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Personal Branding Pays: Why a Strong Personal Brand Is Worth the Effort
| Guest post by: Nick Nanton |
Article Overview: We spend a great deal of time in this space talking about personal branding. We share strategies, tips, success stories, and more. Every once in a while, it is a good idea to step back and take a look at the big picture-and remind ourselves why a strong personal brand is so important in the first place.
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Free Download - Leverage Your Personal Brand and Achieve Direct Mail Success By Nick Nanton |
Personal Branding Pays: Why a Strong Personal Brand Is Worth the Effort
We spend a great deal of time in this space talking about personal branding. We share strategies, tips,success storiesand more. Every once in a while, it is a good idea to step back and take a look at the big picture—and remind ourselves why a strong personal brand is so important in the first place. So today we are going to evaluate several of the top benefits that business owners and professionals enjoy once they have created a powerful personal brand:
1) Differentiation—as an individual and as a business.A strong personal brand makes you unique within your marketplace. In turn, your individuality sets your business apart from the competition. There are thousands of financial planners, for instance, in this country—but a strong personal brand can help you stand out from the crowd. Why should a potential client choose you instead of the competition? A strong personal brand answers this question and dramatically increases your chances of picking up business from the competition.
2) Client retention.Forget picking up new business for a moment—a strong personal brand makes it easy to retain the clients you already have. Think about the power of branding for a moment… how many people do you know that are incredibly loyal to a specific brand? Whether it be Starbucks, Harley Davidson, Mercedes, Apple, or Rolex, strong brands inspire loyalty. For a business owner, a strong personal brand can have the exact same effect. Your strong personal brand inspires loyalty, and your customers enjoy being affiliated with you. A strong personal brand will allow you to keep customers even when they could find better prices, service, or greater convenience elsewhere.
3) A strong brand makes business fun.Building a strong personal brand gives you the freedom to be yourself. You don’t have to wear a suit every day (unless that’s part of your brand, of course!), you don’t have to carefully measure every word you say for fear of gaining unwanted attention, and you don’t have to pretend to be someone you aren’t. Personal branding is all about expressing your individuality—and once you have built a strong brand, you get to stay true to yourself 24/7.
4) Stop competing on price.Once again, think about the power of branding in your daily life. Pretend you are in a sports storelooking at a generic red t-shirt. How much are you willing to pay for it? Now, stick a Nike logo on it. How does that change what you’re willing to pay? If you’re like most people, you are willing to pay a substantially higher percentage for a product made by a brand you love. The same principle applies to your business. Once you have created a strong personal brand, your customers are willing to pay more for your products—giving you the ability tocharge higher prices than your competitorsand still win the business.
So there you have it—a strong personal brand differentiates you in your marketplace. It makes it easier to retain your clients. It enables you to charge higher prices and still win business. And because you are free to be yourself, it makes going to work every day enjoyable. Keep branding—it is worth the effort!
How to Use Personal Branding for a Competitive Edge
Personal Branding Tips for Beginners
What is Personal Branding?
Brand Enhancer, Detractor or Adolescent: Which One Are You?
Personal Branding: When Your Brand Goes Off Course
Professional Presence
Personal Branding for Better Visibility
Strategic Branding Questions
Personal Brand: Igniting the Fire Within
What Is Personal Branding?
Personal Branding to Help You Standout From The Crowd and Boom Your Business
What is a Personal Brand?
Develop Social Media Sites for Personal Branding
Does Your Brand Resonate With Your Customers?
Build a Better Career With a Strong Personal Brand
Keys to Personal Branding Success, Part One
Keys to Personal Branding Success, Part Two
Marketing Brand YOU
Why Personal Branding Is Essential Online
Personal Branding – How to Influence the Way Others See You
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About the Author: Nick Nanton RSS for Nick's articles - Visit Nick's website Nick Nanton, Esq. is known as The Celebrity Lawyer and Agent to the top Celebrity Experts for his role in developing and marketing business and professional experts, through personal branding, to help them gain credibility and recognition for their accomplishments. Nick is recognized as the nation’s leading expert on personal branding as Fast Company Magazine’s Expert Blogger on the subject and lectures regularly on the topic at the University of Central Florida. His book Celebrity Branding You® has been selected as the textbook on personal branding at the University. Nick is recognized as one of the top thought leaders in the business world and has co-authored five best-selling books, including the breakthrough hit Celebrity Branding You!®. Nick serves as editor and publisher of Celebrity Press™, a publishing company that produces and releases books by top Business Experts. CelebrityPress has published books by Brian Tracy, Mari Smith, Ron Legrand and many other celebrity experts and Nick has led the marketing and PR campaigns that have driven more than 100 authors to Best-Seller status. Nick has been seen in USA Today, The Wall St. Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times, Entrepreneur® Magazine, FastCompany.com. The Huffington Post and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX television affiliates speaking on subjects ranging from branding, marketing and law, to American Idol.
Click here to visit Nick's website   Personal Branding Learn From The Best Whats Old Is New Again Personal Branding It Doesnt Have to be All Business Developing Your Personal Brand Make Sure Its Unique Books Speak Volumes When Creating Relationships |
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In order for a bank to even consider financing for a business loan such as a pizza restaurant, the first step is to have good personal credit. If you have previous credit issues that have lowered your credit scores, make sure you are prepared to either hear, “No”, or “Please explain this (these) credit marks.” If you have not demonstrated the ability to manage your own personal finances then most likely you will not have the opportunity to manage the financing from a bank for a business. When you make the initial contact with a bank, ask to speak to a commercial loan officer.
Other types of loan officers include consumer (think car loans) and mortgage (think home purchases and home equity loans). The commercial loan officer will be able to provide a list of things you will need to give him/her in order to consider the restaurant financing. Information required for a new business most likely will include the following:
Personal financial statement (Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth)
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Business tax returns (two years)
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