8 Creative Ways to Brand Yourself with Content

by Kenya Halliburton

You know that you need a strong personal brand to succeed today, but how do you go about establishing one? Personal branding is a long-term strategy that pays off down the road, but you have to start somewhere. Here are 8 ideas on how to creatively set yourself apart from the herd.

Blog

Writing a blog is the absolute best way to brand yourself online. It allows you to share your expertise, show your personality, and get your fans involved. These are all essentials for branding yourself and a blog lets you kill all of those birds with one stone.

Signature Words and Phrases

Sit down and try to write a short sentence or simple phrase that communicates to people exactly what you do and how you benefit them. This is what's known in the marketing world as a 'tagline.' For example, if you're an SEO expert, you might write something like, 'I get you found online.' It serves both purposes - telling what you do and emphasizing benefits.

Your Brand Photo

Like a logo, a brand photo instantly identifies you. It also gives people a good first impression which might be the only one they get. Make sure that you look good in the picture and that you're smiling if you want to convey a friendly image. Be consistent with your image, using it everywhere you go. You might consider making a few different versions; for example, a more professional suit-and-tie picture for LinkedIn and something more relaxed for Facebook.

Regular Events that You Run

Get involved and start hosting regular events. Events show people that you're passionate about what you do and it's a great way to get them involved directly in your brand. Events are also a wonderful way to network. Online you can do podcasts and webinars. Both are cheap options that offer global reach.

Speak in Front of Groups

Look around for opportunities to speak in front of groups. When you're a recognized speaker, this boosts your credibility and gives you instant expert status. Like hosting events, it also gives you a chance to network. If you're not a great public speaker, don't worry; a little practice will turn you into a confident speaker quickly.

Mentor Others

Offer coaching and mentoring, even if you don't get paid well for it. This adds immensely to peoples' perception of you as an expert. If you can teach others about your subject matter, this shows that you really know your stuff.

Create an Infographic

Infographics are all the rage now and you can create one that's all about you. Your own personal brand infographic is like a visual resume. There are online tools that you can use to create your own infographic cheaply and easily.

A Compelling Story

People love a good story and it's an important component to your branding. For example, you're a city kid who grew up poor and then discovered Internet Marketing. Or, you're a stay-at-home mom who does freelance writing. A unique story about how you got here makes your brand more memorable and helps you to stand out.

Remember that the purpose of all of your branding efforts is to set yourself apart from everybody else. Use these creative methods to show how you're different and the unique value you bring to what you do. Branding really takes off when your personal passion comes through, so let it shine.


Do you want to know how to win clients & cash with your content?
Kenya Halliburton specializes in helping busy entrepreneurs who hate to write create compelling content and install proven marketing systems to grow their business online hands-free & stress-free.  Sign up for her highly-acclaimed and miraculously free 6 Figure Content + marketing Formula and find out how to build a client-getting, profit-winning web presence in 6 easy steps.

Talking the Talk

Successful people know the importance of having a distinctive and strong personal brand. Wherever you go, whatever you do, your reputation precedes you, so having a strong personal brand can ensure that you will survive even if you get laid off from your job or have to move to another town or state to start over.

Nowadays, there are so many tools you can utilize in order to establish your personal brand. The online world has given people the ability to create a name for themselves without having to spend too much – through blogging, networking, and social media, there are so many ways for you to create a powerful online presence that people can look up to and admire.

But even if you have a strong personal brand in the online world, you need to remember that establishing yourself offline is just as important. And one of the most powerful things you can do for your personal brand in the real world is to speak in public.

You see, your personal brand is basically how people perceive you, and it is directly linked to what people’s experiences of you are and how they are exposed to you. When you place too much emphasis on your online reputation without considering your offline one, then you limit how people perceive you.

This is why even politicians who have successfully utilized online tools such as networking and social media to become popular, but don’t know how to speak well to an audience about their viewpoints, can never succeed in their political campaign. There’s just something about hearing someone passionately speak about their ideas and opinions that really resonates with people – and this is why public speaking is one of the best tools you can utilize for your personal brand.

Other reasons why public speaking should be part of your branding campaign:

·         It positions you as the expert – most people assume that if you’re qualified enough to speak in a roomful of people with confidence, then you’re most likely an expert on the subject.

·         It builds your credibility – there’s a reason why not everyone is a sought-after speaker; becoming one can definitely help you build credibility in your chosen niche.

·         It helps people get to know you – in branding, it’s important that people know you and what you’re about. Speaking in public can help people get to know you better so people relate with you and remember you.

So how do you use speaking to promote your personal brand? What are some of the best practices when speaking in public?

1.   Choose your topic well

It’s important that you speak about a topic you’re passionate about and that means something to you. People can easily see if you’re really into a topic or you’re just forcing yourself to speak. It should also be a topic you’re already familiar with and something that you have personal experience with. This is important in establishing your personal brand and your expertise.

2.   Know your audience

You should know your audience and what they’re interested in so that you can tailor your presentation to address them. If you’re addressing a group of social media managers, for example, you may want to refrain from going over social media once again and how it can help businesses – you should offer something different, something new that offers them value.

This is where listening to your audience is very important – it’s a good idea to connect with your audience even before your presentation, or to come early to mingle with them and learn what their viewpoints are. This will be very helpful in giving you some insights on how to tailor your presentation for them.

3.   Tell a story

Sometimes, people don’t even remember what you’re talking about, but if there’s one thing that many people always recall during presentations is a good story told that helps them relate with you. So to avoid being just one of the random speakers they’ve heard in the course of time, tell a story – specifically, your story. Make it relevant to your audience so that it resonates with them. This is how you connect with your audience and make yourself remembered.

How people perceive you is your personal brand. And this is why it’s important to utilize as many tools as possible to position yourself as an expert in your chosen niche and be remembered by your audience. Don’t just rely on having a strong online presence, because this limits how people know you. Utilize public speaking so that people can really get to know you and what you can offer to them. 

Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat - a weekly twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.

Speaking Anxiety - Are You Making This Mistake?

by Janet Hilts

You have many opportunities to "perform" inside your business. Basically, that's any time you're talking - on the phone, in your mastermind group, working with clients, and in formal presentations or workshops. For a lot of people, these are times when stage fright kicks in.

Fear of speaking affects most of us in some form. In fact, surveys find that we're more afraid of speaking than we are of dying! Because stage fright is so common, Jerry Seinfeld joked that "at a funeral, the average person would rather be the one in the casket than the one giving the eulogy."

Consequently, some people avoid speaking in their business as much as they can, preferring to hide behind the computer. This is understandable, but unfortunate. Other people forge ahead by bucking up and powering through their fear. Hats off to you! At least you're out there doing it.

OK - many speaking coaches and psychologists endorse this as the best approach to getting over that fear - this powering through. I disagree. I believe they back this because they don't know there's another way to eliminate the anxiety.

Here's why bulldozing through your fear is not effective as a business strategy: Your anxiety is still high. And that creates these problems:

• You're on edge and can easily be thrown off course by a microphone that doesn't work, or an introduction that's not quite what you want.
• Your listener feels your tension and can misinterpret what it means.
• Your creativity is cramped, making it hard to think on your feet or answer questions well.
• Your voice is affected - maybe shaky, maybe too soft, or monotone -- so you don't sound strong.
• It's hard to convey compassion or certainty, so there's a distance created between you and your audience.

These stage fright factors present problems in coaching, teaching or selling - all of which are built on the relationship you're building through your speaking.

So powering through your stage fright is a poor choice. OK - It's true -- some people just keep doing that and over time they DO reduce their anxiety. But there are people who have been speaking for 20 years and the fear is still there!

What's the answer? Concentrate on eliminating the fear first. It doesn't have to be a long drawn-out process. That's old school thinking.

There are several rapid-change techniques and processes available to help get rid of that anxiety permanently. EFT or "tapping" is what I use with clients. And if you choose another path, that's great - just be clear that you DON'T have to "feel the fear and do it anyway." Find a way to get rid of that stage fright and start enjoying all your opportunities!

From the desk of Janet Hilts MPH, EFT-ADV
http://SpeakUpAndShine.com

Copyright © 2010 Janet Hilts, Speak Up & Shine | Clearing Pathways, Inc.

Women Entrepreneurs The Secrets of Success for Monday, November 8th

"Simply Sue" Falcone

As a gifted international motivational and inspirational speaker, facilitator, and published author, Sue Falcone uses her unique presentation of humor and energy to touch lives and change hearts.

Skilled as a former AT&T and Lucent Technologies Executive, and Direct Sales Business Owner, Sue is a Dale Carnegie Speaker and Trainer graduate, certified from the Zig Ziglar Leadership Training Group, and a Bob Pike Creative Training Techniques graduate.

As a speaker for more than forty years with a vast background in communications, sales and marketing, customer service, financial counseling, time management, writing, and personal spiritual growth; Sue is available for Business Workshops/Seminars, as a Keynote Speaker, Women's Groups, Retreats, and Large Church Groups.

Sue is married to Carmen, and together they have a blended family of 4 awesome children, and 6 fabulous grandchildren. She loves the beach, walking, music, climbing lighthouses, reading, and helping others.

Visit Sue at www.simplysuespeaks.com and see additional testimonials, speaking topics, and booking information. You can view Sue on www.youtube.com/simplysuespeaks, follow her on www.twitter.com/suefalcone, join her fan page at www.facebook.com/SimplySue Speaks, and see her recommendations and fee schedule at www.linkedin.com/simplysue.





8:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb

Women Entrepreneurs The Secrets of Success for Friday, October 8th

"Simply Sue" Falcone

As a gifted international motivational and inspirational speaker, facilitator, and published author, Sue Falcone uses her unique presentation of humor and energy to touch lives and change hearts.

Skilled as a former AT&T and Lucent Technologies Executive, and Direct Sales Business Owner, Sue is a Dale Carnegie Speaker and Trainer graduate, certified from the Zig Ziglar Leadership Training Group, and a Bob Pike Creative Training Techniques graduate.

As a speaker for more than forty years with a vast background in communications, sales and marketing, customer service, financial counseling, time management, writing, and personal spiritual growth; Sue is available for Business Workshops/Seminars, as a Keynote Speaker, Women's Groups, Retreats, and Large Church Groups.

Sue is married to Carmen, and together they have a blended family of 4 awesome children, and 6 fabulous grandchildren. She loves the beach, walking, music, climbing lighthouses, reading, and helping others.

Visit Sue at www.simplysuespeaks.com and see additional testimonials, speaking topics, and booking information. You can view Sue on www.youtube.com/simplysuespeaks, follow her on www.twitter.com/suefalcone, join her fan page at www.facebook.com/SimplySue Speaks, and see her recommendations and fee schedule at www.linkedin.com/simplysue.

*Due to BTR technical difficulties, Sue Falcone's show will be rescheduled

Public Speaking Fear - Will They Reject My Expertise?

Fear of rejection sometimes shows up as public speaking anxiety is when you're afraid they'll reject your expertise. You know - those doubts that sound like this:

• Who would want to listen to me?
• What if I don't sound as good as ___________ (insert other expert's name here)?
• I must be kidding myself. Who do I think I am?

Do you realize these are common doubts and fears? Listen closely to successful people, and you'll hear them mention these concerns popping into their minds, too. So you're in good company!

What To Do
Those fears about your expertise don't have to derail you. And they definitely don't have to stop you from speaking up. There are steps you can take to help yourself to move past the fear.

1. Use the question "Who would want to listen to me?" It's actually a great incentive to craft your talk more carefully. The answer to that question is this: People who think you can solve their problem are the ones who would want to listen. So speak directly to them, and only them. When you're writing your talk or elevator speech or video script, imagine your ideal client sitting across from you. Then write to that person. When you get to speaking this out loud, your passion will shine through because you're addressing your people, your targeted community.
2. "What if I don't sound as good as WhatsHerName?" It's natural to compare ourselves to others. We all do it. But this particular question is NOT useful. Here's why: You're comparing apples and oranges. You are uniquely you. Your message and the precise way you deliver it is different from everyone else, because you're a different person. So you're going to sound different from her. And that's a good thing.
3. There are more than enough clients and customers to go around. Always. And you want to connect with the ones who are the right fit for you. That's why it's so important to relax as much as you can so you can just be yourself. And let that unique you shine through to click with your special people.

So keep checking out others in your industry. Learn from what they're doing and how they're doing it. See what you want to try yourself, and what you want to avoid. Maybe you can form partnerships when you see how your offers actually complement each other. But stop comparing yourself, because there's nobody out there just exactly like you. And there are people just waiting to hear what you have to say!

From the desk of Janet Hilts MPH, EFT-ADV
http://SpeakUpAndShine.com

Copyright © 2010 Janet Hilts, Speak Up & Shine | Clearing Pathways, Inc.

Speaker & Trainer Marcus Smith on Women Entrepreneurs - The Secrets of Success

Marcus Smith is a Professional Speaker and Trainer.  In this capacity he creates seminars and workshops designed to meet the objectives of his clients through the power of public speaking and communicating.

His background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, well over 50 speeches and workshops, and over 1 million views as a TV anchor at Home Depot’s Corporate offices.  He  blends hardcore analytical ability and natural communication skills to address business concerns from all conceivable angles.  His experiences have shown him that communication (or lack thereof) can significantly impact the bottom line of a business.


http://www.marcusasmith.com
http://twitter.com/marcusasmith

12:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb

Public Speaking Fear - Will They Reject What I Say?

by Janet Hilts

Is your fear of speaking really a fear of rejection? That's at the bottom of public speaking anxiety for a lot of people. The way to deal with this fear is to first take a closer look. What are you afraid might be rejected? Your words?

Rejection Of Your Words
Here are a few facts to consider:

• Fact A: Your words only count for 7% of the actual message that you deliver. 7%! Can you believe it? The biggest part of your message is conveyed through your body language, facial expression and tone of voice. So that seriously takes the pressure off your words, doesn't it?  When you're speaking - whether that's to a client or a big audience - your intention is to connect with them, isn't it? That's what communication is all about. And people connect at the heart. That's where those nonverbal elements come into play. They're watching your eyes. They're looking to see if you're paying attention to them. They want the feeling that you care about them and their problem.
• Fact B: They want to feel positive emotions from hearing you - relief, hope, peace of mind. That experience does not come from your words.
  We've all heard words that sound empty, where the emotion doesn't match the actual words. Picture an eye-rolling teenager saying "I'm sorry" to a scolding teacher. The words aren't conveying their real meaning, are they? See how this reduces the pressure for you to get your words perfect? If your fear of rejection is about words, I hope your fear is shrinking.

On the positive side of things, think of the people you enjoy doing business with. They're just regular people, right? Just like you.

Now think of their speaking styles. Do they all have perfect grammar? Are they all fabulous speech writers and award-winning orators? Is their language completely clear of "uh" and "y'know"? Of course not!

And yours doesn't have to be either. For now, stop worrying about your words and focus on relaxing so your voice, face and body can react naturally. That's what helps you connect to people so you can really get your message across.

Bonus:
Once you get some practice speaking naturally, you'll find it much easier to work with improving your actual words if you want to. It's ironic that once you let go of the fear about the words, your options for words open up. Your creative ability and willingness to experiment with new phrases totally expands once your speaking anxiety is gone.

From the desk of Janet Hilts MPH, EFT-ADV
http://SpeakUpAndShine.com

Copyright © 2010 Janet Hilts, Speak Up & Shine | Clearing Pathways, Inc.

Public Speaking Fears - Your Reason to Stay Small?

by Janet Hilts

If you have a fear of speaking up, you're not alone. Studies show that 85% of people are more afraid of speaking in public than they are of death. Wow! That's a huge fear. So you're a fairly typical person if the thought of speaking makes you anxious.

However, the consequences for you if you're not speaking up are NOT typical. You're a business owner. So you need to be heard. It's critical that you get the word out calmly and clearly about what you do.

Staying Small

A decision to resign yourself to speaking anxiety is a choice to stay small in your business. It's that simple. Because it's socially acceptable to have performance anxiety, so it can be an easy way to hide. I know because I've done it myself. Yes - it's embarrassing, but it's true.

While coaching other people to speak up so they could grow their businesses, I found lots of reasons to avoid doing some things involving speaking because of my own fears. On the surface, they looked like performance fears. But digging a little deeper, I uncovered the truth.

My real fear was about what could happen if I expanded my business. As long as I didn't address my own particular speaking fears, I didn't have to know that, did I? It was a safe way to stay small.

What Are You Missing Out On?

Are you doing the same thing? If you've decided this is just part of your DNA so you're not going to address your anxieties about speaking, here are some of the business opportunities you're turning down:

• doing group coaching
• creating videos
• creating audios
• making radio appearances
• doing your own teleseminars
• presenting workshops
• giving free and paid talks
• networking effectively
• being taken seriously by other professionals
• speaking calmly to those with more authority or visibility

Take A Closer Look

Do yourself a favor and take a peek behind that fear of speaking. Is it just a reason you use to avoid a bigger fear? Maybe some version of fear of success? Fear of being overwhelmed with too much work? Of not being able to maintain a new level of production? Something else?

It's not always pretty, but the truth really will set you free. It gives you have a solid, specific place to start from. There are solutions to all these concerns.

Sometimes, just dealing with your core fear will make your speaking discomfort disappear! It was just an illusion after all - a camouflage for something else. And sometimes you need some outside help with those speaking fears so you can jump on all those business opportunities.

Take whichever path will work for you, but do yourself and your business a favor and eliminate that anxiety.

From the desk of Janet Hilts MPH, EFT-ADV
http://SpeakUpAndShine.com

Copyright © 2010 Janet Hilts, Speak Up & Shine | Clearing Pathways, Inc.

"Women Entrepreneurs - The Secrets of Success" for Wednesday, May 5th

Cindy W Morrison

Emmy award winning TV Broadcaster Cindy W Morrison successfully reinvented herself after corporate downsizing. Leaving a 20 year news career, Cindy wrote a book, hit the speaking circuit and created her own consulting business. She now teaches people how to reboot, upgrade and reinvent through networking, social media and branding so they can make more money and live a better life.

Cindy has a new book called "Girlfriends 2.0? which empowers women to not only survive but thrive our changing times. Cindy also speaks across the country about "Reinvention 2.0? and how anyone can network strategically to be more successful. She hosts national shows for The WIN Online (Women's Information Network) and the Diva Toolbox and she's a contributor to Startup Princess which has been named one of the top women's websites by Forbes and Entrepreneur. As a consultant, Cindy's clients range from TV stations to major universities to heavy hitting corporations.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Cindy spent a dozen years as the nightly news anchor and lead investigative reporter in Tulsa, OK. Prior to that, Cindy spent nearly a decade as an anchor and reporter in Oklahoma City. The veteran journalist won an Emmy, Peabody and Gracie Allen Award for her ground breaking investigation and has covered such major stories such as the OKC bombing and the 51-day cult standoff in Waco, Texas for stations across the country including Good Morning America. Currently, Cindy is proud to be the national spokesperson for Tulsa based company Clear-tone and a member of the prestigious National Speakers Association. http://www.cindywmorrison.com

12:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb

How Public Speaking Can Help You Dramatically Increase Your Business

by Donna Gunter, The Internet Marketing Automation Coach (TM)

There's an often-quoted statistic that the fear of public speaking is right up there with the fear of death as the two events people most fear in their lives. However, as a business owner, I can guarantee you that public speaking is a phenomenal way to grow your business, so if it's an activity that scares you, you need to take the bull by the horns and start working past that fear. As an introvert, public speaking isn't something that comes naturally to me, although I'm told I'm good at it. It's been quite a learning process, and I've had as many failures as successes. My best learning experiences have come through the process of finding the courage to just do it and learn along the way.

If you're a self-employed service professional, you work in a time-based economy. You have only so many hours in the day to work directly with your clients. Speaking to groups gives you the opportunity to reach out and touch and impact others who might otherwise never cross your path and for you to get them into your marketing funnel so that they can begin to get to know, like and respect you. Once they're in your marketing funnel, and if you provide a solution that solves a problem that they have, they'll ultimately hire you.

Here are ten steps I recommend to get you into action to use public speaking to fill your professional practice:

Pick 3 topics on which you can present a 20 minute - 60 minute speech. These should be topics on which you love to speak and will readily showcase your expertise to your audience. The topics also need to be ones that speak to your target market's pain and provides a solution for a problem that they're having.

For each presentation, write a 2 - 3 sentence description of that provides a brief overview of your content. To add some meat to the description, create a benefits statement for each presentation and what they'll learn or get out of your talk. Remember, your audience will always be asking the same question, "WIIFM", or "What's In It For Me?", so make your description so compelling that they think, "Hey, I've got to hear that!"

Have a professional photo made, and create a 3-6 sentence introductory bio of yourself. Many bios sound the same and are pretty boring, so on my website, I decided to tell something of a story about myself to make my bio a bit different. Let your personality shine in your bio.

With your topics, bio, and photo in hand, you can now put together in MS Word a simple speaker one-sheet that tells a prospective association program chair everything s/he would need to know about you. If you have a list of audiences to whom you've spoken previously, you will want to list some of those under the heading "Satisfied Clients", and spread 2 - 3 testimonials from other speaking gigs throughout the sheet. In order to get ideas for layouts of the one sheet, visit the National Speakers Association, www.nsapseaker.org, and view the speaker one sheets of other speakers to jumpstart your creativity.

Create a speaking link on your website and have the presentations you've outlined available on your site, as well as your speaker one sheet, and a separate link with your photo and bio. Many association program chairs will want to "check you out" online, even though you're offering to speak to them free of charge, so give them the opportunity to read all about your speaking topics on your website.

Now you need to find audiences filled with your target market. To start locally, approach the program chairs of professional associations to which you already belong and see if you can get on their speaking schedule. Your local library or Chamber of Commerce may have a current list of professional associations in your area which you can also approach. Other sources for finding speaking gigs include the American Society of Association Executives. On the website, click Directories on the left hand links column, and then Associations, and then select Gateway to Associations. Once you're in the Gateway, you can look up associations by keyword or by location. A second place to locate associations is Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations. This multi-volume encyclopedia is present in the reference section of all major libraries.

You (or your Virtual Assistant) will then need to call these associations and get the name and contact info of the program chair. Some program chairs will want to talk to you right away regarding your speaking topics, so be prepared to have that conversation on the fly. Being able to send them to your website to read more about the topics is also helpful. Others will want you to send information, so you'll need to draft an introductory letter that you can snail mail or email along with your speaker one-sheet.

Once you've got a speaking engagement, ask the program chair some questions about the audience so that you can better tailor the speech to fit their needs. I learn best through hearing stories, so as I'm asking questions about the audience, I'm going through my own list of illustrative stories I've told to see which ones might best match my audience's needs. Remember that your audience wants a full experience of you as well as the information that you're providing, so be sure and inject alot of your personality and wit and humor into your speech.

Before your speech, determine how you want to get audience members into your marketing funnel. Do you want them to sign up for a complimentary consultation on the spot? If so, bring your calendar or a sign-up sheet. Do you want to get them on your mailing list? Give away something at the end of your presentation that is compelling enough for them to part with a business card or to write down their contact info to enter the drawing. If your goal is to get them on your email newsletter list, be sure and get their email address. If you use direct mail, you'll want to get their physical mailing address.

The day of your presentation, just relax and have fun! This may be the hardest of any of the steps outlined here, but being authentic and being yourself will get you in the good graces of most of your audience, despite what you might say (or forget to say!). Think of your presentation as the beginning of a great relationship that you're establishing, and leave your audience feeling good about themselves and about you.
Try and book 2-3 speaking engagements per month, and soon you'll become the "go-to" expert in your industry!


Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com