Last week I gave a talk on personal branding for TIMA: The Triangle Interactive Marketing Association. I will eventually link to the full recording of the talk here on this blog but in the meantime I wanted to share my thoughts on what I call “3 Brand Words”.
3 Brand Words
Take a moment and think about how you want to be perceived. What do you want to be known for? What subjects do you want to own?
I want you to take out a piece of paper and write down 3 words or phrases that you want to be known for online. Some rules:
• Each cannot exceed 3 words
• It can’t be more or less than 3. It must only be 3 exactly.
• It can be a brand name (like your company name) but you may only use a proper name for 1 of your words
Focusing on Your 3 Brand Words
Why did I have you go through this exercise? It’s because without thinking about what you want to be known for, you can’t possibly focus your efforts toward that goal. I can’t tell you how many people I meet that are just “a developer” or a “designer” or a “social Media guru”. I can’t possibly remember their name or the url or their twitter handle after the conversation.
The Goal to the 3 Brand Words Exercise
The goal is to identify those 3 words or phrase and set out to achieve this level:
What’s the name of that ___________ that ___________ and ______________?
And people know exactly who you are talking about.
My 3 Brand words are: Strategic Marketing, Content Creator, Hunger Advocate.
If someone were to ask “who is that marketing guy that does that web show and works with the food bank? I would hope that my name would be first to mind.
Pitfalls of the 3 Brand Words
When I took members of the TIMA audience through this exercise, many fell into some common traps. One woman listed 3 words that spoke more towards core values. Terms like integrity, honesty, etc. Unless you wrote a book all about “integrity”, it is not specific enough nor unique enough.
Another rattled off a number of terms all around sales: “B2B Sales, Technology Sales, Strategic Partnerships”. This read like a capabilities presentation…and a boring one at that. These brand words should be able to convey you as the individual not you only in your business sense. I suggested rolling all 3 of them into 1 and choosing 2 additional terms that describe a more 360 degree view of him as a person. This is extremely important because opportunities are born out of relationships. I can rattle off 330 B2B sales guy from memory right now. I don’t know who is better than who and I don’t care because I don’t need a sales guy. But if I know that one of them has kids the same age as mine or likes the Red Sox like me, or plays golf like I do, that personal connection rises him to the top of my “B2B Sales” file.
What are YOUR 3 Brand Words?
Now’s your turn! Take some time and figure out your 3 Brand Words. Then share them in the comments below or tweet them out using the hashtag #3BrandWords.
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Gregory Ng
GOAL: Visit 100 National Parks as a family by 2020. Favorite Parks: Zion National Park, Mt Rainier National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park
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