I hosted a Blab to encourage business owners and personal branders to share their elevator pitch. During this networking event, I had the fortune to meet with people who are authentically trying to enhance the world in which we live in. Now, that’s RAW BRANDED®!
*The video was removed since Blab shut down its operations.
With social media platforms and live streaming on the rapid rise, all business owners and personal brands, need to be prepared to properly make that sell—introduce yourself via an elevator pitch. In case you missed it, discover how these savvy entrepreneurs introduce their brands.
You may have a business or a personal brand, but you may not know who to share it with and how to do so. Just because you built it doesn’t mean that they’ll come! It’s good to know who you’d like to target, but it’s even better to understand the ways to connect with them in a way that resonates. Before you can make your mark, you need to connect your brand to your audience’s core wants and needs. In this Periscope session, I outline five ways to identify and connect with your target audience. Tune in, take notes, and chime in below.
Today, there are endless platforms that you can use to showcase your brand. While you should maintain a presence on the social spaces where your audience frequents, don’t forget your hub—your website. People still use websites as a source for reviews about brands (via blogs or review sites). This is also the main platform that people use to obtain detailed information about various brands, especially if the tidbits shared on social media don’t paint the full picture.
You want to make sure that once that search is made, your digital space easily presents itself. Your website should not only shine, but it should also be used as the source of all the nitty gritty details about your brand. You can then direct your audience from social networks to this central space to learn more about you and embark on the call of action that you’d like for them to perform.
I encourage you to take a seat in my classroom. Come on in! No boring lectures here! I break down all the details for you in this video.
I always say, “If you’re not branding yourself, others will brand you for you.” This is especially essential when attempting to control your reputation. In this article, I outline 7 reputation management tips to help you steer your brand’s image and also cite two cases of unfortunate, bad reputation management. It’s crisis communications at its best!
There are tons of websites and social media platforms dedicated to celebrating, assessing, and rating brands. While you can’t please everyone, what’s a brand (personal or biz related) to do if people start trashing you? The negative comments can come in the form of a disgruntled employee, unsatisfied customer, or just about anyone. It may be your inkling to ignore them, but guess what? You can’t and definitely shouldn’t, or you may face a situation that will grow in epic proportions. Your best bet is to be proactive, if feasible. Relax. Read. Relate. Release! Here’s whatcha do:
Take note of what you find and the rankings of this information. You should be aware of what people are saying about you in the cyber world. While I often believe that other people’s opinions of you is none of your business, you still need to know whether people are overtly trashing you and actively shaping other people’s perception of your image. Heaven forbids if this information ranks higher than your website and social media spaces! Don’t let this negativity become people’s first impression of you.
If you can start a blog, please do so. It’s not only a way to establish yourself as a thought-leader, but it also serves as a platform to iron out the faulty details and share your side of the story in the event that push comes to shove (watch how I creatively butcher this phrase in my video!). Use your blog as an instrument to inform people if something has been recalled or needs clarification, but also make sure to spread this news on your social networks in case your blog isn’t frequented as often as desired.
Secure your brand’s name on platforms that you plan on using or anticipate growing. It is best practices to secure your name on all platforms, but I realize that this may not be realistic for most people. At the very least, lock it down where your audience will flock for information. This will enable you to avoid the fictitious version of you Tweeting, Instagramming, Scoping, Blabbing, etc. information that conflicts with your brand’s image. Hurry, no, run to your social media platform (after reading this article and subscribing 🙂 ) and secure your brand’s profile name!
Remember that YouTube is currently the #2 biggest search engine that’s out there. If people are searching for a topic that you cover, you want your information (via video) to pop up in the search results thanks to YouTube. Do at least one introductory video, so you set the tone and make your official introduction to your audience. If there is a crisis, you can use YouTube to shape and control the messaging.
Get an expert who can speak on your behalf and craft the message on your blog, YouTube/social media platforms, live stream, press releases, etc. Your expert should be able to dry your tears and hold your hand as you navigate through these muddy waters.
It may take a village to control the damage. Your team should help you to shape your messaging in ways that will address your audience’s, particularly your disgruntled audience’s, needs. It’s perfectly okay if you need the pros to handle your damage control.
This one should really be first and foremost, since you should use it throughout your reputation management efforts. Don’t lie about a situation or deny your audience’s feelings about you, your services, or your product. People will discover the truth and will look at you differently. You may even lose your fans. If you messed up, this is the perfect time to fess up. It’s easier said than done, but it’ll save you heartaches and pain in the long run. Plus people really appreciate and are forgiving of those who sincerely (keyword sincerely) apologize for their faults. Be RAW BRANDED® and authentic in your apology.
Once again, in my video, I note two examples of unfortunately handled PR crises. Please listen and learn from these stories. Once again, no one is perfect. The best we can do is be preventive and learn from others. Most importantly, be authentic in who we are and in our relations with others. Be RAW BRANDED®!