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On a Monday, Mark told me he sold pre-paid legal services.
He had brochures and everything.
One week later I saw Mark again, but I was confused. He stood up at a networking event that I was at and told everyone that he sold real estate.
A month later I saw Mark again. When someone asked Mark what line of work he was in, he replied
Well… I … umm… I… help small businesses get where they want to be. I … umm… help them get things done.
Now, I am really confused. What does this guy do? Who is this masked man? [Lone Ranger reference for those too young to realize]
Mark Doesn’t Know Who He Is, So We Can’t Know Who He Is
I am a human.
As a human, I am trying to put each person I meet into a category — accountant, author, musician, graphics designer, etc
I am trying to take the first steps in the process of getting to know Mark, what he is about, whether he is a potential business partner, a person I can refer to others, an expert in his field.
I had Mark in a category, then I had to move him. Then I had to move him again.
Not good.
Not good for Mark that is —- he is doing a terrible job of building a strong personal brand.
Why I Advised Linda To Stay Home
About a year ago, Linda hired me to advise her on her online strategy for a new business she was starting. It turned out that we worked on much more than her online marketing.
She was a bit lost. She needed to talk to someone.
She couldn’t decide exactly what she wanted to do with her business.
She told me that she was going to a big networking event that evening —
I told her to stay home.
If You Can’t Answer The Following Question, Don’t Go to a Networking Event
So… what do you do?
This is the first question out of everyone’s mouth at a networking event. If you aren’t prepared to answer that question — don’t go.
It’s the whole first impression thing at work … you want to put yourself in exactly the right category when someone asks you what you do.
That being said, sometimes it is helpful to go to networking events to meet others that could help you find your brand. But beware, when you don’t have a good answer to that most basic question, you are losing the opportunity to begin the branding process and you may find people asking themselves….
Who is that masked man?
What do you think? What are your thoughts about personal branding? What advice would you give the other tiny business owners that read this blog?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Russ:
Good Point on this Post.
Unfortunately, this is the ‘Gigonomic’ Economy; people move from gig to gig. It can be confusing.
I have a challenge with this. I do several things and wear several name badges. That can be confusing.
I developed the following ‘umbrella’ tagline that, I hope, encompasses most of the products and services I offer.
“I’m an independent business developer. I help companies gain and retain clients and sell more products and services to those clients.”
Here’s a site that can help people with those elevator speeches:
http://www.15secondpitch.com/new/index.asp
Fred
It’s one thing to be consistently involved with several different things that are related to your overall business — but what I am talking about is something entirely different — or perhaps just much more drastic.
Seeing someone from one week to the next make complete and drastic changes to the business they are in is not just confusing — it is a devastating to a persons personal brand.
I was stuck in this mode once, and realized it every time I told someone what I did. Sometimes I was one thing, sometimes another. It took me a while but I figured out that, as you said Russ, there needs to be one consistent message, no matter where you are and who you’re with. Now that I’ve figured that out, and have branded myself as such, I’m in a much better place.
And since everyone knows what I do, they know just which kind of business to refer to me.
So…. St Louis SEO… what exactly do you do?