Building Your Brand…. It's Not About Your Product Or Your Services
This past weekend I spent three days with some of our TOP clients and the woman who owns the #1 Female Informercial, Chalene Johnson. What a weekend it was!
As we learned how to create better videos, use the right lighting, speak clearly, focus on one idea and identify our brand, small business owners were taken to the next level for what I honestly believe will be the LARGEST change the internet has yet to see. Even bigger than the role social media now plays in our business, the emerging growth of Mobile Marketing, which includes Smartphones, iPads, Nooks and more will completely change the way we do business online. It will also demand more than EVER that we understand and identify our brand and our message.
As I shared with you last week even, Dan Kennedy is doing video for crying out loud….. shocking changes online!
Why is Dan Kennedy doing video so shocking?
Because the man has branded himself as a 'cave living writer' who rarely comes up to speak to humans unless it's scheduled and is worthy of his attention. Dan Kennedy has forever prided himself in not owning a cellphone, let alone a Smartphone. There was no way I ever thought I'd see him use the word, "Tweet" or "Facebook" in his lessons…. and yet, before our very eyes, after leading a combined effort to $1 Billion Dollars in sales, he's stepped into video! ( see video now )
Pay very close attention to where video shows up and will show up in the next 10-12 months. Brands are moving rapidly through video!
For example, when you order that Best Seller on your Kindle or iPad watch what changes are coming your way! It's likely that you'll see a new "Special Embedded Video" edition rising up. What does this mean? It's an amazing version of the entire book with multiple embedded videos scattered throughout the pages. Research Dave Ramsey's new book EntrePreneurship. Right on iTunes you'll find a Special Embedded Video Version, which brings you even closer to his brand…. which is essential, himself.
The changes keep coming…
As I have watched Apple roll out their iAds it's become quite obvious that we could literally be entering a time when there will be no use or need for web browsers as we know it. Think this through… if you're on your iPad or Smartphone it's not likely you'll even USE your browser like you might have if you were on a laptop or desktop computer. You might start browsing Facebook on an App, move over to Hootsuite to check your Twitter feeds, mosey over to your Kindle to read a book and if you do need to use Google, it's most likely you'll do so through….. you guessed it, an app! And you'll do it following people, messages, personal contact… not products or services!
Things are changing and it's so important that you not only begin to understand, prepare and ACTIVATE for these changes, but you need to get your brand's message right. Mobile marketing demands even more now than ever that our BRAND be wrapped around who we are and what we do. This is why Dan Kennedy could step into the online space through video and not miss a beat. Plain English? People want to see YOU and YOUR face and what you stand for on their mobile devices, not a glorified overly done website.
When thinking through your brand, it's important to ask yourself "Who Am I?" but remember, the answer to this question must lead to what people view you as. This might be a bit different than how you see yourself!
If you're a professional and are used to being called "Dr So and So" or "Vet So and So" that is not going to work with branding. What you DO for people is where the focus needs to be. This information will be hard for some to swallow but your college education, degree and investment into that Ivy League University means NOTHING when it comes to your brand, long term. What does matter, what is BIGGER than that, is what do people want YOU for ahead of all others? Do you make people well quickly? This is part of your brand. Do you treat breaking all rules of traditional medicine? Than this would be a great brand-leading message.
What result do you bring people? What are YOU an expert at?
This is your brand. This is what people will know you as and remember for.
We can easily can see why it's important to not wrap our brand around our product or service.
Always remember that people are never loyal to products or services. To get your brand into the minds and the hearts of the right people, my friends… wrap your brand around Y-O-U.
