Like the Who said “Who are you.. who who… who who?” How do people know you? How do you get known? How do you become “The Pro”? It’s called Branding. What do you do when you meet someone? Do you ever “Google” their name? I think this is happening more and more as Social Media goes mainstream.

I have over 30 years experience on the insurance company side, mostly marketing for property-casualty carriers. The frustrating thing about our industry is that nearly everyone sells the same product, same coverage, but with a few bells and whistles. Everyone is selling the service of the agency that they work for, but to the buyer it sounds all the same. It is really hard to set yourself apart from the competition especially with so many agents competing on the same account.

Most of you have taken sales training where you know that your customer buys with emotion and they do business with whom they trust, respect and like. So, why not try an edge and use the internet to your advantage?

Brand your name. Show that you are an insurance expert on a website of your name. If you have a particular area of expertise i.e. insuring contractors this is where you can show your prospect that you are an expert in their field. Most of you join some association to network. Add a personal website to your business card so that your prospects can check you out. On your personal website you can have articles that relate to common insurance problems for contractors, insurance coverages that are important etc. Now when someone “Googles your name” a professional website about you, as the insurance expert comes up.

New producers would benefit especially by branding their name. They need to build credibility, plus most are young and they already using Social Media. Sending a prospect to their site that shows that they know their business and could make a difference in making a sale. This would give them an edge in making a sale.

What about when you are calling for an appointment with someone that does not know you? Send them to your website so that they can learn more about you. Perhaps they will find that they have something in common with you. Additionally, your prospect would be pre-positioned that you are more than just a “salesperson” – you are an insurance professional.

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Perhaps some of you might feel that there is no value to this, but I feel that this will be a growing trend among professionals to brand their name. We all can be “micro-businesses” by branding ourselves. Just “Google” your name and see what comes up. Whenever I ask someone who is their insurance agent, they never respond with the agency’s name. They relate to your personal name so I think you can see the value of branding your name on the web.

Did you know that according to Mashable.com, an online guide to social media, over 55 million people log onto social networking sites on a regular basis? That is just under 1/3 of the US population. Additionally, the fastest growing demographic segment of social networkers are baby boomers discovering the value of joining such sites. Think about how you want to position yourself for success. In addition to your own personal website you will want to integrate with the following:

Linkedin Profile – This is a combination of a resume, cover letter, references and a database of your network. Join targeted groups online and post your articles to establish your reputation as an expert.

Facebook Profile – Over 160 million people have profiles, but almost none of them have branded themselves properly using this medium. Your friends are a source of referral business for you. Posting your articles to your Facebook can show your friends that you really do know what you are talking about.

Twitter Profile – You can connect with more people using Twitter effectively so this up and rising medium show not be overlooked.

The tasks involved in branding yourself include:

* Creating a web presence which includes a website and a blog
* Maintaining a blog where you provide useful information to prospects
* Connecting with prospects on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook
* Learning SEO/SEM techniques that ensures you appear in the search engines for search terms that drive prospects to your website
* Writing and submitting articles to article directories for distribution to relevant websites that target your preferred audience
* Posting articles on relevant blogs as guest posts to gain additional exposure

If it sounds like a lot, it is and can easily be overwhelming to a person who has no experience with branding. In fact, if I had to guess, this may be the primary reason why you never did it before. Another reason may be that you just don’t have the time. In between working with your existing clients.

One easy way to create your online presence is with a Personal Branding System that registers your domain name, creates a custom website with hosting, fully integrates with your Social Media and provides professionally written articles in your established field. Putting the time and effort into your Personal Branding will pay off over the long run and starting now will

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Change is good right? As one of my friends always tells me “I have the ability to change, so I do” which explains the wide swings in his clothing. I never know if I am about to have lunch with my trendy friend or my gothic friend. But really it should not matter because the internal substance is the same, right? Or is it?

In January of 2009 Tropicana launched its new design for its Orange Juice cartons designed by the Arnell Group. It was a design that was suppose to make the juice company more current, in the words of CEO Peter Arnell “more modern.” However, the change that dispensed with the nationally recognized orange with a straw sticking out of it was received with major disapproval by the masses. Thousands of people responded to the change via text, email, social media, phone calls and good old fashioned letters to the company. And the response was all negative, less than two weeks after the launch of the new design Tropicana announced it would be going back to its old packaging, to the tune of a 35 million dollar loss!

Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars to create a brand that people can recognize, a brand that sets them apart from the crowd; something that is easily recognizable and stands for something. However, sometimes things need to change. As many stories as there are of people having major roadblocks in trying to change their brand there are just as many who encountered huge success, increased market share and higher revenue by designing a more appealing brand.

For example look at the colossal technology company “Apple.” Their first design in 1976 was a detailed picture of a man reading a book under a tree with an apple starting to fall on his head, making a clear parallel to the story of Sir Issac Newton and the events which brought him to ponder the concept of gravity and to eventually detail his definition of gravity. The problem was that the logo was too complex and frankly was not very recognizable. When Steve Jobs hired Rob Janoff to simplify the logo it was perhaps one of the greatest moves of the small start-up. The resulting logo of an apple with a bite out of it is recognized around the world, although it has had minor changes over time.

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So how can one company make a change that costs millions and yet another makes a change that arguably helped create the billion dollar company that we all recognize today? The answers are a little more complex than you would think and if you could figure out a guaranteed way to make sure a logo/brand worked you would be a billionaire. Nevertheless, as hard as it is define the keys for ultimate success we can identify several things that are guaranteed to make you fail. Although there may be times when you have to change your logo to keep up with the current trends, to generate new interest, or even to capture new a market share you need to make sure that you are following a few basic rules to ensure you are not setting your self up for disaster.

1) Keep it simple- Every-time a company has created a logo that is too complex it inevitably leads to failure. People need something simple that they can recognize and easily distinguish from the crowd-Think Nike swoosh.

2) Make sure you are putting yourself in the right bucket- as an experiment over a long weekend I grew a handle bar mustache. Partly to see the reaction I would get from my employees and friends but also because I can so why not? The results where phenomenal. Not only did people react differently to me, but I had a hard time taking myself seriously as a businessman whenever I saw my reflection and thought I should be in a wild West rodeo somewhere. The human brain likes order, thus people will automatically place you in a category by what they think your brand means. If you put on a cowboy hat people are going to think you are a cowboy.

3) Test your brand- You need to make sure that before you go out and spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on stationary, website design, business cards and wrapping your car in your new brand that people like the design. At the end of the day you are trying to create a brand that will garner market share, create longevity, keep you distinguished from your competitors, and be easily recognizable. With the built in test groups of social media it is easy to get great, free feedback on your brand. This will also help make sure that people are putting you in the right bucket. You may design a brand you think stands for the best carpet wholesaler in the country but people may think your selling cigars.

4) When change is needed, take it slow- People as a whole are hesitant to accept change and will adamantly rebel against a change they feel violates the trust you have built with them. Tropicana was a perfect example, not only did the new design get massive push back, but product sat on the shelves almost twice as long as normal. People just did not buy it. Yet as Apple changed its logo over time it has continued to gain more and more clients, mostly because the changes were subtle and kept the basic brand in tact. The logo went from an apple with multiple colors inside, to an apple with a black interior, to the white apple we all recognize today. Apple has managed to keep current and not alienate any of its hard earned clientele. One aspect of the new Tropicana design that was appealing to customers was the squeezable cap shaped like an orange-great idea, simple and effective, too bad it was overridden by a box design that looked generic and common.

Change can be, and often is, necessary. However, when it comes to your brand you need to make sure that you are sending the right message and that the message is being received. But perhaps the most important advice comes from my great-grand-father, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!”

DineroIdeas.net El branding es un concepto muy escuchado en el mundo de los negocios online, especialmente para los networkers, pero exactamente ¿qué es el branding?…

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Your resume is a powerful self-marketing tool. It’s your calling card — your first opportunity to impart a lasting impression of yourself.

Hiring managers will typically extend only 10-15 seconds to glance at your resume and make a judgment call as to whether or not to read the entire document.

With such fierce and daunting competition for quality jobs during these difficult economic times, a resume must immediately inspire and grasp the attention of the reader, positioning you above the competition. The secret is to define your unique brand in your resume.

 Your personal brand

Branding is best defined as a promise of value — a consolidation of the key strengths and benefits you bring to a prospective employer. It’s a combination of tangible and intangible characteristics that defines your unique image, one that differentiates you from other candidates. Your branding statement should sum up your value proposition, encapsulate your qualities, showcase what sets you apart from others and describe the added value you bring to the organization.

Your personal brand is comparable to a sales pitch and will make you positively stand out in your job search. Consider celebrities Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. Their names communicate a clear message about who they are, what they represent and what makes them unique.

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 Starting at the top

Since the top part of the first page of a resume introduces the candidate, it should pack a powerful punch to quickly draw-in and seize the reader’s attention. It encompasses your branding “title” (e.g., registered nurse), and your profile. Your profile should contain promotional “ad-like” comments that immediately convey what you bring to the company. Some of the vital elements the job seeker should consider when crafting a branding statement are:

  The qualities or characteristics that differentiate you
  Your consistent track record of growth and accomplishment
  Your most noteworthy personal traits
  Your problem-solving attributes
  Your passion, energy and innovation

The branding message at the top of your resume should be woven into the fabric of the resume with the same consistent theme to avoid any ambiguity or contradiction. Every subsequent word and bullet point should support the branding boldly conveyed at the top.

The most effective way to prove your value to prospective employers is to provide three or four bulleted points under each employer in the “Experience” section. These should demonstrate what you have achieved, in terms of measurable results, if possible:

“Captured unprecedented market share in poorly performing territory, achieving 110 percent of quota”

“Developed innovative training manuals and programs to streamline employee orientation”

The payoff

A well-branded resume often means the difference between landing just another job and winning a dream job at the salary you deserve. Investing the time and effort to ensure your resume is personally branded will pay dividends. It’s your opportunity to be prequalified by hiring managers as a good fit for their organizations and gain a competitive advantage over other job candidates. A winning resume always stands out from the crowd.

When you think that your job is done after having found a brand strategy company to help you strategize for your brand, then you are wrong. Finding a company that will work with you and for your brand is only the first step of the many things that you need to do in order for you to develop your brand and help it improve to reach its highest potential. It cannot be emphasized enough why you should at least have an open communication line with your brand strategy company. You will be working with them for a long time, so it is better that you have a good working relationship from day one.

It is indeed a big temptation to be complacent once you have found somebody who can do your branding strategy for you. It is so easy to think that you are paying them to do the job anyway so you better not waste your time talking with them and asking them for updates. You should never allow thoughts like these to enter your mind because first and foremost, you own the brand. Nobody can feel as much affinity to the brand as you do. Are you just going to gamble on some people whom you know will not be able to fully embrace the vision that you have for your brand? You can’t blame them because they are just working for you. That is why you should still be a strong force even as the brand strategy company is still talking and making plans about the possible events that they will do for your brand.

If you notice, from day one, you are a part of this already. Even if you hire them to do something for you, you need to be aware of every step that they are going to take. You must also be able to receive updates about how the plans are coming through. Even if things are written down and agreed upon, you and the people who will handle your brand’s account should be flexible enough to change and redo certain points if need be. You can only plan but you cannot foresee the coming days. If in the middle of your campaign you are realizing that things are not going according to your expectations then by all means change it. It is better to redo it than lose money and time each day just because you are so firm in doing what has been agreed upon in the past.

These are only a few of the very important points that you need to remember as you build your brand. The people who will handle your brand’s account are important people. Learn to open the communication lines with them and treat them well. The more you are both at peace and comfortable with each other, the better for your brand. Treat your brand strategy company as a part of your brand’s family and you will reap the benefits of having a good working relationship with them.

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