Marketing 102 - Branding Yo Dayum Self

I gave the introduction to this a long time ago - if you missed it, go read Marketing (ya dayum self) 101: the intro.

I alluded to discussing my volunteer work in more detail - again, I'll recount my volunteer project in another post. I really wanted to share some things I learned the other day as part of one of my volunteer activities for Dress for Success.

As part of a professional women's group seminar, Cheryl Scales, of DSG Solutions Group and Magnificent Women shared her presentation on "The Power of Personal Branding". Her background's in corporate marketing – she was an Associate Director at Proctor and Gamble & Marketing Director at Delta Air Lines, Princeton Grad, etc. But now she does motivational speaking, has been on ABC's American Inventor, she's a Personal Branding Guru, proponent of entrepreneurship etc – see her website at http://www.cherylscales.com/.

Her presentation focused on creating your personal brand, and using it in whichever environment/forum you choose (corporate to climb the ladder, or entrepreneurship to start/promote your business).

So – I wanted to share the key points I got out of her presentation, as well as from Tarona and Dina of DonationNation08 (blogged about them on Monday). Their keypoints:

• Create a personal board:: that's from Tarona & Dina. The personal board is your own "board of directors" – as simple as a group of friends that you share your ideas/vision with, who helps motivate you, keep you on task, inspire you with ideas, or provide networking opportunities – they provide "governance" over you reaching the positive goals you set in your life – whether it's career, life, job, start-up business, educational – or relationships with your husband and children. The idea is to check-in regularly, and to follow/follow-up on the things that you really identify as important.

• Creating your own brand statement:: this is your PERSONAL ELEVATOR PITCH. That's from Cheryl – and it's the "Overview" section of your resume that you submit everytime you meet someone/anyone. And it's about the pitch that gets you where you ultimately want to be – not where you are right now, or where you've been previously. Her example was from P&G, when she was a field marketing rep, and she met Ed Artzt (former P&G CEO) at their equivalent of management conference. She said her pitch was "Hi, my name is Cheryl Scales – and I wanted to shake my hand and introduce myself and just tell you up front that very soon you're going to know me very well." Four years later, he introduced her at their management conference, as the leading global sales representative for P&G. And he remembered that conversation.

• Promoting your personal brand:: As I mentioned – I really like the blogging-videotaping-distributing your own press releases ideas from Tarona & Dina. The tie-in's from Cheryl, and that's to register your name – your god-given government name, the one you'll use to promote your business, etc – as a website, and use that as a promotional tool. It can be as simple as creating 1-2 pages, that's your bio, or whatever you're doing right now, or what you'd like to do, etc. Or, blog about whatever's important to you. The important thing is that when your 15 minutes of fame comes along, whether you're famous or infamous – your bio is already there. You've already created a certain amount of "buzz" – you've already put out the "image" that you want to project to the world. And I've learned via blogging – you'll get the most obscure visitors – and some surprises. I've gotten emails from some people I'm a real fan of, like – Trisha R. Thomas, the author of 'Nappily Ever After', and Lynne D. Johnson (who is my mentor & namesake, even though I don't think I've ever told her that *blushes*). I've also gotten tons of page hits off of crazy topics like Buffie the Body, Brian Nichols and political topics. The point is....that site will gain interest, with little effort on your part.

• Staying true to your personal brand & vision:: I'm so guilty of this one – and it's so important. To truly identify with who you want to be, or what you want to do – you have to stop identifying with your immediacy. Which means – I'm the owner/developer/designer or New Saga, LLC and http://www.sagaciously.net – and NOT a web developer for theCorporateGig, Inc. Which means, only the New Saga, LLC business cards EVER get distributed, I only TALK about New Saga, LLC, and only promote those things which help me make New Saga (and me) more money. Nothing comes before that. EVER.

• Volunteering/Networking for fun & profit & non-profit:: I honestly joined DFS so I could ultimately pledge Delta, and that was so I could get a new corporate gig. HONESTLY. But you know, when people talk about God "ordering their steps" – that's my testimony. He really does it when I least expect it. I exchanged cards with quite a few people this weekend during my volunteer activities – the ones mentioned above, along with some other folks I met at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, etc. Now – even if NOTHING ELSE COMES OF THAT EXCHANGE – I can honestly say I already got more out of joining DFS than I've put in. I can't wait until the next event.

  Ok, I'm off to talk to my "personal board". Handle yours.