Identifying Your Brand + How It Translates Online

Personal Branding

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a

person. You earn a reputation by trying to do

hard things well. - Jeff Bezos

Product and Service Brands

Question: What do these brands have to do with me?

Answer: A lot

Your brand is not a logo or a tagline

Your brand is an experience

Ask yourself the 4 questions below and record your responses

Then, ask these questions to 5 people who you have done business with. IMPORTANT: Ask your colleagues, supervisors or clients. Not your friends.

Challenge

1. What comes to mind when you think about me?2. What things am I very good at?3. What things am I not so great?4. What makes me different?

Do they match?

Knowing Your Audience

• Who is your current audience?• Clients, colleagues, mentors, supervisors. • There are probably many audiences.

• What do THEY want/need?• Advice• Support• Time• Money• Help

• Do your skills align with their wants and needs?

Creating Your Brand:

1. Your skills – What are you best at?• Research – finding the right listings, finding

buyers• Client Service – making sure clients feel

comfortable and special throughout the process

• Communications – disseminating complicated information or bad information in a way that can be relatable

• Expert Advice – Having a specific niche or specialty that others don’t

• Negotiation – Being able to effectively negotiate in your client’s favor

• Networking – Bringing various groups or people together

Creating Your Brand:

2. Your interests – Real Estate. But what else?• Home Décor• Sports• Family• Horses• Art

• Your interests and activities are a part of you and your brand

Creating Your Brand:

3. What makes you unique?

• I have a unique ability to communicate succinctly with clients to explain very complex traditional and digital media programs. This allows me to help clients find the marketing programs, activities and solutions that will work best for their business.

• I view our clients business as an extension of our business. This perspective enables our teams to meld seamlessly to bring campaign ideas to life.

Creating Your Brand:

• Visuals and tone• What does your brand look like?• What does it sound like?

• Visual

Creating Your Brand:

• Tonality – Finding your voice

• Be Authentic – if you pretend, it will not resonate

• What words match your brand?• Cool• Elegant• Knowledgable• Classic• Modern

ChallengeWrite down 5 adjectives on how you want yourself to come across.

Write down 5 adjectives on how you DO NOT want yourself to come across.

Think of a popular brand that embodies the description. One that doesn’t.

Your social world

1. Socialize: Comment and share information surrounding topics that interest you. Find people and brands that you admire and comment and share their content

2. Build your network: • Follow and be followed• Join groups• Attend offline events

3. Create your own content• Posts• Images• Commentary

Your social worldSet goals for your social media presence

• Establishing your own reputation• Becoming a thought leader• Creating brand awareness• Networking

Your goals, in combination of where your current audience lives online, will help you determine the specific channels to focus on.

• Facebook is where professional and personal collide• This is your true brand• Share all public content with everyone• Share private moments with close friends

only

• Twitter is the conversation• Your brand voice is the most important part• Be social, get engaged and stay on brand

• LinkedIn is your business profile• Create a compelling bio and keep it

updated• Update your professional achievements• Use LinkedIn to create your own personal

advertising

Key Takeaways

• Determine your most valuable

strengths

• Know what your audience needs

• Develop a consistent voice to deliver

your messaging, frequently and

authentically

• Create goals for your social presence

and focus

• Commit

• OWN IT

Ross Anderson

CEO nylmedia

ross@nylmedia.com