With the phenomenal growth of the internet, communication capabilities and industry globalization, the world is now an open marketplace to anyone who knows how to represent themselves. Personal branding is essential for a person to establish themselves as an experienced authority, especially now that millions of people are emerging to share their know-how, knowledge and expertise on everything from changing diapers to developing venture partnerships.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers." The challenge many people face, especially if they are new to sales or marketing, is learning how to develop themselves as a brand.
Every personal success story begins with the decision to develop themself as a brand. For evidence of this, just look at Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Tony Robbins or Oprah Winfrey. Each of these individuals realized the power in creating their name as a brand. These personal brands are recognized globally and represent each persons' authority and expertise. The name "Trump" alone has been known to sell everything from steaks to real estate.
Creating yourself as a brand puts you in a league of your own; miles ahead of any competition. You establish yourself as the authority in your area of expertise and the solution to whatever problem your potential customers may have. You become the trusted expert. As you develop your personal brand, your name will gain notoriety, recognition and power. You will be establishing yourself as an expert in your chosen field.
While the concept of personal branding can seem daunting, there are a serious of concrete, simple steps one can take to build their brand and personal presence in the market place. These include: Create an online Blog and Social Profile on a social networking site. Write and submit articles about topics of which you are knowledgable. Have a professional website developed. Develop teleconferences and webinars on which you can share information with listeners. Develop a referral network of people who will refer you to potential clients/customers.
These are just a few examples of steps to take to develop yourself as a brand. There are many great resources online that can assist you with developing yourself as a brand. The first step is to recognize your value and the second is to begin promoting you as a brand.
Copyright (c) 2008 Shannon Lavenia
The most important part of your business image is your "brand". Your brand is basically the most recognizable part of your business advertisement. Brands become an integral part of your customer's expectation set. If you can associate your brand with positive attributes, then your customers are more apt to return for business. You want your customers to see your brand, and immediately recognize it for quality and efficiency.
There are key attributes of every successful brand. As a business owner, your success lies in the choices you make early in your business development plan. Developing a business recognition plan is one of the first things you should do when you establish your business. For example, almost everyone recognizes the Starbucks logo, or the Coca-Cola logo. Why have these brands had such great success? There are certainly other coffee shop and soda options.
Brand recognition success is rooted in your own business image. As a business owner, you must first determine what unique qualities you offer to your customer. Do you offer expedient services, at the last-minute? Or do you have a special product at a great price that customers can't find anywhere else? Or do you offer special complimentary services that set you above your competition?
Capitalizing on your unique services/products you bring to your customers is the first step to successful brand recognition. You can capitalize on what you offer by utilizing great design in your website. Great design is attractive, consistent and easy to use. You must use up-to-date and modern graphic design in order to have an attractive website. Also, your website must be consistent. It would be foolish to use a different logo or template on the different pages of your site!
Finally, your customer wants a website that's easy to use. The easier it is to use your site, the more business they can complete with you. You can improve your site's usability with easy-to-use navigation sets that are consistent throughout your site. Some of the worst sites are those that have constantly changing toolbars and navigation buttons. This turns your customers away and frustrates them when they're trying to purchase products/services from your site.
Once you have your site up and running, don't think that you can just let it go! The more you update your site, the more "in touch" your customer will feel with your company. Customers will see the often updates and immediately recognize that you're dedicated to your business. A great way to utilize updates is to update your site for the seasons. If it's November, a Thanksgiving theme is great to connect to your customers! A great example of a brand that utilizes this is Google, who changes their overall "Google" logo every season and holiday.
Once you have a memorable and unique design, you can begin advertising your new business logo. Putting your brand out in the public's eyes immediately draws customers to your site. By using good business practices, your customers will associate your brand with the positive qualities you bring to the market and keep coming back. As they are satisfied, they will spread the word of your site, and you'll find that your brand recognition plan is a success!
Both Shannon Lavenia & David Marlow are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Shannon Lavenia has sinced written about articles on various topics from About Branding, Home Based Business and Small Business. Shannon Lavenia is a premier trainer and business educator in the field of wealth creation, entrepreneurism, and internet marketing. She can be contacted at