PRACTICE MARKETING blog

Personal branding and marketing is all about relationship building. After all, most of your business probably already comes from referrals. But we all have dormant relationships; most likely, more than those which are active. So how can we light the fire under these relationships? And how can they inspire us to refer them more business?

Relationships are built on our three C’s: Our charisma, our character, and our competency. Our charisma is the personal magnetism, charm, and attraction that is not so readily explainable, but we all know it when we feel it. There are ways to improve our charisma as Vik’s audio-book “Magnetic Personality” details.

Most of our relationships are character driven. That is, our personalities (our “outside character”) match. We like each other; we have similar values, hobbies, and style. We enjoy playing golf with each or grabbing a drink after work. These business relationships quickly turn into friendships. Good times are had by all, but then we realize that we’re not doing much business together.

We’ve all had experiences where we like the guy, but wouldn’t necessarily do business with him or her. Perhaps we don’t trust in their capabilities or workmanship; what I call their “inside character” traits. Or, maybe we already have a worthwhile (economic) relationship with a competing professional.

They say they are different, but we’re not sure exactly how. So we don’t refer them any business. Or maybe we’re that guy: We say we’re different because we’re reliable and put relationships first. But doesn’t everybody seem to say that?

We’ve all put up with professionals who rub us the wrong way or lack people-skills, but definitely do a great job. So we give them our business and refer clients to them (we warn them first). We put up with their character faults, because they are so highly competent.

Of course, the best of both worlds is to be a highly-competent professional who has mastered the art of relationship building. And they are the rainmakers who seem to do a bounty of business, make a lot of money for everyone around them, and have friends for all the right reasons. We are all working toward being this way.

So as we work toward building relationships, we have to work toward making them productive. That is, as we showcase our fun personality, we must showcase our expertise. We must showcase how our expertise is different from the next advisor, and how our expertise is better for our target market.

Here’s a Marketing Thumb-rule to (re)brand yourself: Replace your boring 30-second “elevator pitch” or networking message, with a 1-line Catchphrase: It should Short, Memorable, Appealing, Repeatable, and Timely.

Instead of your boring title or confusing designations, Personal Brand Marketing clients talk about the articles, audio-books, text-books, blogs, or other media that they’ve authored or been quoted by. Others offer educational tidbits (1-liners) that are counter-intuitive. If you have the right personality, you can take a commonly-used phrase or cliché, and play on it. Or coin a new word (a neologism), phrase, or jargon that is simply S.M.A.R.T..

See the video in the next post!

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Nowadays, a 30-second elevator pitch is way toooo long! Worse, our prospects, referral partners, and centers of influence can barely remember all of it. Even worse, we rarely can remember our whole 30-second “elevator pitch.” And when we do, it sounds too canned!

Rather, by perfecting our catchphrase, we’ll have a Short, Memorable, Appealing, Repeatable, and Timely one-liner or headline that our targets will use to recommend us. A catchphrase headline then becomes the predominant theme tying together all of your marketing collaterals, including your business card, 1-pagers, tri-folds, websites, and conversation starters.

In this live video with over 50 lawyers, real estate professionals, accountants, bankers, and financial advisors, I walk you through Perfecting Your Catchphrase.

The audio-book Sales Momentum goes into more background why it works and how you can use your Catchphrase to close more deals, more quickly.

CLICK THE “E-BOOK” LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE .PDF WORKSHEET FOR THE VIDEO SEMINAR.

 Ebook: Download | Hits (168)

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Last night, I attended an awesome networking event with some of the most influential leaders of Long Island. Luckily, it was my book release party (and 30th birthday). It was the biggest event the bookstore (I AM Books in Huntington, NY) ever had; and my book sold out. (This is bitter-sweet since I don’t have books for my speaking engagement on Friday; or for a real estate trade party on Tuesday; back-of-the-room sales is a Thumb-rule; this is a faux-pas.)

My main intention of the event was of course to drive book sales… but not only to sell out the room, but to promote the book as an awesome gift: 100% of my book sale profits from last night is being donated to the Cross Island YMCA Strong Kids campaign, which grants memberships to lower-income families. I’m the campaign chair for 2008, so it seemed natural to me. We raised over $1500 last night for Long Island youth. PLUS, those who purchased more than 2 books got my audio-book(s) for free. Now they have an extra copy - hopefully autographed - to give as a gift to a “stranger.” My colleagues will pollinate future orders.

I have achieved my January “book sales quota,” and I now working on February. But this success isn’t luck… And while it’s based on strategic design, I know there’s a greater power at play.

I wanted to invoke my spiritual beliefs to bless the success of my book. I invited my aunt, Geetha, to perform a short pooja (Hindu blessing ceremony). It was only fitting that I have my immediate family in the room, including my grandmother. As one of my colleagues mentioned as he was leaving, “It was like I attended a family event.” I responded, “It is.” My network was introduced not only to my family, my culture, my beliefs, and my intentional personal brand. Unfortunately, the video of the ceremony has been lost to the Universe!

Words cannot fully express how grateful I am for the wonderful reception I felt last night… while the cupcakes weren’t fully appreciated, folks ate up the snacks and my sense of style (4-button peach suit and deep purple shirt). I nurtured the success and am grateful for the forces that coalesce to continue the book’s phenomenal success.

We must plant the right seeds at the right time in the right soil. We must water appropriate and tend to the weeds. But still, we cannot grow the fruit. I believe God does the Growing in response to our successful Strategic Habits. Together, everyone achieves this TEAM.

Thank you.

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The moments of appreciation, reminiscence, and forethought are the gifts we give ourselves during this season. It is the dawn of a new year, and our resolutions need not be fleeting. There’s no preaching here. Instead, let’s consider practicing some rules of thumb that can help change the world.

Often, many of us feel “stuck.” We all know the clichés and bumper stickers to change the world, but can’t seem to find the time, the money, the people, or the energy to do much about it. We want to “be the change we want to see” … but we gotta do what we gotta do to just keep up with everyday life. First off, if we’re meeting our obligations, we must be proud of that. No guilt. But oftentimes we’d like to do more good.

We can judge ourselves by how we handle our calendar and our cash flow; it shows us what’s really important to us. It may be easier said than done, but we must make the time to take the time. What are we choosing to do with our time and money? Don’t worry about what others are doing right now. Let’s become aware of what we’re choosing.

You can read the rest of my FEATURE ARTICLE in this month’s issue of Canvas Magazine.

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From resolutions to goals to habits to achievement.

In order to sustain a 365 personal brand, we must schedule in our Action Goals in order to achieve our Result Goals.  And of course, today is the first day of the rest of your life.  It also feels apropos given the season…

You won’t have the time.  You won’t find the time.  You have to make the time.

What’s your Vision for 2008?  My clients know that I make goal setting a very simple process… with 5 cascading goals:

• 1000 days (2 - 3 years from now)
• 300 days (1 year from now)
• 200 days (six months from now)
• 100 days (3 months from now)
• 30 days (1 month from now)

Progressively, it becomes more short-term (in alignment with the long-term), more tactical, more practical, and more action-oriented.  The more we achieve our day-to-day action goals, the more will achieve our Vision for 2008!

The SMARTest goal setting process is simply ____what____ BY _____when_____.  This goal-setting formula will keep it specific, measurable, results-oriented, resource-focused, and time-bound, in a simple, one-liner.

The most important daily action-goal: Smile, with a deep breath, and affirm your goals!

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I’ve gone around town (and now on YouTube) for saying “the most popular blogs are by bloggers who blog about blogging.”

And yet again, Forbes’ Web Celeb 25 confirms my conjecture (vast majority fit my bill, especially the Near Misses).  How many do you know without clicking their names?

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Yesterday I was meeting with a colleague, and potential client.  But half-way through the conversation I realized that he wasn’t quite ready to leverage his personal brand.

Personal branding is getting a lot of buzz, and most of the time we talk about the tactics, techniques, and sometimes strategies.  But all of that is the HOW.

None of the tips, tricks, and thumb-rules that we implement are important without the WHY.

I tend to ask a lot of questions during my 1-on-1 sessions - especially during the first couple of meetings.  And definitely during my “sales process.”  My colleague was answering my questions to the best of his ability, but something just didn’t feel right to me.  And while their answers aren’t irrelevant, what they say isn’t as important, as their emotional response, our rapport, and how I’m feeling on the inside.  After all, more than competency and character - it’s about our charisma.

Branding, especially personal branding, is an emotional experience:  For our prospective clients, and for us.  If we don’t feel our passion and purpose, then how can we expect our clients to?

So I asked him, and I do with most of my clients about their projects, “WHY are you doing this?  What’s the point, the purpose?  Why is it worth it to you?”  And more to the point, “Are you passionate about — not the end result, but the process… the crap that will have to be done?”  In other words, “do you have the Craving?”

There are many C’s to personal branding… just scroll down to the lower left and you’ll see the Categories.  The pre-C to all of the techniques of personal branding, is whether or not you are ready to build and leverage your personal brand.  If you don’t have the inner craving to be rich and famous in your niche target market Community, then don’t even bother.

Business, life, and especially personal brand marketing, is about having fun.  As you live your purpose, you exude the passion, and attract the profits.  What’s your passion?  What are you yearing and Craving for?

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‘Tis the season to give gifts.  And everybody loves getting gifts.  It’s also a great way to promote your personal brand: I don’t mean giving gifts with your logo on it (though, done with class, is not such a bad idea).  Rather, your personal brand relationship with that other person.

Having said that, gifts and cards should be personal. At the very least, personalized.  Obviously I love the wonders of technology and mass-customization, but still, micro-customization - our handwriting - is still a great personal touch.  With a tablet or other e-writing pad, you can also digitize your signature (like my book).  More importantly, a personal note makes the greeting card extra special for each of us.

We shouldn’t feel obligated to give cards and gifts.  We should feel honored that we can share our love & appreciation.

But be sure that the amount of gifts and its costs are within your professional compliance and ethics regulations.  Obviously we’re gifting for the right reasons; it shouldn’t bite us in the arse!

The best gifts are ones that are for that person alone… bottles of wine, etc. are fine… and perfect if s/he is a connoisseur or sommelier… but for the rest of us… it wreaks of lack of thought.  But I’ll take the free bottle of wine!  Rather, if you’ve been listening and paying attention to your clients, colleagues, partners, or employees through-out the year… they’ve given you clues as to want they would really appreciate. Hint: Look around their offices for gift ideas.

Done with appropriate class and taste, you may opt to make a special impression and give a gift for the whole family.  Likewise, what would your client’s spouse appreciate?  What are their hobbies?  And what are the kids into?  Not only are you able to share a special moment as you present the gift (in person preferably), but now… the parents are able to give a gift to their kids (make sure you include all of them).  Make it fun, age-appropriate, and personalized…

Gift giving is a wonderful character trait.  Congratulations for considering it.  But it’s also an opportunity to really show that we care, how we care, why we care, and what we appreciate in the other person.  Appreciate their personal brand.

So where’s my gift?

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Last Thursday, I took my cousin to visit Wharton (University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Business). I was amazed and impressed by the experience given to us. It also gave us a glimpse at how Wharton differentiates itself from its “competitors” and offers a better “distinctive value proposition” than the dominant B-school: Harvard.

Harvard tends to have a ‘brand perception’ of high-quality education, high-quality brand, and high-quality graduates. They also give off a snooty, snobby, and hifalutin “Hah-ved” personality. That may or may not be so… it’s my impression, and perception shared by many.

Likewise, Wharton is one of the top-rated graduate b-schools in the country. Their MBA students are also recruited by the top firms from the first day they are on campus. Wharton also clearly produces excellent leaders, not only in business… but in nearly every field.

My point is not to herald Wharton, Harvard, or any business education. But rather to illustrate how we can and should express our brand distinctiveness. Here are some of the points Wharton students and administration stressed:

Note: Statistics have shown that when a student is accepted to both schools, the vast majority still choose Harvard. Nobody mentioned their most dominant competitor by name (Harvard). But I felt it was a constant undercurrent to EVERYTHING that was said.

For example, we had lunch with 3 first-year students. We were to ask them questions about their application process, their experience as students, and their goals as professionals. 2 of them mentioned that Wharton classes did not follow the “case study method” exclusively, but rather followed that approach “when it was appropriate.” They went on to mention that some classes are more suited for a lecture format, and others for a ‘real-world case’ study format. In fact, one student specifically mentioned that he chose Wharton because he prefers the lecture format over the case study approach. Harvard is famous for driving the case study approach to business learning; they even have a course on creating case studies. I felt their repeated insistence was a direct differentiation statement against their dominant competition.

Another example: The head of admissions began her description of benefits by using the word “scrappy.” She mentioned that they like to roll up their sleeves, get the job done, work together, develop life-long relationships, and not stand on ceremony, status, title, or even student hierarchy. Harvard, rather, prefers to stand on their tradition… and appreciates their elite heritage… not being scrappy.

Both schools administration decided to allow students to vote on whether or not to disclose grades/scores. 96% of Wharton students have decided not to disclose their grades. (My cousin and I assumed that the other 4% were doing so well, they wanted to brag). Well, it turns out Harvard students have overwhelmingly voted to DISCLOSE their grades. I believe this is a literal metaphor to the 2 different student cultures: Wharton students prefer to leverage each others’ strengths and work together as comrades. Harvard prefers to emulate the competitive nature of natural business world. Both have its merits.

Harvard Business School is physically separated from the rest of their campus, away from the undergrads. Wharton is fully integrated into the undergrad environment - the undergrad business building is right next to their new MBA building, and is sometimes used for space. Different; better is the customer’s (student’s) choice.

Wharton is proud that most of their students live right in the vicinity of the campus. Most other business schools have many commuters. Wharton lubricates their community through … free beer and pizza. It’s a horrible reason to choose this high-class program over others, but the mundane is often profound: The free beer and pizza - every Thursday - helps to congeal busy professionals. It fosters the camaraderie that is truly life-long. It also provides prospective students an opportunity to mingle with 1st and 2nd year students. It’s a safe place for the MBA students to express their diversity: Each night has a theme… ours was Asian (with Asian beer & food sampling)… some nights have a Greek theme, or a Gay theme (where they encourage professors to cross-dress)! Their humor and unpretentiousness is in stark contrast to the Harvard brand image.

Finally, Wharton operates on a Monday-Thursday week… Fridays are off. This allows students to catch up, spend time on extracurricular groups, projects, family, or professional interviews. It’s different than a typical M-F week.

Of course both have a great network of alumni. Wharton - in alignment with their “here for each other” brand impression - stressed how open and willing their alum are. Students and administration repeated this point often. Harvard didn’t mention it at all. It should really go without saying… we know many b-school alum opening doors for each other: But Wharton repeated it, Harvard (proudly) ignored it.

From their student guides to the admissions administration, Wharton gave a consistent and unified brand experience, stressing (repeating) specific value elements. They purposefully positioned themselves differently - and IMHO, better - than their dominant competition, Harvard. After all, the real bucks to be made is not on the tuition … but in their life-long donations. (Wharton’s brand new MBA building was fully funded through alumni contributions).

I’ll be joining my cousin on his other b-school adventures… let’s see how the other top b-schools position themselves:

• “Just like Harvard, but better,” or
• “We’re different than Harvard, thus better.”

Have you had similar experiences when you’ve been courted? How is your alum school better than all of these?

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It’s growing at an exponential rate: But I’ve found there is still a humongous part of the professional world — especially accountants and financial advisors — who aren’t into blogging & podcasting because they feel it doesn’t apply to them.

First of all, they don’t quite understand the technology - and that scares them. And then, these professionals rarely take part in such media (blogs, podcasts, on-line videos, communities). And when they do (like many those reading this), it’s a foreign experience. Hint: You’re supposed to leave a meaningful comment, and link back to your website.

Moreover, the vast majority of CPA’s, bookkeepers, tax professionals, investment advisors, insurance brokers, and financial planners don’t know if blogging & podcasting will bring more qualified prospects and referrals. They don’t know - and they’re afraid it won’t work….

Here’s how accountants & financial advisors can use “Web 2.0 social media” to market themselves better, even with all the compliance & ethics regulations.

On Friday, I was invited by a large financial services firm to address this question, in context of personal brand marketing. The full 42 minute session will be on Google Video shortly… a juicy 10-minute excerpt is now on YouTube:

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