Got Products?
Media allows us to touch the lives of people we may never meet. Effectively harness its power and you will dramatically impact the growth of your Personal Brand.
Until the advent of cable television there were only three major networks that controlled access to a mass audience. Video recorders and Tivo-like devices have allowed consumers to time-shift and watch media at times of their own choosing. Now we’re in an on-demand marketplace, where consumers are empowered through mobile devices to digest their media anytime and anywhere.
It’s a great time for professional speakers, trainers, authors and other experts with a compelling message to jump on the personal media bandwagon. Your focus should be on creating video products that speak to the varied interests of consumers that are on the go.
Organize your programs so that they are easily digested in chapter-style bite sizes of eight minutes or less. Allow viewers the freedom to cue up to the specific sections that meet their immediate needs.
Make the camera lens your best friend. Become comfortable connecting with an unseen audience. One on one communication can be twice as effective as simply documenting a presentation made before a live audience. However, if you haven’t mastered the skill of speaking to a lens, don’t let that stop you from getting into the product game. Go ahead and start taping your speaking engagements.
The interview format is also a highly effective way to comfortably convey your ideas. There are multitudes of ways to market and make money from your video products. You can package them as DVDs, offer them online as pay-per-view downloads, bundle them with your books, use them as infomercials – there are many options and room for a lot of creativity.
Work with a production company that offers a turnkey solution. You’ll save time and money by not having to put all of the production, packaging and distribution elements together piece-meal.
Managing Mystique
Personal Branding and being in business is all about creating and managing perceptions. Of course, what you deliver must match or surpass the expectation created by the initial perception or you’re setting yourself up for failure.
There’s a lot to learn from smart celebrities that know the power of maintaining a certain level of mystery. Give the public too much access and you run the risk of appearing common and boring.
Whitney Houston was at the top of her game before succumbing to drugs and an ill-conceived marriage to “bad boy” Bobby Brown. The couple added insult to injury by letting cameras document their drug-ridden debacle in a television realty series. On the other hand, Barbra Streisand knows how to manage her mystique. She gives few interviews and even fewer concerts, for which she commands a premium price.
Former President Bill Clinton continues to diminish his stature by refusing to control his impulse to speak out on every matter pertaining to his wife’s candidacy. By association, Hillary fails to distinguish herself as a potential leader of the free world when she doesn’t even appear to be able to influence her husband. A case in point has to do with the flap regarding portrayal of her 1996 trip to Bosnia. The story had all but died in the media until Bill raised it again and added even more inaccuracies to the accounts.
So how does all of this impact you and your personal brand? First, take an accounting of how much you give away for free. Are you devaluing your brand by providing free access to your expertise or have you set it up so that you’re paid?
There are no victims in the game of commerce. I’ll admit that this is a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way. We all want to be eternally generous. But either you set boundaries or you’ll go broke. We train the marketplace on how to compensate us. When you position yourself as an expert you must also establish a system that guarantees that you are also highly compensated.
The legal profession has brilliantly established a precedent that you can follow. Offer prospective clients an initial 30–minute free consultation before your hourly rate kicks in. Start insisting on retainers.
If you’re uncomfortable making these demands, do some soul searching to ask yourself why. Who decides if you’re worth it? Only you do.
The Power of Language
Branding is all about perception, and perceptions are shaped by conversations.
When we have a positive experience with a person, product or service we are likely to share about it. When we have a negative one, we share about that too – and often more so.
The race to win the White House offers a wealth of teachable moments when it comes to learning the power of language. There is an entire philosophical discipline that explores how language impacts our perception of realty. Having a basic understanding of the power of language is critical for success in almost any endeavor.
You must become more aware of how what you say, or don’t say, directly impacts your professional and personal results. A common misnomer is that we fall victim to the words and characterizations imposed upon us by others. It is pretty much agreed that John Kerry was the victim of the Swift Boat attack ads. But I challenge that conclusion. While he couldn’t have prevented their attack, he had a choice in how and when he responded. He hesitated and suffered the consequences.
Timing and tone are always critical factors. Barack Obama was smart to promptly address news of his pastor’s controversial sermons. Whether you feel his response was adequate or not, most will agree that he proactively controlled the damage, with minimal impact to his poll numbers. He used the power of language to respond with a speech that many observers from both political parties consider groundbreaking.
Words are so powerful they can alter the course of history. Walter Mondale failed in his attempt to make Ronald Reagan’s age an issue in their political race, when Reagan utter the words, “I’m not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Look for John McCain to borrow a page from Regan’s playbook in his campaign to win the White House.
Hillary Clinton has suffered the ill effects of either misspeaking or misstating the facts about her 1996 trip to Bosnia as First Lady, depending on how you choose to interpret it.
Yes, in the end, the public gets to vote on our character, integrity and credibility as an expert or professional. However, we play a defining role in every outcome, based on how we manage the conversation.
The Strength of Your Team Determines Your Success
Few people achieve success on their own, whether at personal branding or any other business venture. It takes a team of talented and committed people that share the same values and work ethic.
When I was a youngster my mom was fairly scrutinizing of my friends. The message was loud and clear: “Be careful about who you associate with. You will become just like the people you surround yourself with.” At the time, I thought she was being overprotective. But in hindsight, I believe it was some of the best advice a parent can give a child.
No one is perfect. However, dysfunction breeds dysfunction. We all know companies that have rotten customer service. The person that answers your phones sets the tone for how you and your entire organization are perceived.
Don’t make the mistake of holding on to underperformers. Often we tolerate situations that could ultimately lead to our demise. It may seem cold. But you must cut your losses, lick your wounds and move on. The success of the entire enterprise is at stake.
If you’re working on your own or just getting started on the path to Branding YOU, it is still likely that some of your support will come from outsourcing. Surround yourself with exceptional talent. Hire great legal counsel, accountants, consultants and most importantly, staff members. Think of your team as a healthy living organism. It impacts the whole system if there is sickness in any part of the body.
Over time you’ll assemble a larger team, if you’re serious about growing your personal brand. Plan in advance. Write down the character traits and skill sets that would be most desirable to have in your team members. Surround yourself with the best and you will be the best.