I have mentioned and explained in a previous series the concept of “personal branding.” We usually think of branding as something connected to commercial products you buy off the shelf but really the idea of “personal branding” is nothing new, it’s basically a new term for the old concept of having a good name and reputation.  What is new however is the ways we encounter potential employers, clients, etc. We are a new media centric company in that has the web and related media as the core of our business with photography, print, audio and video services used in critical support roles with a mindset of consistent branding across those media. However I left our one critical “media” and that is you.  Ideas, the way you dress, speak and your reliability are how other people perceive you. Resumes and portfolios can be one thing but it’s amazing how a face to face interview and good references can make or break the decision to hire.

The same holds true for business owners, sales people and marketers. Yesterday we started the process of looking for a new car. One of the things I dread the most is stepping on to the lot of a car dealership. The high price points, choices and stereotypes of car salesmen make thinking about the experience stressful.  However yesterday was not such an event. The salesman approached us and yes he was aggressive but I expect some degree of aggressiveness from sales.  He was not dressed in the usual sport jacket and tie but still smartly and neatly in dressy casual attire.  That made me feel more comfortable from the beginning. As he began talking he never mentioned the price. Instead he started talking about features and then took us for a ride pointing out such things as the design of the vehicle, suspension, braking. It was also refreshing to hear him admit he didn’t know some things about the particular model but would get the information for us. This reminded me of an article I read this morning by Chris Garrett called, “What is Authority?“.  He mentioned that it is a combination of personality, expertise and visibility and when those three come together the core is authority. Of course expertise and visibility come to mind but personality? Yes I can see how that sets on up as an authority.  If you come across as selfish, a jerk or you’re trying to trick people all expectations of authority more often than not may be lost.

How do you come across on your web site, social networks, e-mail, etc?  Does the design you have make you look professional? Would you be proud or embarrassed for employers or clients to see the activities you “advertise” across forums, blogs and online social networks? How do “brand yourself” in real life networking meetings, sales calls and presentations?

This month we are pleased to be an advertiser in Personal Branding Magazine. You can get a sample issue at personalbrandingsample.com and then have an opportunity to subscribe to the full version for the following year. Connected with that is the Personal Branding Blog which I would encourage you to subscribe to and read frequently.

Last night was a great night of networking and learning in various networking groups. It wasn’t until the middle  of the afternoon when I looked at my wife and business partner’s shared calendar that I was aware of a Small Business Owners meeting at the Greenville, SC Chamber of Commerce. I am so glad I went.  Everyone there were small business owners in the Upstate of South Carolina or interested in entering the Greenville,SC market. We had a chance to listen to Timothy Justice of Rescom Construction and ask him questions about what we could do in our own businesses to take them to the next level. Very encouraging.

After the meeting at the Chamber I went to the meeting of the Upstate Entrepreneur Forum which was about a mile away. This was another opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and listen to Elizabeth Garrison of Ever Green Recycling, her business vision and past business experience.  Once again I got some great tips and ideas to grow my own business and to make it stronger.  Not to mention I love meeting others I can work with and help succeed and thus help my community prosper.

I had to leave the UEF a little early, It pained me to do so but on the other side of town another group I am very passionate about was meeting.  The Greenville Mac User’s Group has been around a long time and I’m happy to be a part of the group of enthusiastic Mac computer users.  Last night’s GreenvilleMUG meeting revolved around the discussion of backups and we also had a video conference with our local Apple rep who could not make the meeting in person last night. I have a desire to start a more specialized group of people who want to develop applications of the Mac OSX platform and the iPhone.

The only thing I regret about going to all the meetings last night was I had to spread myself around, leave early at one and show up a little late at another. I didn’t get to network and make as many connections as I could have. I do plan on e-mailing people I meet with last night who I exchanged business cards with to do some of that networking today.

Did you see me last night (4-14-08)?

Over the weekend I set up linkerjpatrick.com. I don’t use it a lot on this site but most places on the Internet such as forums, Flickr, commenting on blogs, Twitter , Linkedin and Facebook to name a few.  The site will me mostly a blog to a place to “work my personal brand.”  I wanted a place I could test more things out, do some affiliate marketing and talk about things that are better suited for a personal blog than a business blog.  Yes, I could have set something up on a “free service” but I wanted to secure the user name under it’s own domain. Feel free to follow that blog there if you are interested in getting to know the “whole me.” 
The site will also serve as an example of using a web site for personal branding. 

One of the most productive aspects of marketing is developing and maintaining excellent customer relationships. It can be really easy to let strong ties to current customers slip as we go about our daily business of working on current projects and the search for new customers. However the relationships you have will your current client base can achieve greater results at a lower cost.

I’m not just saying this as a part of my own business. I know many of my readers are small business people and I’m also a customer of others who may read this blog as well.

We have made a point to actively network and attend meetings where we are in constant contact with clients and fellow business people. Not only does this give us the opportunity to meet new people but we are there to ask questions and provide a bit of in-person service to existing relationships.

In a previous post I brought up the need to remind people we know about new services or directions of the company.  I recently had a conversation with an old friend who knew we did web design work but he didn’t think to ask us about designing a logo or some photography work which we also offer.

Is customer relationship management part of your marketing plan? They are tools you may already have available like Microsoft Outlook/Exchange that has build in address books an calendar features. Macs have an intergration between the mail, Calendar and Address book programs.  More dedicate software solutions include ACT! on Windows and Daylite on the Mac.  Larger corporate environments may use other solutions as well depending on the scale of your sales and client database and the integration with other departments, etc. We use an online service called, Highrise which allows us to have better communication with customers, leads, vendors, etc. What tools have you found most helpful in increasing sales to existing clients and informing them of new or changed services?

I wanted to point all my readers to an interview of Gil Gerretson of Biztrek.  I mentioned Gil and his company briefly in another post I made this morning. Gil is a marketing mentor who has years of marketing experience and teaching.  The interview was done by a Greenville,SC business newspaper called GSA Business.  The interview can be found under March 17th on their podcast page  of the GSA Business web site or you can click here for a direct link to the file.

A good part of the interview is about Gil’s company and his vision to take it nationwide. Later in the interview he mentions quite a few things about the need for web site to be dynamic and provide ways to interact with the reader. Gil also mentioned the value of social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and linkedin.