We are facing the worst financial crisis in our history right?

New business is harder than ever to source…

Banks are not lending money!

So how do you grow your business?

Well, you may be surprised to learn that there are ONLY 3 ways to grow your business anyway;

1. Get more customers,
2. Increase the number of times they buy, or
3. Sell more…

Mmm, when you look at it like that, 1 and 2 don’t look real viable right now, but strategy 3 SELL MORE (especially to existing customers) just might work?

I believe that if you have great relationships with your existing customers, and you can communicate clearly what it is you do for them, and how you are valuable to them (i.e. your personal brand) then you will have a much better chance of selling more to them!

(This article over at the SEM Clubhouse blog also reminded me of the importance of relationships and community)

So, how is your relationship with your existing customers (or your relationships in general?) do they;

• Know what you stand for,
• Know what you love and enjoy,
• Know how you help them create value,
• Refer you to other customers because you are ‘available’,
• Talk about you to other people over dinner beacuse you are likeable?

In other words, are you POPULAR amongst your existing customers?

If not, then you may have some difficulty achieving strategy 3…so how do you start to develop deeper relationships with your existing customers using your personal brand (if it not too late?) - well you will have to drop back here, or subscribe to our RSS feed, as I write several articles on tactics to;

• Turn strangers to prospects
• Prospects to clients, and
• Clients to raving fans…

Using your Personal Brand!

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Barack Obama is really changing the Presidency of the United States…

He campaigned to be allowed to keep his BlackBerry that he made famous throughout his election campaign, and it looks like he has won the fight - he will be allowed to keep his trusted device!

A big aspect of Barack’s personal brand is that he is connected and ‘reachable’ and being allowed to keep his BlackBerry is an important contributing factor to this brand attribute.

Of note though is the great publicity that RIM and Blackberry is receiving throughout this debate.  The device that the President has finally been allowed to tout is not even a blackberry!  It is a custom made General Dynamics device…with extra security!

 

I have dubbed this device the BarackBerry.

This is a great ‘win’ for Barack Obama, and I hope he continues to break some rules and challenge ‘the way things are done’ in order to make sure his brand continues to affect and influence!

What things would you NEVER be prepared to gve up that best represent your brand attributes, and help you communicate your brand?

Right now, I would be prepared to fight to keep my iphone - it keeps me connected to all my network through neat Twitter apps like Twittelator, and update my friends on Facebook via the Uber Facebook app. 

When will we be able to buy the BarackBerry?

 

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If you are in the business of ;

• moving strangers to prospects,
• prospects to clients, and
• clients to raving fans,

…then reciprocity may be your answer right now.

In the Buddhist world, they learnt early that giving a flower to passers by was a sure fire way to encourage people to give money in return; the theory of reciprocity.

This same approach works wonders in business too!

Tonight I was talking to a colleague who was bemoaning the fact that ‘warm’ prospects were not returning emails or calls to his approaches to seek their business.  We discussed some tactics, and resulted in the advice; send them an article or one of your white papers; give them something for free, and they will feel more compelled to return a favour - like replying to your email and catch up for a coffee!

Or how about offering to introduce one of your current clients or contacts to a new prospect to help them with their challenges or network?

In his 2004 book; The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr Stephen Covey spoke about moving from dependence to independence to INTERDEPENDENCE and co-operation on the path to success.  Giving to others and meeting new people and developing meaningful relationships is what personal branding is all about.  If your brand is clear, and it demonstrates how you help others, then others will be drawn to you; and strangers will become prospects!

What have you done lately to help someone else? How do the attributes of your personal brand help others?  How interdependent are you, and how deep are you relationships?

Remember, you have to GIVE to GET to move strangers to prospects, prospects to clients and clients to raving fans…what are you giving?

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I had to laugh…

And at the same time, I was not surprised.  Barack Obama had taken the Oath as the president of the United States, and during the Oath, he stumbled on words, and had to be reminded of them on several occasions.

Not too long ago, whenever George W Bush stumbled on his words, even at the most insignificant of addresses (like the APEC Summit in Sydney, Austria) there was laughter throughout the world, and the questions were asked “how did this guy ever get to be President?

In Obama’s case, I had a chuckle when a reporter explaining the stumble on words as being a ‘beautiful moment that showed us his human side, and reminded us all that the President of the United States was prone to error, just like us!”

Poles apart…why?

People really like Barack Obama, he stands for the things that people value - openness, inspiring, visionary, collaborative, engaging.

As a result, people defend him and his brand.

Remember, your Personal Brand is not what you say about yourself, but what others say about you.

When people are defending your mistakes, and lambasting your oppostion for the very same mistake, you know you have a strong Personal Brand!

Now let’s get to work!

And this my friends, is what Personal Branding is ALL about…

Special thanks to Richard Sauerman for sending this over in his “thought for the week”

Thanks to And

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Raz Chorev over at The Institute for Effective Communication sent me this article yesterday…and it made me laugh!

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher here in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family  tree. She discovered that Congressman Harry Reid’s great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889.  Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.

The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory.

On the back  of the picture Judy obtained during her  research is this inscription:

‘Remus Reid, horse  thief, sent to  Montana Territorial Prison 1885,  escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six  times.  Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in1889.’

So Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle.

Believe it or not, Harry Reid’s staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:

“Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana   railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the   railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honour when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed”

NOW THAT is how it’s done folks! That’s real SPIN

I’m at Liberty!

In her recent film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cristina (Johnasson’s character) was asked the question “so what do you do?”

And this is how she replies!

Josephine Tovey over at the Sydney Morning Herald wrote a great article on this very subject - and mused about how today’s careerists could do well to follow this advice; and just take time out to ‘find themselves’

She was worried by the fact that young people had spent their whole time over the summer holidays considering a ‘lifelong’ career, and that little time was being spent to really answer the question “So what do you do”

This is what Personal Branding is all about!

Discovering what it is you ‘do’

Remember, your job is not ‘what you do’ - what you do is what you do to help other people.  I was reminded of this again when I met with a contact, who promotes herself as a coach.  I asked “so what do you do”..typically, the answer to this question would be “I coach”…meh.

This conversation is not going to last long!

“I’m at Liberty” is a much more interesting answer to this question!

What do you do?

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Tim Ferriss always manages to bring a tear to my eye!

This video he dug up of Nick Vujicic is so inspiring (especially the presentation on “Get Back Up!”)

Tim called his post The Prescription for Self Doubt

Enjoy, and remember, your challenges are NOTHING!

No way…

Surely, there is not 50 people doing what I do on the planet?

Well, turns out there is..and I thought I was unique?

Chris Cairns over at Smartlife is starting a series on Personal Branding Consultants, and over the next few weeks will be writing about this very subject- and sharing some experiences of clients of these people.

Chris was kind enough to write the following about little old me…

Luke Harvey-Palmer (website, blog)
Luke goes a step beyond helping clients develop their personal brand. He helps them manage their brands with an eye to the long-term. He provides in-depth information about social media and its uses for personal branding.

I look forward to reading this series from Chris, and one of our clients will hopefully be included in Chris’ case studies..

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Today was $2.50 all you can eat public transport day in Sydney.

We just had to take advantage of this, $2.50 for all day transport on all means; ferry, train, bus etc

This is a great initiative, so we decided to try and cram the following spots into one day;

• Manly,
• The Rocks,
• Sydney CBD
• Hyde Park
• Circular Quay
• Mosman (home)

And I can report that we did well, and survived - but there was one interesting moment that made me wonder about retailers approach to making money!

Stopping for a refreshment at Max Brenners chocolate shop at Manly Wharf seemed like a great idea, and we wanted to capture some photos of the experience (and the whole day).  Upon taking the photo you see here, we were asked to “not take photos please, as everything in here is copyright!”

What the?

Is he for real…do people not get that PEOPLE BUY PEOPLE - fit out just ain’t that important?  Unless I am missing something.  Is fit out for a retailer such a unique advantage that they need to protect it so aggressively?

The staff member who pointed this out (in an unfriendly tone) then proceeded to sit outside the shop and chat on his mobile phone for the next 20 minutes?

I just have to ask…why do retailers spend so much money on fit out, and then spend nothing on the good manners, body language, appearance and in general the ‘personal brands’ of the staff?

Maybe this explains why retailers (most anyway) are doing it tough right now!

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