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Personal Branding - How To Do It In 5 Easy Steps

Written by: Jim Meisenheimer

Article Overview: If you think of yourself as not being very different from other salespeople, please read this to learn 5 easy steps you can use to develop your personal brand.

Personal Branding - How To Do It In 5 Easy Steps

Personal branding for professional salespeople should

be a high priority - unfortunately it isn't.

Your personal branding can provide you with an unique

competitive advantage if you take the time to develop

it.

Here are five easy steps you can use to launch your

personal brand.

1. What makes you different - I mean really, what makes

you different from other salespeople? If you don't give

this any thought, don't think you're memorable from your

customer's perspective.

I often ask the question, "what makes you different

from your competition" during my corporate sales training

programs. I always get the same responses: honesty,

reliable, experienced, problem solver, product knowledge,

follow up, trustworthy etc.

While these qualities are admirable they won't

differentiate you from your competition because

everybody believes they possess these qualities.

Just remember this - if you want to be remembered you

have to be memorable!

2. What are you known for? Do you have specialized

training? Do you have an advanced degree? Do you have

23 years of experience within a market subsegment?

For example, I have met salespeople with doctorate

degrees who keep this a secret from their sales prospects

and customers. Why in the world would you do this,

when you could differentiate you from your competition?

Are you unflappable? Do you possess an extraordinary

sense of humor? Do you possess any unique skills - like

you're scratch golfer or maybe a college football referee?

Are you a gourmet cook? Do you breed dogs in your spare

time?

What makes you different, makes you memorable.

3. Let people know what makes you different. You can

communicate your uniqueness in ways you have never

imagined before. I'll give you 2 specific ways you can

do this.

Prepare a special report on a topic that you have some

experience and expertise in. Google makes doing research

a snap. You create a title page, an about you page, the

actual content pages, and you could end your special

report with a short list of resources your sales prospects

and customers would benefit from.

You could also write a book. If you happen to be a timid

soul you could team up with two or three other salespeople.

Imagine how your sales prospects and customers would react

when you give them a book you've written. It automatically

establishes you as an expert. It automatically sets you

apart from your competition.

And here's some very good news for you - you don't even

have to write the book yourself. You can probably get

a special report, on any subject, for less than $125.

You can probably get a book written for less than $400.

Think about this for a minute. How many salespeople do

you know, who are working in your industry, are giving

their sales prospects and customers special reports and

books they have written? Probably not too many.

You see, personal branding is not about blending in,

it's about standing out. Doing things that no one else

is doing creates a strong personal brand for you.

Your personality, unfortunately, isn't enough to

differentiate you from all the salespeople calling on

your sales prospects and customers.

4. Most professional speakers have signature stories

they tell. These stories are unique to the speaker.

It's their signature. As an entrepreneur or a professional

sales person you can create a signature for yourself.

For example, my e-mail signature includes this:

21 years . . . 522 corporate clients . . . 72.7% repeat

business.

These 47 characters help create my personal brand - you

can easily do the same thing.

What color did Johnny Cash favor? He was the man in black,

wasn't he? What color shirt does Tiger Woods always wear

on Sundays? It's always red isn't it?

You don't have to be famous to consider doing this. In

fact doing this may help you to become better known in

your industry.

You could always wear blue ties. You could always use a

fountain pen to take notes during sales calls and to write

short personal notes. Not too many salespeople are doing

these things.

Another good example of a great signature is Thomas

Jefferson's signature - it really does stand out, doesn't

it?

5. Do something that says you're different. Do something

on the blank side of your business card. Think about what

you can leave behind at the end of the sales call. In

preparing for this article I did a Google search for the

phrase, pencils personalized.

You can order these pencils in a variety of designs and

colors for as low as 7 cents each. You can also imprint

up to four lines of text on each pencil. The pencil

becomes your business card.

Imagine including a sharpened pencil with your sales

proposals with a short note saying, "We already sharpened

our pencil for you."

Finally, don't assume you're automatically different

because of your DNA. You have to work at cultivating

your uniqueness within your industry. Doing these five

things will enable you to become the "Go to person"

within your industry.

I hope you have fun working on your personal branding.

Being boring doesn't get you anywhere.

Being different does!

Related Articles
  What Is Personal Branding And How Do you Do It?
  Brand Enhancer, Detractor or Adolescent: Which One Are You?
  How to Use Personal Branding for a Competitive Edge
  Why Personal Branding Is Essential Online
  Personal Branding Tips for Beginners

Article Tags: 23 years, college football referee, competitive advantage, doctorate, dogs, gourmet cook, high priority, honesty, personal brand, perspective, problem solver, product knowledge, professional salespeople, sales prospects, scratch golfer, sense of humor, uniqueness



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