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Three Steps to Building Your Brand and Expanding Business

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Article Overview: Whether you are a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, managing your personal brand is critical to achieving your business goals.

Three Steps to Building Your Brand and Expanding Business

Whether you are a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, managing your personal brand is critical to achieving your business goals.
Gone are the days when your value to your clients was linked solely to your products or services. Today, competition has increased and your clients have myriad offerings they must select among. That means that you have to differentiate yourself from your competitors and build demand for your services among your target market.
Just as with corporate brands, your personal brand is your promise of value. It separates you from your peers and competitors and it allows you to expand your success. Personal branding is not about building a false image for the outside world; it’s about understanding your unique combination of rational and emotional attributes - your strengths, skills, values and passions - and using these attributes to differentiate yourself and guide your business.
When you have built and nurtured a winning brand, you'll reap the many benefits, including:
• Understanding yourself better, increasing your confidence,
• Increasing your visibility and presence among your ideal clients,
• Attracting more clients
• Differentiating yourself from your peers,
• Increasing your fees,
• Thriving during downturns in the economy,
• Expanding into new business areas
Here are three steps to successful personal branding:
Step 1: Unearth Your Brand
Give your brand context. Before you can clearly describe your personal brand, you need to look at the big picture: your vision, and purpose. Your vision is external. It is the essence of what you see possible for the world. Your purpose is internal. It is the role you play in supporting that vision. As Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." Additionally, your personal brand needs to be tied to your goals. Spend some time thinking about how you would like your life to look in a year. Two years. Five years. Be sure to document your answers. With your goals set down, and with a real understanding of your vision and purpose, you can begin the assessment process required to understand and develop your brand.
Know Yourself. A successful personal brand is authentic. Thus, you need to know yourself before you can build a successful brand. If you are creative, dynamic, outgoing, and whimsical, you will not succeed by communicating the attributes of predictable, steady, and focused. Much the same as Volvo is known for being safe, not for being a speedy sports car. You can describe your personal brand using this complimentary tool: www.reachcc.com/360personalprofiler
Know Your Competitors. How can you stand out unless you know those among whom you're standing? In other words, who are you really competing against? Your current colleagues? Others within your industry? Take another look at your goals and take a closer look at your competition. Branding is all about differentiation. You must know what makes you stand out from your competitors so you can succeed.
Know Your Target. To be wildly successful, it's not enough just to have a personal brand. You need to communicate it to the right people. It would exhaust your resources to aim for the world at large. The key to successful personal branding is focus! You must consistently demonstrate your unique promise of value for your target audience. You must identify your niche and ensure that your offering is relevant and compelling.
Step 2: Express Yourself
Describe the essence of your brand. From the results of Step 1 above, start to create a personal brand profile. List your brand attributes, create a brand statement and even your personal brand tagline. This will help you as you develop a plan to communicate your brand to your target audience.
Find the Right Mix. Once you know yourself, your competitors, and your target, you can identify the ideal combination of communications tools that reach your audience effectively. This can vary widely depending on your goals, but maybe you will want to write articles or a newsletter. Maybe regular speaking gigs are more appropriate for your brand. You need to evaluate all possible communications tools and select the right combination to reach your target audience. Then put a plan in place to maintain visibility with your target.
Manage Your On-Line Identity. According to a Harris Interactive Poll, 23% of professionals admit to googling people before meeting them. And a survey by Recruiters World revealed that nearly two thirds of respondents use google to research candidates. It’s no longer a luxury, it’s essential for you to build and continuously manage your on-line identity. The personal googling phenomenon brings with it an incredible opportunity for you to increase your visibility, demonstrate your thought leadership and build your personal brand.
Being googled is the new millennium version of the reference check. It provides your colleagues and customers with some critical information about you. What they learn from your google results will color their perception of you. Strong personal brands have powerful on-line identities.
Step 3. Exude Your Brand
Mark Everything You Do with Your Brand. Whether you're giving a presentation, participating in a meeting, or writing a report, you never have to leave your brand behind. Always ask yourself how you can connect your brand to every given situation. Every meeting, every project, every business trip ­ every business meal!
Live and Breathe Your Brand. Live in a state of inquiry for two weeks ­ to start. Question everything you do, every tool you use, every article of clothing you wear. Are they consistent with your brand? Do you have a 3G phone but use a printed calendar or a handwritten to-do list? Do you carry a briefcase? Make sure everything communicates the essence of your brand. Get used to living in the inquiry. It's a tool that will help you keep your brand clear, consistent, and constant.
Personal branding is the tool to ensure small business success. Having a strong brand starts with understanding your unique promise of value – what is authentic to you, differentiating from your peers and relevant and compelling to your target audience. Get a handle on your brand and watch your business take off!

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