There is something perplexing about self-promotion or branding . . . it's acceptable to talk about yourself, however you must do it without talking about yourself. Huh? Stick with us for a moment. Branding and self-promotion is how most everyone (and corporations) grow their business and advance their career. You have to self-promote and brand yourself or no one will know you exist, and that is not good. Self-promotion is not about bragging or being someone you're not.
The essence of a great brand means that you have managed to create a positive emotional response -- precisely the one you want people to experience when they meet you, see your website (it's all starting to tie in isn't it?), or hear your name. If you are able to control this type of response in the public, then you have succeeded in creating and developing a powerful brand. This is what we strive to do with every client seeking to grow their business. Proper branding and/or self-promotion can make you successful -- very successful in many cases. And if by chance you have already hit the big time in your career, then good branding will create a powerful brand indeed.
Earlier we said it's acceptable to talk and promote yourself because that's how you are going to grow your business, get more customers and make more money. Then we told you that you need to do it in a way where you are not actually talking about yourself. This conundrum is puzzling at first but don't fret, we will explain. There are two elements underlying this concept. First, when you talk about yourself you want to always tell a story rather than reciting victories or facts, or both. We are trained to listen and to like good stories, it's personal. Therefore you want to have your story in two versions in our professional opinion; a short elevator type pitch you can recite in about one minute; then a longer version that may take up to 4-5 minutes in length. The second element is most important, the less you talk about yourself the more powerful your brand will become. Hang in there this last arrow is rooted in psychology.
The ultimate way to build a powerful 'you' a powerful brand is to talk more about other people, events, and ideas than you talk about yourself. Why? It's because when you talk about other people and promote their triumphs and their ideas you become an influence - and a powerful one. You will be seen as someone who can be trusted and someone who is helpful, asking little if anything in return. You quickly become a valuable resource. Think about this for a moment . . . if you could create this persona, wouldn't you? Of course because that is precisely the type of person we all want to do business with.
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