Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes
Your personal brand. What is it saying about you?
The other day I was sitting at dinner with my family and the phone rang.
I normally don’t answer calls when the Caller ID is hidden, but this time I did.
On the other line was a guy who says,
“I’m not selling anything, I just want to ask you a few questions for a survey
on your telecommunications preferences.”
I said, “Only if it takes less than five minutes.”
He said it would.
Of course he lied, it took twenty.
At about minute five and 3 seconds and start to get annoyed
and was toying with the idea of just hanging up.
But suddenly I realized, “Hmmm, these communications companies
spend millions of dollars on market research. There must be something
to these questions.”
And there was. The gold was the last few questions. Of course. But before I tell you how it ended and what we talked about,
let me ask you a question.
When you think of a brand, what comes to mind?
Is it a logo, a symbol, or a name like Apple, Coke, or Google?
Or maybe it’s a person like Oprah or Donald Trump.
When you look at the logos of those companies, and
even names of famous celebrities or entrepreneurs,
what do you think about?
What do those names represent in your mind?
What value do you associate with them?
THAT is the brand.
Some marketers distinguish branding into the brand experience
and the brand image.
The brand experience is how and where people see the brand.
In other words, the places where they “experience” it.
The brand image is the perception and expectations that people have in
THIER minds of your service, products, or you as a person if you
are a coach, solo-preneur, or consultant.
This is the most important aspect of branding
because is it not true that perception is reality in the
mind of your prospective client or customer?
So whatever THEY believe about YOU is truth.
And that’s what they will use to decide to buy from you or not.
Right?
So back to my call with my phone surveyor.
Here are the questions towards the
end that made me perk up my ear and scribble
furiously on a notepad.
I thought they were absolutely brilliant.
Because if you can answer these questions
positively for yourself and/or your products or services
from your customers perspective
(remember it’s all about them)
you will have a much better understanding
of how your actions and marketing impact YOUR brand.
So here they are:
1. Is the picture in your mind of (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) clear and vivid?
2. Is the picture in your mind of (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) appealing?
3. In your mind is (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) trustworthy?
4. If (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) was taken off the market would you be disappointed?
5. Is (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) memorable?
6. Is (fill in your product name, your name, of service here) different from others?
7. Do you respect (fill in your product name, your name, of service here)?
Very revealing questions, right?
There are so many applications to these, especially in this new social
media world on the internet which I’ll be exploring.
Because your brand is being crafted wether you know it or not on twitter, and youtube, and facebook and all the other social media sites.
Where people see you advertising, who they see you associate it with, what you twitter about, or what videos to you produce all contribute to that brand.
So, what does your brand say about you
