brand, if you discover
that your character shows up in a less than favorable way, use this as an
opportunity to grow. Without a strong character, the remaining six success
principles won’t matter to anyone.

Commitment: Not surprisingly, when others see that you are a
committed individual, they will join in helping you achieve your goals. We are
attracted to people that follow-through on their word and have a “no matter
what” attitude. When you are committed, you deliver on your promise and
show the value of your Personal Brand. Great brands are built on this C – make
yours one of those brands.

Confidence: You’ll find confidence at the backbone of self-esteem.
It is our confidence that makes us unstoppable and drives us forward. Let’s
not confuse confidence with arrogance, which is a sign of insecurity or poor
social skills. True confidence knows no limitations and strives for solutions.
How are you acting on this key in your every day life?

Competence: Being competent is more than just knowing a skill.
True competence comes from having failed, dusted yourself off and tried
again. Competence is what separates the amateurs from the professionals.
The more competent you become, the more competence you will project
through your Personal Brand and the more loyal your brand following.

Consistency: We respect those that show us consistency through
their actions. A great idea not followed through on is fleeting. Consistency
takes continuous effort. Without consistency, your efforts are diluted over time
and ineffective. If you are inconsistent in how you communicate your Personal
Brand, your brand will confuse and eventually loose interest in the eyes of your
target audience.

Creativity: Life doesn’t offer us a blueprint for success, which means
we must ignite our creativity to achieve. Those that are creative live out of
their imaginations. As life evolves, and thankfully it does, the creative are in
great demand because they are always seeking out solutions to new
challenges. How about you? Are you seeking out new solutions or are you
stuck in what was?

Courage:
Courage looks fear in the eye and laughs. It sees only what is possible.
Getting clear on your brand attributes means revealing yourself – flaws and all.
It takes courage to recognize that sometimes, you must let go of who you were
in order to become who you were meant to be. Personal power and courage go
hand in hand – I believe they are one in the same.

© 2006 – Liz Pabon. All rights reserved.

About the author: Liz Pabon is a Personal Brand and Image
Management Strategist. Liz publishes a monthly eZine entitled Keys to
Success providing personal brand success strategies that work! Register
for your subscription at http://www.head2toeconsulting.com.

If you’d like to learn how to have a breakthrough in your business by
developing your unique personal brand, contact Liz at 916-788-2962 or email
her at lizp@head2toeconsulting.com.

When not coaching her clients or presenting Small Business Branding
Intensives, Liz enjoys family time with her husband and four “fur kids” in
Rocklin, California.

Today’s competitive marketplace for consulting services is no longer responsive to the marketing strategies that worked in the past. The services you provide should speak volumes about your consulting business. Think about what happens when you hear phrases such as “the ultimate driving machine,” “don’t leave home without it,” and “just do it.” Chances are good that you can immediately associate them with BMW, American Express, and Nike. These companies have mastered “brand brilliance.” Brand your consulting brilliance because the future of your business depends on it.

There’s an old adage, “Perception is reality.” Simply stated, the perception of a brand lies in its ability to influence a client’s behavior. When you have successfully branded your business, in the client’s eye there is no service in the marketplace quite like your service.

All consulting businesses should have a distinct, sustainable, and competitive advantage to differentiate their services from the competition. I call this process of identifying your advantage “Brand Your Consulting Brilliance.”

Here are six simple steps to brand and differentiate your
services in the new economy.

1. Think client focus first.
The client’s reality: Consulting businesses exist to serve clients. Develop a client visitation calendar and schedule in-person visits. Look the client in the eye and say, “I am here to serve you.” Follow up and follow through on all client-related matters in a timely manner.

Create a client questionnaire so clients can rate the performance of your services. You want them to tell you how you’re doing and what you can do to serve them better. It’s also a way to discover what challenges they are currently facing. Be relentless in your client retention efforts.

2. Discover a distinct advantage that will set you apart from competitors.
Start by articulating your “unique marketing proposition,” a statement of all of the qualities and characteristics that set your services apart in the marketplace. Analyze your services: What skills and services do we provide that are distinctive, measurable, and add value? Which of our past successes can we leverage in the marketplace? And don’t forget to ask colleagues what they see as your competitive strengths.

Communicate these messages reinforcing your unique marketing proposition anytime you have an opportunity to write or speak about your consulting firm and what you have to offer to prospective clients.

3. Generate publicity.
What others say about your brand is much more powerful and credible than what you can say about it yourself. When it comes to branding your consulting brilliance, favorable publicity in the media or word of mouth is far superior to advertising. So how do you generate the publicity “buzz”? Create a buzz about your brand by being visible: speaking at seminars, publishing a newsletter on your website, participating as a host or guest on television or radio talk shows, writing a column in a reputable trade journal, and networking.

4. Promote a powerful perception of quality in the client’s
mind.
What is quality if not a perception that resides in the mind of the client? You build quality intangibles around trust, reliability, excellent people, and innovative client services. Show clients that you can interpret and process their information to convert it to results oriented solutions. What you say is important, but what you do is even more important for reinforcing their perception of your brand quality.

Keep the lines of communication open. The goal of branding your consulting brilliance is to convince the client that your brand is worth their trust and worth a premium price.

5. Establish your credentials as an industry leader in the field.
Clients like to know they are doing business with an industry leader. Make clients aware of your consulting acumen, presence, and commitment. Know your clients’ businesses inside out – what they do, why they do it, how they do it. Tout your firm’s successful track record of accomplishment in working with companies like theirs.

Build and sustain credibility with clients by strengthening your client relationships, developing a client retention strategy, demonstrating that you value your new clients, and going the extra mile for them.

6. Practice consistency in building your consulting brilliance.
Stay focused on implementing the branding of your consulting brilliance. Keep abreast of marketing trends in your profession and position yourself as a recognized expert. Make the most of your unique marketing proposition. Accelerate and elevate the perceived value of your brand in the marketplace.

In short, to brand your consulting brilliance, know what you have to offer, know how to differentiate it, and know how to market it.

Robert Moment is a best-selling author, business coach,
strategist and the founder of The Moment Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping small businesses win federal contracts. He just released his new book, It Only Takes a Moment to Score, and recently unveiled Sell Integrity, a small business tool that helps you successfully sell your business idea. Learn more at:
http://www.sellintegrity.com
or email: Robert@sellintegrity.com.

Last issue, I talked about increasing your Brand Love– meaning to increase the affection that prospects and customers feel toward your business.

Why?

Because increasing “affection” will build relationships. Those relationships, if made strong enough by increased Brand Love, build a bridge for prospects to become customers. To some, that bridge might be made of rope, swaying in the breeze, complete with wooden planks. To others, it will be a mighty stone structure. It all depends on how well you connect with each prospect.

It also means putting more cement on the bond with the customers you already have. Locking customers in, tighter and tighter with every brand experience is a critical aspect to profitability and growth. The reason here is twofold: It costs less to maintain current customers than to gain new ones, and the best advertising is word of mouth. Sounds like a cliché (’cause they are), but… it’s true, folks.

So, the big question is: How to do it and do it better than your competition.

Previously, I mentioned getting honest and forthright feedback from customers. Having one-on-one conversations can help. You will also get valued honesty from questionnaire cards that have a few quick answers AND some space to write in other thoughts. Actually, that could be the most important aspect of the card. Getting this kind of feedback can provide huge rewards.

First, this type of “silent” feedback lets the writer give a more honest opinion, rather than talking face-to-face. They don’t have to sign their name. Also, the feedback given can open up trains of thought that may not have occurred to you before. You may get insight into improving your core business. The insight may turn into a realization that leads to big discovery, such as a different product, service, or an entire market.

Another way to increase Brand Love is the proper training of your employees. Nothing is more of downer (except perhaps bad merchandise) to a customer than an incompetent employee. Service
should be a big part of your marketing plan, and that means involving time and expense to train your employees properly. We’ve all heard our economy is becoming more service-based, but we’ve all suffered from bad service- more often than not. Being on hold five minutes or more. Being ignored when you walk in the door. Given incorrect information, being overcharged, or having something delivered late. All bad news for customers.

I once called a local outlet of a national home center chain, and I was on hold for 30 minutes! I stayed on as long as I could, just to see actually how many minutes it took for someone to answer. It was so long, I could hum their jingle in my sleep! And they never answered. Now, I go strictly to their competition. Alarmingly, it’s to the point where mediocre service is so noticeably different, it gets applauded. Keeping your employees trained and caring starts at the top. So if this hasn’t been a priority for you, make it one, and you’ll see your referrals go up.

This leads into my next point - becoming the Preferred Employer. In the marketing triangle, there are three elements: Business, Customers, and Employees. With the Business at the apex of the triangle, it cannot exist without the other two. You’re not just marketing to customers. You are marketing to your employees too, because they are investing their time to work for you.

When you create an excellent work atmosphere and employees find working for you rewarding, you get great performance from them AND you attract top talent. Those are two things that are priceless and almost insure success. Conversely, when you don’t care about your employees, their training, or make work an unpleasant experience, count on poor to mediocre help without much care or effort. I cannot think of a faster way to drive good help and customers away.

Being the Preferred Employer doesn’t mean doesn’t mean there are no rules in place or you pay obscenely high wages for comparable work. It simply means your employees are respected, taught to do their job well, given proper feedback when needed, and are made to feel valued.

Take a good objective look around your business. Get honest feedback from your customers AND your employees. Great businesses become that way because they are constantly searching for ways to become better. Those two groups should be your most important and most depended-on allies in that never- ending search. ~

Republishing part of or entire article, in all forms, is welcomed, as long as author bio info is printed and proper authorship credit is given. As a courtesy, please send author a complimentary copy.

John is a freelance commercial writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He publishes a free monthly e-zine focusing on branding, advertising, and marketing from his web site http://www.brandedbetter.com. Speaking with both agency and in- house experience, he knows the most valuable asset of a business is its brand.