PRACTICE MARKETING blog

Much ado has been made about our personal brand “Google Quotient” - the search results when folks look us up. I’ve had mixed feelings about it. No doubt we need to have a presence, but how often are people googling our names… or are they really googling other more relevant search terms?

Well, I know people do google me (and people with bosses have to deal with this phenomenon more often). And when people google relevant search terms, they find this blog.

But yesterday morning I got a wonderful compliment. And as a speaker, it will happen to you too:

I was presenting in front of the Independent Real Estate Brokers, a group of uhm… well, figure it out. After my persentation, “From Broker to Expert,” one of the participants came up to me with her smartphone in hand. She exclaimed, “While you were speaking, I googled you!”

While that means she wasn’t really paying attention, I still took it as a compliment. She went on to say, “Wow, you popped right up… I guess you know what you’re talking about.”

Nowadays with the ubiquity of the Internet in the palm of our hands, we definitely have to be conscious of our personal brand Google rank. People will google you to your face, and then talk about you behind your back.

So more important than even having a personal brand web presence, is to make sure it’s all consistent and in alignment with your personal brand character (often this means it should be positive).

It’s amazing how our professional and personal worlds are colliding:  It started with our cell phone number.  Our Facebook profiles are making ‘friends’ out of our ‘colleagues.’

During my activist rallies and media events in college, we used to subscribe to the bumper-sticker philosophy, “The Personal is the Political.”  Nowadays, I suppose, also “The Personal is the Professional.”

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Your seminars, workshops, and classes shouldn’t just be educational. It should be entertaining; role model a showman.  Your presentations (that is, performances) should be memorable experiences… of what makes you different & better. Your personality needs to shine through… not only through the subject material, but through the THEME EXPERIENCE.

On Sept 18, I will be the MC for the Cross Island YMCA & Strong Kids: A Perfect Match fundraising dinner and awards ceremony. I sit on the Board for this Y and chair our Strong Kids campaign (we give grants to families who cannot afford the YMCA). Among the 3 honorees, we will be awarding our past Board chair (and my current client) Dan Gerstman.

Through consistent design, decoration, and puns, we will be serving a Tennis-themed evening. As the MC, I noticed that the microphone was inconspicuously ignored from the theme. But what a perfect opportunity to decorate the head! So I cut up a tennis ball (around its seam) and the rubber naturally wrapped itself around the microphone. It will be able to pick up my voice clearly through the top and side that is to me (uncovered by the ball). To the audience, it will be a subtle treat (and I’m sure most will notice — and remember).

The next time you have to (that is, get to) step up to the mic, make it yours! Keep all the decorations consistent and in alignment with the theme. Your creativity personality will shine through. And thus, you will brand yourself in another memorable way.

Isn’t it amazing how we remember the small, odd details!

What kind of extraordinary incidentals have you experienced?

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It happened to me again: I was commenting on somebody else’s blog, and I got inspired to elaborate on my point here. (You can read my comments, featured on other people’s blogs, on the lower right hand side of this page, later.)

Branding is all about pulling prospects to you (or your product) with an emotional connection… We’re moved by great brands; great brands are movements. The Culting of Brands is a great book on this subject.

Corporate Brands force this emotional connection: After all, it take mighty marketing mavens to have us fall in love with what is really a multi-national, multi-billion-dollar, conglomerate. But we do.

Personal Brands, on the other hands, have natural emotional connections. We are a naturally inspired, moved, and are attracted to other people. As we start focusing on what makes our character and charisma distinctive, we immediately differentiate our competency. As we focus on a community to which we can relate, we naturally develop personal brand appeal.

A happy medium between corporate branding (what I call a “forced emotional connection”) and personal branding (aah, “natural emotional connection”) is Mascot Branding. For those of us who don’t want to really capitalize on ourselves, or make our business dependent on our reputation (a vulnerable position as Martha and Imus both felt), we can leverage the personal brand appeal of a MASCOT.

We can think of many other famous companies who use mascots to personify their own service, or their “evil” competitor, a lousy or great customer: In fact, we can vote on them and see the winner parade at NY’s Advertising Week “Favorite Icon”.

Marketing a mascot is just like marketing any other personal brand. We can build a whole world around our mascots even, as the Caveman’s Crib is doing: It’s an experience worthy of its distraction — learn a few “immersive experience” marketing lessons from playing around on the Caveman’s Crib website.

If you don’t want to leverage your reputation, or want to embellish your own personal brand… consider the route of the Mascot. For example, Adam Schwam, founder of Sandwire - a computer technology services company, regularly uses mascots in his marketing and advertising. I interviewed him last summer for a book that I’m writing. Since then we’ve grown a cool relationship; we’re working on writing a “marketing technology” column together and more. (In fact, his illustrator, Michael Mastermaker is the one who drew me for the cover of my Audio-Books.)

I’ll be visiting a new client this afternoon. I know he wants to sell his business after a few years, so he may not want to develop and leverage his own personal brand. Let’s see if he can think outside-the-box of what’s traditional for his industry. By creating a legendary mascot, he would immediately set his company and his “commoditized” service apart. When he’s ready, he can also very easily sell the rights to the business & its mascot - an income-producing asset.

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Second to Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin is my role model. I believe we can learn a lot about our own careers, pitfalls, and successes through our role models. Rick Rubin is featured on the cover of this week’s NY Times magazine. He has produced the best albums and hits in the mainstream music industry. Rick Rubin truly is a MAESTRO!

As you know, the music industry is in shambles. In May, Columbia Records recruited the legendary Rick Rubin to re-innovate them; Rick Rubin became Chairman of Columbia Records. Rick Rubin is a maestro with a personal brand all his own. Read the cover story! You will learn a lot on how to stand out and reshape - not only your career - but your whole profession.

Some [useful marketing] quotes by Rick Rubin from this week’s NY Times Magazine cover story:

• “I still believe that if an artist gains the belief of the listener, then anything is possible.”

• “I have no training, no technical skill — it’s only this ability to listen and try to coach the artist to be the best they can from the perspective of a fan.”

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All of my comments on other people’s blog are listed on the right hand side of my blog through a cool utility called CoComment. For example, I just commented on Maria Elena’s blog and felt my comment was worthwhile enough as a post here!

Core Values is vital to our inner Character (our outer Character is our Style). Yet reading corporate mission statements that list core values is like reading about motherhood and apple pie… Of course, of course, of course. Your personal brand core values should immediately make you stand out; after all, you’re unique just as you are!

We all tend to agree with what I call the “MOTHERHOOD 5.” It’s the 5 values our mother’s taught us. When we violate them, it is the most destructive and leads to the common media scandals. So we better remind ourselves, affirm ‘em, and follow em… but our personal brands should go beyond these: 1. Honesty 2. Accountability (integrity) 3. Trust 4. Loyalty 5. Lawfullness.

How we put these principles into action may vary: For example, is going 85 in a 55 zone violating our core values? Not for me

But more important for our Personal Brand core values, are the ones that MOST PEOPLE don’t share: Its the values and principles that make us who we are, and differentiate us from the rest. Its also the values that help us connect with a niche target market Community that most of our peers won’t.

For example… I have 3 core values that most people do not share: 1) Entrepreneurship - Less 5% of our nation practices this value, even though we are the global leader in free enterprise 2) Vegetarianism - Less than 10% practice a day-to-day philosophy of not killing animals for a living. 3) Frugality - I’m cheap. I don’t thrive on status: I enjoy making money and spending money on people… but not on commodities. Ironically, I enjoy looking beyond brand status and am more practical. Personal brands are worth the emotional and economic value; rarely are corporate brands.

So beyond the typical “Motherhood 5″ (the values our mom taught us), what are your core values that shape your personal brand?? I look forward to reading about you! Got anything to add to my Motherhood 5?

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I’m on vacation right now. My uncle suggested I blog about my trip, and look out for [personal brand marketing] tips along the way. Of course I should web-log my trip… I’m On The Road, with my tablet (Kerouac 2.0, I’spose - 40 years hence).

Well, I’ve been having too much fun on my vacation to blog daily. But I got a couple of down hours waiting for my Grand Canyon tour to pick me up…. so here’s 2 vacation-inspired tips:

1. Yesterday’s off-road ATV 4×4 action through the Sonoran desert makes me think of this: You should brand yourself by showcasing your unique interests! It makes you more memorable: Remember, ↑ Remembered ⇔ ↑ Referrals 2. Of course, sharing the hobbies of your community helps to create a bond too. For example, how many of you Mix Greens? …Golf with business?

But that’s not what really inspired me to blog right now. Last year I wrote an article called “What are your White Wires?” for Debonair Magazine. I was also invited to share this personal branding insight to the graduating athletes of C.W. Post University. (I finally got to tell the jocks what to do!)

Yes, times they are a-changing: While white wires still brand the iCommunity, nowadays it hardly brands you. Personalize your vanilla iPod earbuds, brand your distinctive persona: I just learned about Emotibuds (and its extended Emotibles line) while reading nytimes.com/Magazine.

Moreover, this functional-to-fashion accessory helps to illustrate tip #3: How can you take a seemingly ordinary part of your style, and make it extraordinary?

By accentuating something positive about your “external character,” e.g., your wardrobe, body language, etc., you become (as Cosmo Kramer said) “more you, than you’ve ever been!” Its a simple way to stand out. (Tip 4: Like white wires, splashy ties are old hat. My article will help you be more clever.)

I give you specific areas & steps to brand your own “White Wires” in my article. (Tip 5: Caricature artists are great at picking up our distinctive quirks.) “What are your White Wires?” Here’s mine (from the article)…

…I’ve got a penchant for mixing and matching colors like a bad acid trip. So I’ve set out to become known for my eye-popping blazers: Business, creativity, and showmanship, all wrapped up into one.

Last week, I met a colleague at the bank branch he manages. To be introduced to his superiors, I donned a navy suit, tan shirt, and a tame scarlet tie. His eyes popped to a grin, “What? No crazy jacket today?” He leaned over to his partner, “This guy’s got the wildest suits!”

I smirked at his quip. It tells me my fans are noticing, remembering, and talking about me, exactly how I want. I’ve branded my persona onto his mind: My “white wires” may be a 4-button saffron jacket and a striped chocolate shirt. What are yours?

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After the on-line magazine, Slate, “outted” her (click to read article)… Rudy Giuliani’s daughter Caroline left the political fanclub for Barack Obama, “One Million Strong for Barack” on her Facebook profile.  Who knows who she plans on voting for… but this isn’t a good sign for Rudy’s personal brand.

Caroline and Rudy have had a rocky relationship, and it’s sad that her private life will now be dragged into the public realm.  Regardless, she should be smart enough to know the media will be watching (after all, she goes to Harvard).

But Caroline is not at fault… after all, she may be voting for a better presidential candidate.  Rudy should know that family always matters.

The value of personal brand can be measured by the strength of our closest relationships.  And no, Rudy, quantity doesn’t count more than quality!

I hope we can all value family beyond its personal brand value.

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SitePal from Oddcast is a cool feature to have on your website. It allows you to talk to your website visitors through an animated character… you can use text-to-speech or your voice (record by phone, or upload a file).

Now, to help proliferate their service, Oddcast has created VOKI… a free version you can embed into your (personal) website, blog, or anywhere else. You can use animated characters (aka, ‘avatars’) to

• welcome website visitors,
• describe your product, service,
• narrate real estate listings or detailed specs
• read answers to FAQ,
• and anything else you can imagine.

Characters are full customizable to look sort of like you. SitePal offers more customization and even Your-Own-Photo-realistic service (for a fee of course). Voki mentions:

“Can anyone use Voki? Voki is solely and exclusively for personal, non-commercial use only. If you run a business website where you sell things or you run a site about your business – a real estate agency, for example – then Voki is not for you. We have a product called SitePal that costs a small monthly fee for business class users.”

I created this in less than 5 minutes (click to view). Does it look me? I used text-to-speech… Voki: Can’t beat free!

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Avatars Everywhere: 27 of the Best Avatar Makers

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As a professional, you probably belong to many business, civic, and charity organizations. It’s a great way to build relationships: Those you meet can turn into clients, referral sources, and other strategic relationships. It’s also a great way to learn about what’s going on and to give back to your Community.

But being active can take a lot of time (as you know). Are you making the time productive??

I co-chair the Membership Committee and the Business Development committee for the Hauppauge Industrial Association, I am on the Board of the Cross Island YMCA, and am active in the longest-running, professionally-managed networking group on Long Island, American Business Associates.

Based on my experience, the 6-min podcast below will you a few tips on how to make your membership productive for you & for the organization. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

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Ever wonder how Bush won … “again”? No president has ever been re-elected with such low approval ratings. All it took was the right strategy… a new documentary DVD reveals how it happened through candid interviews from both sides.

Personal brand marketing strategy goes hand-in-hand with political campaign strategy!

In my audiobook INSTANT BUZZ, I actually reveal one of the most Influential books on the Bush campaign, as quoted by the RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. It’s referenced by Matthew Dowd (Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign) as he’s interviewed in this great interview-driven documentary:

In Fall 2006, film makers, James D. Stern & Adam Del Deo, released “…So Goes the Nation” through IFCfilms. It recently came out on DVD; watch it!! Study it!! And tell others… I think it’s the next best Secret. Last night, I saw the documentary three times in a row… including the directors’ behind-the-scenes commentary.

Sadly the DVD (and the trailer below) is packaged in typical “pro-liberal/anti-Bush” garb (obviously that didn’t stop me). But the movie is so much better than propaganda.

Camera crews {in typical realityTV form} follow 4 everyday campaigners through their trials and tribulations in the most pivotal state in the election (Ohio): 2 on the Kerry 2004 side, and 2 for the Bush Campaign 2004. As an activist who’s dedicated years to grassroots organizing, it was very reassuring to me.

While this narrative provided great suspense (even though we all know the ending), I loved the interviews: 8 TOP INSIDERS ON BOTH THE KERRY CAMPAIGN & THE BUSH CAMPAIGN GAVE CANDID INTERVIEWS on “What in the world were they thinking????”: ~1~ Mary Beth Cahill - Kerry Campaign Manager ~2~ Ken Mehlman - Bush 2004 Campaign Manager ~3~ Matthew Dowd - Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign ~4~ Mark McKinnon - Media Director for Bush 2004 Campaign ~5~ Terry McAuliffe - Democratic National Committee Chairman ~6~ Tad Devine - Communications Director for Kerry Campaign ~7~ Ed Gillespie - Republican National Committee Chairman ~8~ Paul Begata - Clinton campaign advisor (former co-host of CNN CrossFire)

Both sides explore one of the most important marketing strategy decisions: PERSUASION or MOTIVATION? Which won?

Click to BUY THE DVDor visit the …So Goes the Nation movie website.

Documentary Trailer:

Listen to one of my favorite parts of “…So Goes the Nation” in my podcast. Mark McKinnon, Bush Media Strategist, describes how he set up Kerry to blunder!

~Watch ‘…So Goes the Nation’ & share it as a gift.

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