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Brand YOU Ò -- 7 Steps
to Cultivate Your
Brand and Bring Out the Best in YOU
Have you ever noticed that
some people exhibit a special or
unusual quality, trait, or
characteristic? And this feature or
mark identifies the person
and draws you to those people?
This is a ‘brand.’ And it is
instrumental in helping you build
your business and advance
your career. Here are seven (7) secret
ingredients to help you
develop your own personal brand.
1. Assess Your Strengths and Key Competencies
What separates you and your
business from the pack?
--The value you provide?
--Your unique experience and
insight into the marketplace?
--Your ability to solve
customers’ problems?
--Reliability: Your ability
to deliver on your promise?
--Your customer service?
--The purchase experience?
Make a list of your key
standout qualities and expertise.
2. Study Your Market to Determine Which Benefits are Most
Important to Your Target
Customers
For example, consider the
homeowner who buys a ¼-inch drill;
doesn’t he actually want a
¼-inch hole?
--What benefits do your
customers value most?
--Which do they actively and
vigorously seek?
Review major trade
publications and search the Web for news and
trends about your market and
your customer base. Survey your
customers to gather data.
Compile your findings in a
list.
3. Compare Your Lists from Steps #1 and #2 Above and Circle
the Matches From The Two
Lists
When the benefits you offer
match your target market’s key
wants, you have the Highest
likelihood of becoming a ‘call brand.’
This means your customers
request your products and services by
name.
Then you’ll grow your
business, especially repeat business.
Make sure your talents serve
your market. And be sure to
cultivate the talents and
skills your market seeks but which you
lack. In a free market, the
buyers’ needs and wants overpower
the sellers’ individual
strengths; this is because the ‘Market
Drives All.’
For example, you could be
the world’s top ‘Blue Widget-maker’
but if no one buys Blue Widgets
you’ll starve.
4. Select The Top One or Two Benefits from Your List and
Position Them As The
Cornerstone of Your Brand
Many marketers call your key
benefits and the way in which you
structure your offering a
‘Unique Selling Proposition’ or ‘USP.’
USP encompasses your special
attributes, features and
Talents--those particular
qualities and traits that make you
special and separate you
from your competition. The secret to
building your brand and your
business is to define your USP
and organize your offering
around your USP, which then becomes
your brand.
5. Bring Your Special Qualifications and Kernels into the
Limelight with a Tagline
In other words, promote your
USP & Your Brand to your market.
Give Yourself a Nickname and
Name Your Products and Services!
--A nickname, tagline or
slogan, similar to a newspaper
headline, helps you stand
out and position your offering in your
marketplace…
--Make sure your name is
memorable--pleasing to the ears.
Over the years, I’ve
accumulated several choice nicknames: ‘The
Recovering Accountant,’
‘Revenue Generation Specialist,’ and
‘The Gelberator’ to name a
few.
Given my past work
experience as a CPA, you can guess how The
first nickname began. As a
marketing expert and copywriter, one
client bestowed the second
name. And one of my attorneys spawned
number three based on my
surname; ‘Gelberator’ sounds like an
automobile’s accelerator,
and that meshes nicely with my goal of
wanting people to think of
me as a motivator.
Perhaps more important, a
brand name or tagline makes you [more]
memorable with your target
customers and makes you stand out
from your competitors.
6. Create a Domain Name (URL) that Highlights Your Brand
To establish our brand, we
purchased the domain
www.PublishingGold.com . To promote
our brand and present a
consistent image, we renamed
our copywriting and marketing firm
PublishingGold.com, Inc.
Our company name, including
the ‘.com’ appears on our business
cards, publications, e-mail
signature files, etc., which lure
people to our Site.
Create a matching e-mail
address, for example,
These tactics reinforce your
brand and its identity and signal
a professional and
consistent image.
7. Feature Your Brand Name On ALL Your Materials, and
Promote Your Brand Actively
and Vigorously, 24/7
Broadcast your unique
offering--your USP--to your target market.
Make your target customers
aware of The Benefits they will get
when they make a purchase
from You; this strategy entices buyers
to purchase from you rather
than the folks next-door.
Publicize your offering. In
other words, ‘Get the Word Out.’
Write articles and special
reports; get media coverage (not
advertising); and organize
workshops to present on your area of
expertise--your unique
brand.
Call attention to yourself
and your offering whenever and
wherever you can. Position
yourself squarely before your
[target] customers’ eyes so
they can’t miss your offer and they
are compelled to make a
purchase. Be consistent and persistent.
Then you will really make
Your mark in your marketplace.
.
What steps can you take to
develop your unique brand to catapult
your business into
overdrive?
Even a small yet novel approach,
special trait, or standout
quality will help you create
your own distinctive brand, which
in turn will set you ablaze
in your marketplace. Then you’ll
truly multiply your business
fivefold, tenfold, or more.
-30-
Eric Gelb, MBA & CPA, is
a copywriter, brand management
consultant, and editor of
the Publishing Gold e-zine.
T: 516.374.1387 or Eric@PublishingGold.com
Copyright © 2005
PublishingGold.com, Inc.