Working With Personal Branding Clients, I Hear Many Questions...
Everyday I hear from clients, potential clients and friends who know I am in the Internet Marketing business asking questions about how to make this seemingly mystical world work for them. The questions are as wide and varied as the people that ask them. One area that always seems to spur a flurry of questions is personal branding. When working with personal branding clients, my answer is always the same and for some too simple to be true. I tell them the answer lies in Aesop’s Fables.
The Question
“I have many clients representing a diverse sampling of literally every age group. What is the best social media channel to reach such a diversified audience?”
The Answer
This is an excellent question that highlights an age-old truth that must be embraced to be successful with your online marketing plan. Part one of the answer is: “Forget about what is the best social media channel.” The second and most important part of the answer is: “You are asking the wrong question.” The question you should be asking is, “What is my Why?”
Wait! What?
Social media channels change everyday and that is something you can never control or predict. Google+ just rolled out a big makeover with a totally new look and lots of new features. New Social media channels appear everyday. Pinterest is relatively new and now rivals Facebook as far as the average time people spend on each. Who’s to say what Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram will look like in a year? Who can predict and plan for which one will be the best solution for your company or organization next year to connect with your supporters?
What Can You Control?
Your message and your why, that’s “What”. What is your “Why”? Simon Sinek, an accomplished author, public speaker and renown expert in the field of internet marketing, clearly illustrates the answer to the question above. Visit his website at http://www.startwithwhy.com/ to hear it in his own words.
Simon says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” If you clarify why you do what you do, then folks that are drawn to your cause or message will find you and connect with you from any channel they prefer.
Your message is something that you can control. Your message and your “Why” is something that will be relevant for years to come regardless of the media used to deliver the message.
Write It And Publish It - They Will Come
Here’s the hard part. Hard though it may be, this is truly how you can get a leg up on your competition. Your competition will be like the grasshopper who hops from one social media outlet to the next but won’t want take the time needed to develop a content publishing plan that actually details why their business exists and why they do what they do. That takes too much work and effort. They will just do Twitter or Facebook.
However, like the ant, you use your inner strength and create the relevant and revealing content about your “Why” all summer long. You blog often and regularly and publish it to all the relevant channels of the day to help and educate your prospects. The payoff? You will have new customers all winter long unlike the poor grasshopper.
Creating a message that is 100% your message about why you do what you do as well as what you do and publishing that message frequently and regularly worked to develop Aesop’s personal brand, and he never even had a website. So you see, the answer really can be found in the success of Aesop’s Fables.
Need a few more tips & tricks from the team at ROI Online? Request a free Personal Branding Brain Storming Session.
