Personal Branding Works!

"Have your own trademark son. Have something that people will remember you for. A red tie, a flashy briefcase, anything that makes your customers remember who you are."


That was the advice my dad gave me when I got my first sales job selling Kirby vacuum cleaners in 1991. He didn't know it was called "branding" at the time, however that was exactly the lesson he taught me all those years ago.
When I was selling Kirby I always wore a red tie. Several years later when I was selling radio spots (a.k.a. commercials) I always wore a tie by the Ralph Marlin company (if you remember Don Nelson, NBA coach, he popularized Ralph Marlin's fish design ties while coaching games for the Milwaukee Bucks http://www.ralphmarlin.com/history.html). All the other sales reps wore "bland department store ties." I wore ties with race cars, Star Wars, and Buggs Bunny on them. Soon I could walk into a customer location and someone would say "hey it's the colorful tie guy!"
Did having a colorful tie directly lead to more radio commercials being sold, you bet!
With the hundreds of radio reps in the area, they remembered to give me a call because I stood out. Of course that wasn't the only reason they called, but it didn't hurt.
Personal branding helps whether it is for business, finding a job, or recruiting employees.

Times have changed and ties are not in fashion for most of the appointments I do today, however I now have three main things that I do to brand myself.

The first is very simple.
For the 13 years that I have been in the employment industry I have tagged all of my emails with the signature line "A Heck of A Nice Guy (hence the name of my blog column)."
Has it worked for business?
Absolutely!
I've walked many times into a business and the person I'm meeting with has said "you're the nice guy fella!" Customers have said at the end of meetings, "You really are a nice guy," or said so in emails sent after meeting to inform me of how helpful I was or how much they enjoyed the presentation.

Has it lead to business?
Of course it has!
People like to buy from people who are like them and are good people.
By putting "A Heck of A Nice Guy" into my signature I'm letting people know what they can expect when they deal with me.
Lets face it.
If you had to buy the same product at the same price and one person selling it was a jerk and the other was a nice guy, who would you buy the product from?
The tag line also serves as a reminder to myself to keep my clients needs above my own.
Clients know that I'm in their corner and will do everything I can to help them.
The second way I've branded myself is what has morphed into the blog that you are reading.
For several years I've sent out monthly newsletters and updates with helpful tips about sales and recruiting salespeople.
Lots of people and companies send out newsletters and email.
Mine have a twist.
Remember when email was new and everyone sent you jokes (usually the same ones over and over again!)
Each of my email updates had the bonus of two or three jokes at the end.
People who read the emails got some good content and the bonus of a couple of laughs (or at least a couple of groans).

Did it work? You bet!
I recently had to end the email version of this newsletter (hence the blog you are now reading).
Out of the 300+ customers on my email list, so far 78 of them have called or emailed asking me where their jokes were!
Several new customers over the years that I met for the first time mentioned "you're the guy with the jokes aren't you?"
When I attend meetings with customers I'm often asked for a joke, and over the years I've received several jokes from customers that they said I should include in my newsletter.
Has it lead to business?
Yes. People may have read my email updates just for the jokes (you might even be reading this post for the jokes), however the emails (and now the blog) succeeded in getting my company's name and myself in front of prospective customers. Several of whom became customers because they decided to call when they had hiring needs because the email update peaked their interest.
People don't buy just because of the jokes, however once again ask yourself would you rather buy something from someone with a sense of humor or not?

Now that we're moving on to 1999 technology
(http://www.articlesbase.com/accounting-articles/how-did-blogging-start-520324.html),
I hope this blog will be even more successful.

The third way I've branded myself is that I almost always wear a blue shirt.
You might be asking yourself what does that matter?
It may seem stupid, however this has worked for branding too.
Since we have our pictures on our business cards people have noticed the blue shirt I'm wearing in the picture on my card and the blue shirt I'm wearing in their office.
My high school soccer coach used to tell us to make sure our cleats were polished before every game because "if you look good, you feel good, if you feel good you do good."
Blue is my favorite color. I like it. It makes me feel good. Feeling good leads to confidence and that shows in front of my customers. The confidence reinforces the first two branding points.

Has it worked for business?
I doubt anyone bought something from me simply because I was wearing a blue shirt!
Confidence, attitude, business knowledge, personality yes, but not a shirt
(if you're a customer and I'm wrong let me know!).
I firmly believe that my soccer coach was right. Wearing a blue shirt hasn't gotten me business, but the results of looking and feeling my best sure have!

Turns out dad was right and a visionary.
Pretty good for a chef isn't it (http://www.keenerbooks.com/si/001992.html)!
Whether you are a job seeker, sales person, or a company that is recruiting, find or create something that you are known for and own it! If you are a company that offers great benefits, be sure that everyone who is in your industry (not just looking for a job) knows about it. When you need to hire someone you'll have candidates coming to you because they already are sold on the company. If you are a job seeker, find some angle that employers will remember you by. Find a tag line to put on your resume, or promote a special skill that you have that employers want.
Sooner or later someone will know that you have that skill and they will have a need for it and give you a call because you stood out in their mind. If you are a salesperson become known for something positive that makes customers want to call you.

Ev
"A Heck of A Nice Guy"