From Wikipedia: Personal Branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. [1] It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. [2]
I have been fortunate to work worked with some pretty talented Sales Representative’s through the years. Before the internet, to become a “branded” name in your respective industry, it took time, hard work and dedication. Success and financial rewards usually followed these Sales Reps that achieved a name for themselves. Traits that still hold true today, and will well into the future!
 Enter the age of the internet. Not until recent advances have we seen an explosion in social networks, blogs, websites, etc. that take yesterdays “unknowns” and make them a household “branded” name very quickly.
In sales, customers have become very educated and demanding when it comes time to purchase. They do research, price comparisons and can become very knowledgeable about your company and your competition through the internet. Chances are your competition is very involved on the internet. Most understand that if you ignore the internet, it’s like ignoring your largest customer.
One thing remains true, there is no one recipe on the internet that generates success. With thousands of choices, where does one begin to create an internet presence to start “branding” yourself?
I recommend considering the following sites, to 1st create your web presence, and 2nd control your customers experience by tailoring what they see.
Facebook: The biggest rage at this time. How can this help you with your customer image? Simple, it can fast-forward a personal relationship with customers, by simply inviting them to be “your friend”. This is a great site if you want to show your customers that you exist outside of your job. My suggestion, before you post anything, make sure it is in line with the business image you want to portray. I personally do not have customers on my Facebook page. For the simple reason, I can control what my content is, but I cannot control my other friend’s posts. I also question how professional Facebook comes off in the eyes of the customer.
LinkedIn: This is another great site, allowing you to connect with industry contacts, and connect with old contacts and people with similar interests. I relate it to my resume or business card on-line. It has connected me personally to past colleagues, and comes up when a search for my name or company is researched via a web-search. Again, like Facebook, I have not found a great customer use with LinkedIn in my day to day activities. I personally do not think the time spent looking at my work history would be beneficial for my customers, however, this will give you a great web presence. Finally, I am not confident customers like the idea of creating a profile, password, etc. just to see what I have to say and sell.
Twitter: Like Facebook, it is a service to communicate to friends, family and colleagues by simple answering “what are you doing” and it will post it to any of your followers or friends. Before signing up every person you know, decide how you want to use Twitter. I suggest you separate your business contacts and your friends. My guess is that you would not want your customers knowing you are ordering that last drink at 2am. Also, I am sure your friends could care less that your wonderful product is on a promotion. I do “tweet” but only to follow leaders in a field of interest that I have. I think it has great future potential!
Personal Webpage: Personally, this is my favorite because you control its content and it looks professional. You can accomplish a personal site through a variety of ways. Free site builders are available, and are basic in form. They allow you only a certain amount of space to add your information. Usually, these are time consuming navigating your way to a completed, mediocre site. The free sites usually accompany a website name that is not relevant and usually always include ads all over your site.
If you pay to have a site developed, expect to pay anywhere from $500 to many $1,000’s. You will also need to find a server, buy a web-site name and find plenty of time to create your project.
I personally use (www.MySalesRep.com) Mysalesrep.com, here, any Sales Representative can easily create a web-site. Information is entered in easy to edit fields, and the site is automatically created by using your information. Friendly to use site, impressive presentation, and an excellent value to promote you and what you do to your customers!
Blog: Blogging is a great way to build credibility and interaction with your customers about topics and products. It allows people to give opinions on topics. This does come with risk, by creating a Blog you open the door for negative feedback in a forum about your products and services. Also, Blogging can be time consuming, because you will want to monitor the timeliness of your responses. This is the reason I do not Blog. I have read far too many Blogs that have not been updated in months, questioning the content usefulness.
My preference is based on finding a tool to work for me 24/7. Also, I want my message to remain consistent without risk of negative public comments. No matter what your choice, “branding” yourself is possible through social media as it has never been before. Best of luck!
| Mark Tewart - |
|
Mark Tewart is a recognized expert in sales, sales marketing, sales management, personal development and motivation. Mark has an extensive and successful background spanning over twenty seven years ranging from sales to becoming one of the youngest Executive Managers in the country at the age of twenty seven to now being a professional speaker, consultant, founder and President of four successful companies and a best selling author of the book “How To Be A Sales Superstar – Break All the Rules and Succeed While Doing It.” www.tewart.com Read More >> |
|
|
Comments 
Write a comment
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
