What is branding?
When we talk about branding, we are talking about it from a Network Marketers point of view or an entrepreneur’s point of view. It simply means the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates you from other network marketers.
This one strategy is going to set you up for long term success, not only in your network marketing company but in your business life in general. This is what a leader is about and your team will see and follow suit. Let’s start looking at how to brand YOU. Since many people have never focused on branding, at the end of this article, I will show you six questions to get you started in the right direction. If you are still not sure about what your brand would be, don’t sweat it. Many times the more you plow along in your business, it will become self-evident. You will get comments about things you write and your passion will show based on the value you share.
Building a personal brand online is really all about just ‘being you’ and sharing your individual passion, wisdom, personality, knowledge, abilities, and skill sets with the world. You’re going to build, what I call, “the base” of your business around ‘you‘ as a person.
For years, big companies use this strategy to brand their products and services. Have you noticed how Hanes uses Michael Jordan as their personality? How about Priceline.com using William Shatner as their personality? Revlon uses Beyonce. The famous & expensive watch company, now, uses Tiger Woods (well, no comment…) The list can go on and on. The importance of this, now, is that many celebrities have used this platform to create their own brand of products and services. Michael Jordan is specific and intentional about his brand, Jordan’s, Jennifer Lopez with J-Lo, Jay-Z with Roc-a-wear, etc.
So not only are big companies doing this, more and more entrepreneurs and network marketers, alike, are branding themselves and creating entire businesses around their personalities, This works because people can RELATE to a personality much better than they can relate to a company or a product or a service.
Now to get started; take a self-inventory of what you’re passionate about and what you feel your gift is. Then, we can figure out how to take that gift and turn it into a business model that makes you money. The evolution of this process will be distributors joining YOU, inc. So what happens is that people see you online through blogs, articles (which we will go in great detail later) and they just tend to like you and follow you. It just happens the more people that like and follow you, they will eventually join you in your network marketing opportunity. They want to be around YOU (inc.)
If you’re not sure what your gifts are or what your purpose might be, I’m here today to help you…Let’s take a few minutes and reflect for a second. Take out a pen and paper. Ask yourself the following questions and write down the first responses that come to you. The key is to NOT over-think this exercise. Whatever comes to mind…write it down really quickly.
At what am I naturally gifted?
What am I most passionate about?
What do I get the most excited about doing or sharing?
What motivates me?
What do I love learning about?
What do I like sharing with friends, family, and colleagues?
Once you’ve spent some time writing down your answers, take a look at your notepad and see if there are any common themes or ideas. What pops out at you? If anything, super! If not, that’s OK… don’t worry, it’ll come to you when the timing is right, I guarantee it.
However, and this is the most important secret – you cannot focus on building a brand when you are starting to build a business. Your brand will come in conjunction with your success. Every online “guru” didn’t have a brand to start with. They started with a focus on 1 or 2 marketing strategies and through time, they built that brand around their marketing efforts.