September 5th, 2008
How to Use Your Personal Brand: Let Me Count the Ways
You’ve got the words. You’ve got the ideas. You’re ready to unveil your new brand to the world…….but how? Here are some simple, ready-to-use applications that will put your brand to work for you right now.
1. Email signature
Check out LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) or Plaxo (www.plaxo.com). Both of these online networking sites offer professional signature templates that can be customized to include your tagline, your website and your blog address. If you do not have your own website, I strongly suggest that you do not use Yahoo!, Hotmail or AOL as your email address. Infinitely more professional are Comcast, Verizon or one of the many other communications service providers.
2. Social Networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc.)
There is no longer any excuse for not having a Facebook (www.facebook.com) page. It requires little technical know-how and the initial set-up is easy. Be sure to include as much texture in this as you can. Flag the blogs you read and the organizations you belong to. Use your BRAND NARRATIVE for your bio here and, if you have a tagline for your business, include that, too. If you have a logo, upload that and fly it proudly!
3. eNewsletter
Your eNewsletter is intrinsically tied to the brand you have just developed. Make sure that the title reflects this—that the title has something to do with the services you offer. For example, mine is called “The Brand Dame,” which reinforces the kind of consulting I do. My tagline is “branding from the inside out” and this appears right underneath the title, further strengthening the connection between my eNewsletter, my website and my services. Make sure that your eNewsletter includes an “about Me/About Us” section or button. This is where your BRAND NARRATIVE goes.
Most eNewsletters put the service descriptions at the bottom. As an example, see how eNewsletter guru Michael Katz (www.bluepenguindevelopment.com) describes his value at the bottom of his eNewsletter:
Blue Penguin Development helps professional service firms get clients,
by showing them how to communicate effectively with the people they already know.
My good friend and marketing communications genius Dianna Huff (www.dhcommunications.com) does it this way:
Take a look at my B2B marketing communications copywriting and SEO services to see how you can put my award-winning expertise to work for you.
4. Blog
This is where your list of keywords and central messages comes in very handy. Because it is only by being consistent in what you say to your prospects and your target audiences that you will be successful. The same holds true for your eNewsletter— it’s the old television adage – say it, say and say it again! You also want to have an “About Me/About Us” visible on your blog. And, it must be the same BRAND NARRATIVE that appears on all of your materials.
5. Website
Leaving the best for near last, this is where all of your BRAND ELEMENTS get to strut their stuff.
Your BRAND NARRATIVE becomes the text for WHO WE ARE.
Your WHAT WE DO becomes the text for OUR SERVICES.
Your KEY WORDS and KEY MESSAGES become sprinkled liberally and consistently throughout all the rest of your web COPY.
6. Telephone/ cell phone greeting
Your recorded voice mail message is every bit as important a branding opportunity as your website, your blog and your eNewsletter. Don’t overlook it! Use it to reiterate your key phrase or tagline!
So, the answer to the question “how do I use my new brand portfolio system?” is put it everywhere that anyone will see, read, hear or come in contact with you and your business!
