The Brand Called You

The best brands always try to do the right thing, so that their reputations will remain unsullied. But beyond that they grow, evolve and get better with time, while maintaining their special qualities from the past.

We all have a personal brand with social, cultural, intellectual, and personal needs that may not necessarily be addressed in our daily work. Address these needs and you begin to improve your brand. Here is my agenda for building your brand.

• Join and participate in community and professional organizations
• Generate media coverage about your brand
• Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business associates

Let's examine how each one improves your brand.

Join and participate in professional and community organizations
The best brands grow, evolve and get better with time, while maintaining their special qualities from the past.

Professional and community organizations provide ample opportunity to learn and grow.

They provide professional development opportunities. They allow you to network with peers as well as with people you would not necessarily ever meet in the normal course of your workday.

For instance, I am a member and served on the board of our local International Association of Business Communicators chapter. This allowed me to broaden my contacts in the corporate communications world, as well as form a number of friendships I probably never would have developed. I'm also a member of the North Carolina Citizens For Business and Industry. Here I meet people from all walks of life and all work disciplines. Finally, I am involved with Charlotte Reads, a local non-profit that focuses on literacy issues. This allows me to use my communication experience in support of an issue I feel very strongly about.

But it's not enough to just join groups: you must participate to benefit fully. As a participant you have the opportunity to stretch, to gain confidence in yourself. Learn to lead by involvement on the board or in a special project.

If you are a communicator by trade, try being treasurer for the group to exercise the other side of your brain, or take on a special project about which you feel strongly.

Generate media coverage about your brand
All that professional and community involvement will certainly lead to opportunities to leverage that involvement into news about the brand called you. And, of course, there will be promotions, new assignments, and awards at work, too. More opportunities to make headlines.

Your achievements are of interest to local print, broadcast, and online media, particularly the business pages. In Charlotte, the Observer has a weekly feature called On The Move spotlighting someone in a new position. The Charlotte Business Journal has a similar feature called Moving Up. If it is a big enough move and your company won't do it, pay the estimated $150 to place it on BusinessWire or PR Newswire. Consider it an investment in your future. Don't forget trade publications serving your industry and alumni publications.

Seek out speaking engagements and write guest articles, too. This is yet another way to publicize your brand. And don't forget to do news releases when you make a speech or write an article. It's all about merchandising.

To stay top of mind, you might even want to develop your own monthly e-newsletter like Think, the Hoover ink publication. Keep it mostly informational and limit the commercial material.

Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business associates
Everyone you know can be a brand ambassador for you, so stay in touch or reach out to those you haven't talked with for a while.

Yet another reason for having a monthly newsletter that shares your expertise.

The network of contacts you have built over your lifetime will be instrumental if you decide to start your own business, or change jobs.

So, heed this word of advice: always deal fairly with people. One bad experience with your brand can negate 10 positive ones.

Now, get out there and start branding.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR,

http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy,

Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX and Verbatim.

____________________

Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!

Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!

Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!

Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!

Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!

---

Branding Yourself To Increased Profitability

Successful Realtors know the importance of branding their identities into the consciousness of the communities in which they live, like the big boys; Pepsi, McDonald's, Burger King,... Read More

Top Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business

Naming a business is like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If... Read More

Are You Brand Worthy? Are You Brand Worthy?

Branding is a one hot topic, although it is wildly misunderstood. To make things even more confusing, branding is often tossed in the same basket as marketing... Read More

The Big Uneasy: Clearing the Clouds of Guess

People often come to me to assist them with developing their brand because they are unable to accomplish the business success they desire. They're experiencing what we... Read More

Build Customer Loyalty by Promoting Your Customers

Do you want to attract new customers while building greater loyalty among your current customers? Include your customers in your marketing and promotions. By creating greater awareness... Read More

Branding Is Not Selling Out: ITS SELLING IN

Ever see an amazing band perform and wonder why you've never heard of them before? Ever see an astonishing artist on the street and wonder why isn't... Read More

Brand Identity and the CEO

This week I spent a few hours with a highly successful CEO discussing his brand identity questions and concerns. "What do the most successful brand initiatives have... Read More

How Important it is to have a Professional Logo Design for your Business?

There are a lot of things that contribute towards the success of a business. Having a good quality product doesn't necessarily assure the success of a business.... Read More

Logo-ize For Instant Identification & Increased Awareness

The task of creating an indelible impact on the memory of your target market is arduous but can be made much easier with a well thought out... Read More

The MOST Expensive Mistake You Can Make

Most people who own a small business have a huge passion and talent for the product or service they provide. Some people have a business degree. Some... Read More

Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value

Companies work hard building the strength of their brands - it is critical to the ongoing brand management process to have meaningful and actionable data-driven measures of... Read More

Positioning and Branding - Brand Identity Guru

Where is your brand positioned in the marketplace? How is it perceived, both positively and negatively? Can you identify your brand's core strength's and equities? What are... Read More

How Much Is A Great Business Logo Really Worth?

A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. For many companies, a... Read More

Your Identity Speaks Loudly...What Are You Saying?

Your corporate identity is a graphic expression of who you are as an organization. It plays a major role in what sells your company and its products.... Read More

Shattering the Branding Myths

If you've been online long, you're sure to have seen many "gurus" give their ideas about branding. However, much of what you read simply isn't true. Over... Read More

Clouds Gather Before A Storm: Utilizing The Power Of Brand

How brand management can help utility organisations to create a 'difference'.Ever thought why are many consumers willing to pay more for a trusted name brand instead of... Read More

Standing Under the Umbrella And Still Getting Wet

Make More Money Making a Name for YourselfCalling all realtors, financial planners, insurance brokers, multi-level & network marketers, and anyone else who works in the precarious and... Read More

Don?t Get Caught In the Trap: The BIG Difference Between Personal and Business Branding

When you're all alone in the privacy of your home office, surrounded by your computer, your phone and your business idea, have you ever asked yourself, "Where's... Read More

Importance of Branding - Whats in a Name?

Branding is perhaps the most important facet of any business--beyond product, distribution, pricing, or location. A company's brand is its definition in the world, the name that... Read More

Strategy and Tips for a Successful Logo Design

Visual processing is the most important way for gathering information for all human beings. A good design or graphics work is remembered for ages and that is... Read More

Branding Your Business To Make More Money

Branding your comapny should be the first thing a company does. You have to convince potential customers to buy from you. Very few people have a monopoly... Read More

Corporate Branding ? Dont Forget Your CDs!

Companies have been branding their collateral materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, etc. for years. In fact, we often identify a company by its familiar logo... Read More

Business Case Study Automotive Detailing Franchise Company

How do automotive detailing companies start? What makes them work and how do they grow? How do they choose which services they will offer? This is an... Read More

How Brand as an Intellectual Property has Led to Corporate Globalisation?

IntroductionGlobalisation is referred to as a set of profound material changes that have an impact on relations between societies in the past few decades. The identifiable features... Read More

Notable News - The Branding Myth

How many times have you heard of seen advertising for a graphic design company that states that they do branding?If you think branding is a logo, letterhead,... Read More

Brand Name Identity in the Oil Business

I submit to you that Brand Name Identity in the Oil Business is just a important today as it was when Mobil Oil and McDonalds were building... Read More