3 Big Mistakes When Launching Your Personal Brand

Creating a personal brand isn't easy. It takes planning, sweat, hard work, and more than a little luck to transform yourself and your company into something your audience instantly recognizes, and associates with positive qualities.

Sometimes, a single mistake to put a road block in your path, so before you get started, be sure you avoid the following three mistakes that can sink your brand before it's even started its maiden voyage.

Mistake #1: Not Being Authentic

Too often we try to tell people what they think they want to hear when it comes to impressions of us, or our business.

Sort of like how, when you show up for a first date, you make sure to wear your best clothes, break out the good aftershave, and make sure you only let out a filtered version of your thoughts and feelings.

You're trying to create a good first impression, which is laudable, but you need to make sure you're presenting your best self instead of some imaginary person you'll never be able to live up to. 

The former is just your regular brand with some extra spit and polish, but the latter is a false impression that can leave people feeling betrayed when they find out about the real you.

Mistake #2: Trying To Be A Jack of All Trades

When you build a brand, you need to decide what, specifically, your brand stands for. 

You also need to know what your customers expect from your business, and to focus on those aspects to the exclusion of all other things. The wider your focus, the smaller your overall impact is going to be.

For example, say you were a coffee shop, and your brand goal is to be known as the strongest, richest coffee in town. Naturally, you'd focus on having the sort of coffee that would make the spoon stand up straight. In order to diversify, though, you may be tempted to have a small selection of teas, and a few pastries for patrons to choose from, too. 

But that's not what Arizona success Dutch Bros Coffee did.  They stayed focused and now have lines that interfere with parking because they're so popular.  But yes, they had to give up extra income from alternatives when they were younger. 

If you try to be a jack of all trades, there's nothing to separate you from any of a dozen other coffee shops in the neighborhood, and the thing that made you truly unique has been swallowed up by your attempts to broaden your appeal.

Do one thing, and do it well, and your brand will stay strong.

Mistake #3: Talking Just To Hear Yourself Talk

One of the biggest problems you can have when it comes to branding is talking without saying anything of substance. 

​It's the fastest way to squander your energy, and to bore your audience before getting them to really look at who you are and what you do.

Think of your branding attempt as a boxing match, and your opponent is your audience's interest. Your audience is skilled at deflecting interaction that looks or sounds like advertisement, and completely immune to barrages of social media updates. 

As such, you need to make sure that when you do launch a statement that it's calculated, and powerful, in order to get past your opponent's guard. If you waste all your energy throwing out chatter that won't go anywhere, then you aren't going to win the fight.

These are the three biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to branding, but there's many others that can sink your ship or slow you down. 

If you're looking for more information on personal branding, why not let us help you create content to drive more leads. Learn more here.

3 Signs You Suck at Networking

Here’s a boring line to start out a blog post with: Networking is important for your professional career. You need to be constantly networking and marketing your business so that you can continue to grow (and closer higher-caliber leads). Despite this fact, many people really struggle with it. ​It’s hard.

They dread the thought of trying to make small talk with others, even though they know how important networking is. Many people are so shy that they have a hard time attending events. They simply can’t attend networking events.

Then, there are other people who are not good at networking at all, no matter how hard they try. Often, it can seem like the harder that they try, the worse it gets. Some come across as pushy, and are uncomfortable to be around. Many people try to avoid people who suck at networking, both online and off.

Here are three signs that you suck at networking.

• You DON’T go to an event each month. There are so many different networking events, both online and through word of mouth, that you should have no problem finding one to attend every month. Search around on meetup.com to find groups that look interesting to you.

You can attend ones for other professionals or just join a group of people who enjoy the same hobbies as your customers. Start getting you and your business name out there by attending more and more events. You may be amazed at the valuable feedback or referrals you’ll get.

• You spend time at every networking event with the same people. It is easy to network with people that you already know. However, you need to get out of your comfort zone and meet some new people. Otherwise, you are not doing anything to help you grow your business.
  You are there to spread the word and meet new contacts, not just spend time with your friends. Ask them to introduce you to others who might want to meet you and learn about your business.
• If you are really stuck with the same people, attend different events so that you are not drawn to them. I enjoy the challenge of going to an event where I know no one. That will force you to start talking.
• You are not networking online either. There are millions of potential clients online. You just need to reach them with social media marketing and networking. Join some groups and start interacting.
• Start a Facebook page or Twitter account and turn on notifications! Follow-up with people from events and tweet helpful resources to potential clients to get on their radar.

Just because you might suck at networking, does not mean that you have to give up. Unless you’re shoving business cards down my throat not listening to to the person you’re talking to. Then please do. Just freaking give up. Stay home!

It takes time to become more comfortable around people. With time, patience, and practice, you can become great at networking. You may even look forward to meeting new people once you get in the groove!

It is very important to start attending events every month so you can continue to grow your business. Learn to enjoy yourself and you start attending events several times a month. At events, you need to meet new people, not just hang around people that you already know — try to meet 3–5 new people. You also need to try to reach out to all of your potential clients that are online.

Originally published at www.handshakin.com.

Inspiration for Starting a Business

Starting a business is something that many people consider doing, but often don’t attempt because they are afraid to take risks. 

Most of us have an inner entrepreneur that wants to come out. However, we are (understandably) attracted to the notion of a steady paycheck with benefits and regular vacations. It’s hard to deal with the uncertainty of being short of income until your business idea gets off the ground. 

You should probably launch today…

Advice is easy to find on becoming an entrepreneur. There’s good advice, and there’s better advice. Your best bet is to speak to experts who can provide relevant advice that is actionable for you. Seek this from your local community, perhaps even from affiliated entities with a local government or with an institution of higher learning.

Mentorship or coaching is often free or offered for a small fee, enabling you to get your business venture started and explain what resources might help along the way. Find other entrepreneurs who have exited, or retired business professionals; they are often eager and willing to give inspirational advice on how to launch your startup!

Dream Big. Seriously.

The American dream is still alive! You can build a business out of nothing. Dream as big as you can when you consider starting a business. This helps attract top talent who can share your vision. But, get realistic as quickly as you turn to drafting the first business plan (or 1 page executive summary, which is even better). 

The key to becoming a successful entrepreneur is carefully studying your market and crafting a plan that really addresses a need. You also need a plan to support yourself while the business launches. Credit cards are a great alternative to a salary (many entrepreneurs that you may have heard of have done this, some of which I’ve had as guests on the Handshakin Video Series).

For more advice on starting a business, or to start building your credibility beforehand, check out our service HandBrander.

Originally published at www.handshakin.com.

5 Killer Ideas to Create Compelling Content from Your Next Networking Event

Networking events present countless opportunities for entrepreneurs including meeting influential people in your niche, building relationships that could lead to partnerships, and learning from top leaders thus improving your business skills and personal development.

Yet, there’s one opportunity that exist that isn’t being capitalized enough by entrepreneurs…

It’s to gather content for your content marketing.

You see, not only is building personal relationships a key component when attending networking events, but also leaving with content that you can share with your followers which as a result boosts your credibility and authority. This is indeed one of the best ways to taking advantage of social media and engaging with your audience.

Here are 5 simple ideas on how to create content right from yourentrepreneur networking opportunities:

#1 Quick 15-second video of you entering the event
Platforms like Instagram allow you to upload short videos for your social marketing. Think of these as short commercials. You could shoot a video prior to the event starting expressing how excited you are and what you plan to gain from attending. You could even mention some popular names. Immediately upload it onto your social media sites.

Periscope is also an excellent source to capture you live and in the moment. It has proved to do wonders for entrepreneur’s business marketing.

#2 Take photos with the hosts and/or speakers
This builds your credibility fast and shows that are serious about your business. By taking pictures with the speakers, you can use these in your social media by tagging them (increasing your exposure to their audience) and also in your blog posts as images in related topics.

It shows your audience that you are going somewhere…and they will follow!

#3 Record a snippet of the top speakers message
There are so many ways you can repurpose this type of valuable content when you capture the message on video. You can upload it on YouTube, post it as a video on your blog, share the video link to your email list, and of course on social media. By doing so, you are giving your audience concise value which keeps them coming back to you for more.

Plus, the speaker will appreciate the free exposure and credit (so long as you use it authentically and respectfully).

#4 Immediately blog about 2–3 key pointers
If this is a training networking event, be sure to take good notes to blog about later (which opens doors for SEO marketing), then syndicate it over your various platforms.
And by the way, you can share these key pointers in video too…expanding your content and online reach.

Out of blogging weekly for over a year, this Blog Post of what I learned from a speaker, Brad Feld, at Denver Startup Weekperformed as one of our top blogs.

#5 Ask questions…using video!

When implementing this tip, you will stand out from the pack! If time permits, ask the host/presenter/speakers if they wouldn’t mind shooting a short interview video with them. Have your 1–2 questions ready and give them a heads up so they can be prepared (some may be willing to do it right on the spot, check out some of the ones I’ve done on my personal YouTube channel). This is super powerful because it separates you not only in your audiences mind but now in the speakers mind. You’ve made a more personable connection. Who knows where that will lead!

Bonus Tip: If the setup is real nice and the décor on point, take pictures and use these as background images for your visual marketing pieces (i.e. quotes, helpful tips that include your logo for branding), just be careful of photographing art.

Imagine just choosing even 3 of the five ideas listed how you’ll have better long-term success in your networking and online presence. You will never run out of content to share and you’re creating a more profound experience at these networking events. Happy Networking!

Need more help with your content creation and building your brand? Contact us here! We’d be happy to help.

Originally published at www.handshakin.com.