If you want to succeed today, others need to acknowledge you as a leader in your field. Whether you are self employed or work for someone else, your personal and business success will drive perception by your peers, clients, employers, partners and others.
The good news is that if you are knowledgeable in your field, you can brand yourself as a guru and leader in your field. Do you want to learn how to become a digital marketing expert like Valorous Circle? Or learn how to you open up doors that are only open to gurus?
Your brand is your identity in today’s economy. You need to define who you are, what you are and how you want your audience to see you. This includes having a logo or trademark. Follow these steps:
Define Your Brand
- Color palette that is part of your identity
- Catchy tag line
- Consistent, professional appearance online and off
- Branded website & blog
- Branded social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube, and possibly Pinterest)
- Top quality business cards
Have a Good Story
- Stories sell. You need a story that will entertain, inspire, educate and instruct your audience and your story needs to be outrageous (not offensive – there is a key difference). This is our brand of digital marketing.
- Have a 30 second version of your story that you can use to introduce yourself to people
- Have a 5 to 10 minute version of your story for those one-on-one meetings with your audience or for the inevitable leads group presentation.
Meet Your Audience Online
- In the old days you used newspaper, direct mail, radio and television
- Today you need to meet and connect with your audience online. This includes a branded website, blog, social media and email marketing.
Be Easy to Connect With
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Share your email address, phone number, social media profiles and other ways to connect with you. After they firmly establish you are a guru, you can put a small bit of distance between you and your audience (like an executive assistant) although always err on the side of being more available to your audience, not less available.
Network, Network, Network
- Creating great content online and posting to your social media channels will only go so far. Reach out and connect with people to leverage your online marketing and branding.
- Thank people who connect with you online and offer your services to them (don’t be pushy) should they ever need them.
- Be available to answer questions. We have found monumental success by letting people know that we’re available to answer questions – no strings attached.
- Meet face-to-face when possible. Meeting over breakfast, lunch, coffee/tea still drives business. Even a Zoom meeting where both parties are present is an improvement over normal text and call conversations.
- You can have people search you out and reach out to you for your expertise. The key is to ensure that you brand and market yourself effectively online.
Take it from a company with an extensive history of knowing how to become a digital marketing expert. It takes time and hard work. But your peers will know who to ask for guidance when your subject matter knowledge meets their inexperience.
