Personal Brand Development
Tips for developing your personal brand and managing your reputation for professional development and career advancement.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been a car enthusiast. Imagine my excitement at the age of three when my mom, Kathy, announced we were going to the car dealership to pick up my grandmother’s brand new 1979 Chrysler Cordoba.
My sisters Heidi (age 4), Amy (age 2), and I had fallen asleep during the ride to the dealership. Upon arrival, instead of waking us, Kathy decided to park within eyesight while she and my grandmother checked out the new car.
Having woken about five minutes later, I climbed over the front seat and decided to commandeer the vehicle by pulling the gearshift into neutral. Screams of sheer terror rang from the backseat and permeated the surrounding area. Much to Kathy’s dismay, the commotion centered on her car, which was slowing rolling downhill from the customer parking lot toward the showroom floor.
Without hesitation, and eight months pregnant with my sister Jamie, Kathy dropped her handbag, flung off her heels, and dashed for the moving vehicle, which by this time had picked up some speed. In a flash, Kathy arrived at the car, flung open the driver-side door, jumped in the front seat, and engaged the emergency brake. The almost three-ton vehicle came to a screeching halt within mere inches of the showroom’s glass facade. A cry from the group of assembled spectators exclaimed, “that woman can run really fast for a fat lady!”
Target’s red bulls-eye. BMW’s promise as “the ultimate driving machine.” Geico’s reptilian Gecko. For most of us, the term “branding” sparks images of colorful logos, creatively wordsmithed taglines, and seemingly silly mascots—all tools used by marketers to bring attention to a particular product in an effort to increase sales.
Some professionals view branding as pertaining to products and not also services. They dismiss these tactics as mere gimmicks that ultimately do little to develop business. Why can’t the same branding tools sell products and services?
When selling products, marketers use branding to draw attention to a product’s tangible features. For instance, the iPhone’s sleek design. The Chevy Volt’s efficient use of energy to deliver best-in-class fuel economy. Or, a Steinway piano’s craftsmanship that makes it a highly sought after instrument. It’s the products’ features that drive sales.
In an effort for marketers to brand services, which characteristically have intangible features, they brand the professional rendering the service. Attorneys, accountants, financial planners and bankers alike increase business by developing and promoting their personal brands.
Recently, I spoke to a group of real estate industry professionals at a Pasadena Bar Association meeting. My remarks focused on how professionals can develop business and enhance referral relationships by focusing on their personal brand–a.k.a. their reputation.
Dale Pelch, a real estate attorney at Hahn & Hahn, who chairs the Association’s Real Estate Section, summarized my presentation in the following blog post.
This week, the Pasadena Bar Association’s Real Estate Section welcomed Jonathan Fitzgarrald (pronounced with a hard “G”), Chief Marketing Officer at Greenberg Glusker. Dressed to the Nines, Jonathan opened his presentation entitled “People Are Watching! How Your Image and Reputation Can Affect Your Success,” by recounting the fateful day almost 31 years ago when President Ronald Reagan was shot. In a riveting fashion, Jonathan retold the story of how, after being seriously wounded and rushed to the hospital, President Reagan composed himself, waived off efforts to assist him as he exited his Limo, and strode past the gathering reporters and photographers in a very “Presidential” fashion, before entering the hospital emergency room … whereupon he collapsed.
Painting vivid pictures of the importance of image, Jonathan offered practical and achievable advice and suggestions. Rather than presenting “a lot of marketing fluff” laced with buzzwords and clichéd ideas, Jonathan’s presentation was thought-provoking, and generated motivation for self-evaluation and action.
One of your New Year’s Resolutions is to get out of the office more and connect in person with those professionals who can hire or refer you business.
So, cup of coffee in hand, you show up at your first networking event of the year, find a seat and wait for the meeting to begin. The group leader welcomes everyone and says, “With so many new faces today, why don’t we go around the table and have everyone take a few moments to introduce themselves and what they do.”
“Oh great, here comes a glorified roll call,” you think. Short of watching your local news pundits rehash a recent political debate, nothing is as mind numbing as listening to a group of professionals introduce themselves through tired clichés, generalities, and generic value statements.
Unable to travel to the Midwest to visit her family for the holiday, I invited a professional acquaintance, Sally, to a Thanksgiving dinner that I was hosting at my home for family and friends. Sally accepted the invitation, and asked if she could bring her “to die for” seven-layer dip appetizer.
As meal time arrived, my home was bustling with guest arrivals, last minute tweaks to prepared food dishes, and my dogs bouncing off the walls with the influx in household activity–but no Sally.
Twenty minutes passed and I started to wonder whether Sally was having difficulty finding my home, so I phoned her. No answer. Another 30 minutes passed and the doorbell rang, it was Sally. She whizzed past me in search of the kitchen with practically no greeting or explanation for her tardiness. By that time, cocktail hour was over and we were mere minutes away from sitting down for dinner.
Sally was anxious to meet everyone, or so it appeared. She worked the room, asking lots of questions and learning how everyone was connected. She was skilled at posing a question and then turning the attention back on herself. In her mind, she was the belle of the ball.