Here’s the most important reality about ‘branding’ that you don’t learn until you are on the other side looking back . . .

Branding is more powerful than success, because it builds the kind of loyalty that you can bounce back from even after an epic fail.

And here is the second most important reality about ‘branding’ that you don’t learn until you are back on this side looking forward . . .

You already have one. 

The question is, who controls it? 

If you don’t know, then chances are that it’s not you, because active participation in the curation and creation process is required, in order to control your brand – which essentially means – you are controlling your narrative and people know what it is.

This article is about connecting the most important people you will ever meet in that process – YOU and your IDEAL CLIENT, and how to control what you represent (your brand, your narrative) so that it always represents who you are, what you believe in, and why. And then, why others need to know, care, and champion this, so that when they buy what you are offering, in some way it makes their life better. 

The purpose of this is that it ultimately builds unflinching trust in you as the core reason people buy, so that eventually, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling, what matters is that YOU’RE selling it. This is the premise of brand building, which has gone from public figures as spokespeople (celebrities, athletes, politicians), to everyday people as influencers, to now getting ready to blow the roof off of subject matter expertise (SME) marketing – because people have savvied up and are now wanting direct authority to what they are being sold, rather than paid bobble heads (spokespeople and influencers). 

If you are a subject matter expert, this is your opportunity to win IF you control your brand/narrative. 

(SME here is not to be confused with its other meaning ‘small and medium sized enterprises’) 

Sounds easy? It is if you follow the right roadmap (but it requires work). And if you don’t, it can become a very convoluted and expensive exercise that builds nothing but bills and frustration. 

And I’m going to tell you how to do this right (having worked intimately with celebrity, influencer, and SME brands for over 2 decades), but let me address something first so that we can get it out of the way . . . 

SME brand building is not what you think it is – being everywhere and doing all the things – that’s influencer marketing, also a very effective brand medium, although I strongly believe it will fizzle out, because people are discouraged from the disingenuous and inauthentic selling for money foundation that this form of marketing is based upon. We as a consumer are over being sold to. We want a real connection, which is what SME marketing is based upon. 

SME marketing is about connecting your expertise to what is being sold. If you are a subject matter expert, you are building a brand letting people know why you are an expert and can be trusted, which means you are doing less selling, as opposed to influencer marketing which requires you to build your brand by always being present, so people get used to your presence in their lives, which is the core ideology of how influencing builds trust. And celebrity marketing being different again, depending fully on aspirational lifestyle (that means, the one you probably cannot afford or won’t bring you genuine, long-lasting, personal fulfillment).

I did a whole masterclass on this a few years ago, sharing the secrets behind building a celebrity brand the right way (to benefit your business), even as an unknown (God knows I’ve worked with enough celebrities to know what does and does not work). HERE IT IS if you’re interested in learning the mindset and action steps behind how to do this for your personal brand and even how to leverage it to building your professional brand (if you have one) without the oodles of cash and resources celebrities have at their disposal, BUT also becoming a celebrity brand in your own right – they have a Bonafide action plan that you need to know so you don’t spend loads of cash and time, and not get to your promised land at the end of it all.  

Here is the starting point at understanding your brand, your narrative:

• Understand what a brand is and is not

• What the purpose of a brand is

• Who the consumer/client is that your expertise needs to speak to

• Create your brand to address to the above

• Tie the brand into all aspects of your communications

• Be consistent, but remember, quality is always better than quantity

• Evaluate the above with datapoints intermittently, to make sure that each aspect is working towards building your brand from your expertise and speaking to the right audience so that they trust you and buy what you are selling  

• If you are a business brand vs a personal brand, rebrand each time your pivot is substantial (this is a whole other blog, to identify the difference between both brand types and how to rebrand effectively, something we are currently in the throes of here at THE OPEN CHEST CONFIDENCE ACADEMY, but essentially, an SME brand can be both types of brands or just a personal brand – I’ll write an article on this soon)    

Why do all this work?

Because your competitor is doing all of this, and to be frank, if you aren’t intentional with your brand – personal or professional – you are allowing onlookers to make their own decisions about you. This is called passive branding – a big NO in my book, because this is how you give your power up to people who don’t know who you are, which speaks louder than you saying or doing nothing. I think you deserve a better representation of you, don’t you?

AND, when you stumble and fall, as we all do, even the most epic fail you can bounce back from, if you have built a successful brand presence (permanence). It’s more important than any success you could ever have (temporary).    

To get you started or to checkpoint if you’ve built your brand the right way for today’s world, I recommend that you read this article in the Harvard Business Review called “A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand”

Ready to dive in?

And if you want help in building or reimagining your brand (personal or professional), email us at [email protected], and tell us more, or book a free discovery call so we can get you on the right track before you spend all kinds or money and time to no positive end!

We’ve all heard it: “You only get one chance to make a first impression” (Will Rogers, America humorist & social commentator). Well, in branding, this is what you are doing every time you communicate publicly – change over change over change – put this on your whiteboard so you never forget it!