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4 Easy Ways to Brand Yourself as an Industry Expert

After reading Maria Elena Duron’s post, Drop the Personal and Professional – You Are One Brand, I got thinking about personal branding. I think a lot of micropreneurs struggle to create a separate identity for their companies, when, in fact, they’re better off using their personal brand to represent the company. So I wanted to look at a few ways you can brand yourself and leverage that personal brand on behalf of your company.

1. Be Yourself

I can’t, for the life of me, maintain a stuffy “professional” facade for very long, especially in my writing and social updates. But I’ve actually found that people respond better to my conversational style of writing and my personal shares on Facebook. I try to keep my clients on my company’s Facebook page rather than my personal profile, but I am friends with a few clients there. And they’re the first ones to like pictures of me with my kids, silly updates, and the like. It’s no surprise to me that those clients are the ones I have the best relationship with.

What I’m saying here is this: being yourself is your brand. If you don’t make a big point of separating your life from your work, people will feel like they know you better. Now, I’m not saying post on social media without a filter. Maybe no one (clients included) needs to see a picture of you hung over after New Year’s. Just sayin’. Read more

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December 15, 2014
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5 Tactical Tips On Presenting Like a Pro

Whether you’re overseeing a board meeting or pitching a new client, one of the most important skills for any small business owner are presentation skills. It’s normal to feel nervous speaking in front of crowds, but implementing these five tactical tips will help you overcome your anxiety and make your next presentation more memorable to your audience.

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  1. Tell A Story

This is easily the most important tip for great presentations. Fact, figures, features and benefits are great, but no one will remember them. Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said… but they will never forget how you made them feel.” That’s why fables, parables, and business books all have their message hidden within a story.

Using a simple Situation, Problem, Action, Result framework can help you outline your story. For example, to sell a light, you might tell a story about a client looking to reduce costs with LED (situation) but didn’t have the money to buy new fixtures (problem). So you retrofit their existing lights so they could use LED bulbs (action) and the client saved 35% off their electricity bill (result). It’s a powerful framework sure to make any presentation resonate. Read more

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November 24, 2014
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What the Box says about Your Product (and Business)

We all know the value of developing a trustworthy, authoritative brand for our businesses, which is why we place great efforts in our designs, copy, advertising, marketing, customer support, and all other activities to leave a positive impact on our market and customers.

One element of this bigger, branded picture that doesn’t seem to receive a lot of mention (or effort) is the product box and packaging.

Imagine, if you will, that you have just purchased a product from a company you love; a few days later the package arrives at your home and looks barren, slightly scuffed from the transit, and, when opened, you find they didn’t do a great job at keeping your product safe.

This would change your perception of the business brand, would it not?

There are many types that can bring a significant branding experience:

  • Flexographic - “ This is your basic printing which gives you usually 1 to  3 colors; it’s ideal for those businesses that want to create colorful, eye-catching packaging while displaying their logo, making it easy to see (including when the neighbors see the package come in).
  • Digital - “ This is where brand ability truly takes off because it gives you the option of applying full-color print; this type of option would be ideal for those companies trying to present an edgier placement in their marketplace (and want to show they go the extra mile even with something as basic as the packaging).
  • Litho Laminating - “ This is where you are able to take high-quality photos and have them transferred directly on the box; this is the point where the box almost becomes a product in its own right (some people will keep it for collecting) while also being an item that is bound to draw attention if it’s on store shelves or in transit.

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September 5, 2014
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