Volume 2, Issue 4 is dedicated to female brands and their impact on business and our culture. Women have had massive opportunities through the internet to come together and share ideas. In this issue, we’ve interviewed some of the brightest and most talented female brands on the planet, including Sarah Austin, Laura Ries and Natalie Gulbis, to explore what women are doing to make this world a better place. There are many tips and strategies for women who want to control their careers and command their futures, as well as for men who are looking to learn from these talented women.
Features:
28 articles total covering female branding
General personal branding related topics
Interviews with: Sarah Austin, Natalie Gulbis, Laura Ries, Toby Bloomberg, Valeria Maltoni, and Anita Campbell
How to define yourself
The importance of personal brand consistency in social networking
There’s a perspective that we take in social media that has many qualities and discussions around it and I’ve been starting to use a name or label for it: the unsell.
The idea behind the unsell is that you really aren’t selling at all, but rather letting the product or service speak for itself. Past the initial “hey, I’ve got this product/service, what do you think of it†pitch, the idea that quality sells itself is key.
Through organic word of mouth, the quality or potential of what you have is what sells it. This is the classic unsell.
What we need to strive for today and in the future is that whatever we’re doing for our customers or employers speaks for itself. If it needs a bunch of fancy charts and graphs to describe why it’ll save money, trim expenses or save the planet, then it really doesn’t cut it.
So I’d like to learn from you, because you’re the smartest folks I know, what are you ‘unselling’? How have you applied ‘the unsell’ in your work? What kinds of things are companies doing right in social media that they aren’t talking about?
It’s an interesting time we live in. Economic turmoil, changing social norms, 100 year old publishing businesses crumbling, and new media powerhouses being established. You’d be hard pressed to give our present era a pass and claim it to be not as important as <fill in your favorite era here>.
Along with these incredible times are some challenges for every business, and everyone that works in them. The reality is that the past decade has brought incredible change in our communications and social structures because of digital communication. Included in this is the first generation raised entirely within the Internet, and mobile communication revolution of advanced technology.
This generation has experienced the freedom of wireless connections from an early age, and rediscovered the power of text communications. The “kids†in this generation have expanded their mental and reflex capacities through vigorous sessions of online, multiplayer, interactive & collaborative games. These folks have no stigma about being online, and this generation comes prewired for online social interaction. They have the ability to actively team-build without preamble and pep talks, can do business virtually without the need to meet in person and can work with folks on the other side of the globe as easily as they work with people in the next cube.
This is the youth movement of today, and they’re entering your business right now. These young folks are part of the largest workforce to enter the American business landscape since the boomers. They are your new entry level employees and they know what’s up. They’re smart, fast to learn new things, and anxious to prove themselves. With the Baby Boomers retiring and GenX/Y moving up, these folks coming out of college are bringing a revolution in relationship management with them.
So you’ve got a blog, or maybe a Facebook page, or another profile on a social network or new media site somewhere out there. Do you regularly post or update it? If so, it’s likely you have a community around it, whether or not you realize it.
You may have people who want to learn from you or share ideas with you. Are you prepared to take on that opportunity? You should because these folks are your greatest fans and can be part of your own brand/PR army that goes out doing the grass-roots efforts you would never think of.
Its especially critical for businesses in these tough times, to learn these methods and reward your community for being part of the team. They’re there to help, even more than to cheer you on – all they want is to be involved.
Microsoft figured this out over a decade ago with their MVP (Most Valuable Person) distinction. They discovered early adopters were talking about their products in forums and chat rooms. Instead of trying to control this critical group, the decided to engage them. By equipping them with additional tools and information, they were able to seed the market with knowledgeable, respected people. These people gave honest reviews, constructive criticism, and in general, useful feedback that the company then rolled into new product design.
Does your company do something like this? Have you really thought about rewarding your community? Why wait, start today by reaching out as yourself and not in the name of the company. Start sharing your experiences, challenges and success with theirs goes a long way to being part of that community, and from there, you can all do so much more.
Have questions? Want to learn more? Please feel free to contact me if you wish – my contact info is in the sidebar to the right. Email is probably the best way to get in touch, followed closely by Twitter.
It’s hard to be a medium or large corporation these days. The demands are not small, with expectations of investors, disappointing market performance, employee needs, government regulations and oversight… there’s almost no time left for the most important part of any business: customers.
Of course, that’s where the current craze around social media comes in. The expectation is that any company can use all sorts of free tools to stretch marketing and PR dollars, and maybe make the customer feel more welcome picking up your brand at Wal-Mart.
But that whole scenario is bound to bust as surely as your pick of economic bubbles.
The reality is that to really engage using social media and realize honest benefits requires more than a passing interest in new shiny things. Social media requires real openness, and if you’re not willing to be open, people can tell.
The power of this new ideal comes from the willingness to have an open culture. That means that there are no artificial barriers between departments, positions, business units, or people. It means that interacting with the public is a part of every position, not just the domain of marketing, PR, and an occasional press release from the CEO.
Openness means that the C-level is talking in public forums alongside the shipping department, or accounting, or human resources. Bringing openness to a culture means that everyone is able to talk about nearly anything.
With that being said, it’s ok to still have intellectual property and protect that. You’re right in protecting developing business plans, or new products, or several other types of information an organization holds and makes money from. However, beyond that, an organization can talk openly about the challenges it faces, or hold up a consumer enthusiast group as a model, or any such thing that shows a human side of a company.
Sometimes we, that is companies, worry too much about what the competition may think. Organizations can get wrapped up in being too professional. Being open about things doesn’t take away from any of this. When done from a position of transparency, and honest intention of open interaction, a company can grow a much more loyal consumer base, and open source their own PR army. But that’s another post.
If there’s one thing you should always do, it’s to keep your unique individuality.
As an individual we need to recognize how and what we do differently. Protect and nurture those qualities that make us who we are. It’s important to realize that these qualities are what others see in us, and differentiate us in a crowd.
Quite a bit of this relates to your personal brand, and perhaps that context helps make the most sense.
Walk Different
Walk a funny walk, have fun, explore who you are and what others see in you. Dare to be different. In doing so, you’ll start to learn what others value in you. You’ll also be able to realize that there’s opportunity in doing things differently.
Try those new things, find ways to step out into the future and expand your skills and worldview. You may be great at what you do today, but there are other things you may be well suited for. It’d be a shame not to find out what those may be. It’s rewarding to relearn things about yourself that you may have forgotten.
Walk Tall
Be proud of where you come from, what you do, and how you accomplish your work. Your walk can be compared to your “brand personality” when you meet a person , often the first thing you see is them walking towards you. Much like the t-shirt you brand from Print My Logo, you have control over what is seen.
There are no unimportant jobs in society, and it’s what we do with our lives that’s the real testament to each of us. It’s what we do day-in and day-out that people remember, and this is the base of who we are. It’s always a good idea to start from a firm foundation, and that is what walking tall is about.
Don’t let others define your success as success is a subjective label to begin with. Only we can define what that is, because only we know what’s important, or what the next step in our path was supposed to be.
Walk Straight
Sticking to your values is what this is all about. Its when we stray from our ideals that we begin to loose our way. By following through on your plan and remaining true to your core values, its easier to reach those goals that you prize most. This is also something that people remember about us. It’s about being consistent, honest, and following through. Not always easy, but never ignored either.
Walk With Purpose
Having a purpose to things is just as important as everything else. It’s about direction. There’s a reason that we’re all good at different things and make different decisions every day. Define for yourself why you do things the way you do, get to understand what that purpose is, and refine it as time goes on. This is ultimately what drives each of us in our own way. We have some ultimate goal that we alone hold.
Stepping Up
Finally, taking the time to map out a path to walk in life is a great thing to take time to do. Plan out short and long goals, match your pace in life with your ultimate goals. Enjoy the each step along the way.
This is a post from my ‘inspirational’ list. Not sure if it really is, but I like to give it a try from time to time. All feedback is welcome! That’s one of my goals as I walk through life, to learn from anyone willing to share suggestions or criticism. It’s all good from my perspective as I just want to learn.
