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Home » Marketing Articles » Marketing Becomes Easier When The Brand Is You

Marketing Becomes Easier When the Brand is YOU

For a consultant, solo professional, or other type of entrepreneur, YOU are the brand. Marketing your business is about marketing YOU as the best choice for your customers' needs.

Starting today, make sure that you are positioning yourself as the brand...the expert. Begin to make a list. What makes you different from your competition? What traits make you stand out? What do people remember most about you?

By branding YOU, you build the power of influence. Your prospects begin to perceive you as the best resource in your field. Create a tagline for you that describes your benefits - are you a straight shooter...compassionate...a big thinker...a problem solver? What things about you make you absolutely different and valuable from someone else in your industry?

When you are in the process of branding your personality, it's time to forget about modesty. Become as visible as possible. Show up at events and speak with passion to people about what you offer. This is very difficult for some people. But there's a saying; if you don't toot your own horn, who else will?

Tell prospects and customers about your accomplishments and your expertise. Give case studies about other clients you have helped. Use your picture on your marketing materials. Remember, packaging counts. Everything you do and say lends itself to the brand you are creating. What you wear and how you interact with people all give a message.

Here are some key reasons for branding YOU:

- It makes you stand out from your competitors.

- It reinforces your core marketing message in the minds and hearts of your prospects and customers.

- You will be perceived as an expert.

- You can deliver your messages clearly and personally.

- It will give you a distinct voice - your own.

- Branding YOU allows you to let your personality shine!

- It strikes an emotional chord in your prospects and customers.

- You build relationships more easily – fundamentally, people want to do business with other people, not a faceless company.

YOU will bring prospects in the door and YOU will keep them coming back. Many small businesses and solo professionals present themselves without a heart and without showing their passion. They come across as mediocre and bland. Forget mediocrity. As an entrepreneur, you have a HUGE opportunity to let your passion shine through. Be yourself and be authentic!

Craft your branding around your personality, your skills, your style, and your values. Be sure to incorporate your clients as central to your brand. When the brand is YOU, you begin to INSPIRE people to work with you. Your personality will come through in all of your marketing materials.

Branding YOU will begin to build long-lasting relationships with your clients that can never be eroded by a competitor. You will have absolute loyalty because people will believe in you. Because you have branded YOU. Don't forget - you are in charge of the brand that is YOU, so start today and get started!

Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Making Money In Real Estate - 10 Basic Ways

Making money in real estate is an endless topic that includes all the various types of real estate investments. There is land, apartment buildings, homes, commercial buildings and more. Whatever the type however, you'll make your profits in some of the basic ways listed below. Use this list to get yourself thinking of the possibilities.

1. Appreciation. Making money in real estate can be as simple as holding on and waiting. To really get the most appreciation in value, however, you should buy in an area where demand is growing faster than the supply.

2. Depreciation. Remember that after all the tax law changes, you still get to declare a loss for depreciation that doesn't really exist. That can save you a lot at tax time, meaning more after-tax profit. To maximize this, buy property that has its value primarily in the buildings, because you can't depreciate the value of land.

3. Loan pay-down. You gain equity with every payment you make. Get the lowest interest rate you can and more of each payment will go towards the principal.

4. Cash flow. When you buy income property the right way, you not only have your tenants paying all the costs and paying down the mortgage loan, but you also have positive cash flow.

5. Buy low. When you buy below market you get instant equity that will be converted into a profit when you sell. Offer a reason for the seller to sell low: fast closing, cash, assume some debts or liabilities, etc. Or just make a low offer. The seller may have his own reasons to sell it cheap.

6. Sell high. Clean it up nice, make it easy to buy, and find the right buyer to get top dollar. The next four on the list cover ways to create value, so you'll get more when you sell.

7. Offer financing. You can often get substantially more for a property if you offer financing. This is especially true if you let someone buy it with little money down. You can also get good interest on the loan.

8. Change use. If there is a higher use for the property, you can convert it to make it worth more to the next owner. Sometimes this means making condos into apartments, or apartments into condos. Maybe converting a home into office space will get the biggest return.

9. Improve and repair. Repairing anything that needs it is obvious, but you need to look creatively and carefully to find improvements to make. Concentrate only on those that will raise the value several times more than what they cost you.

10. Sell in parts. In real estate, the parts are often worth more than the whole. For example, splitting off an extra lot to sell for $30,000 will rarely decrease the value of a home by that much, so you'll make more money in the end.

Making money in real estate can be a wonderfully creative process. Just look at the sources of profits listed here, and think of how you can maximize a few of them on your next real estate investment.