James Lafferty, former CEO of Coke, with the Pam and Dexter, Raymond Aaron, Dr. Mark Mckerkow, Connie Ragen Green at The UAB
This the second in a series of articles on the importance of branding yourself in today’s economy. As I mentioned in my earlier post, branding is a way to separate you, your product or service from the crowd. It’s the uniqueness that you offer that others are attracted to.
Most people don’t realize the importance of branding and how branding helps you increase your success in everything that you do. For example, did you know that your name is a brand? So, what are people saying about you? Are people attracted to you because you have a good reputation? Do you follow through, complete tasks, repay money? Do you take care of business? These are some of the things that signify a good brand in a person. As my Grandma would say, “Mean what you say, and say what you mean.”
Not knowing the importance of your brand can mean the difference between your current level of success and a higher level of success. I am sure you know some people who have had excellent brands but have diminished their value in some form. You hear about it every day in the news. For example, you often hear about a celebrity or professional athlete, who has created a multi-million dollar brand who does something to tarnish his reputation. Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Lindsey Lohan are just a few who come to mind. Recovery and brand restoration from these disasters are possible, but the damage can be lasting.
Branding is important in any business. What separates your business from all of the rest? Your business must be unique in today’s economy to get noticed. For example, professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants are beginning to use the power of branding to increase their business. They have realized that just being a Doctor, a Lawyer, or a Dentist is not going to guarantee success. There are so many of these professionals. The public has so many choices that it’s hard to tell them apart. For example, now lawyers are becoming The Injury Lawyers, The Accident Lawyers, or The Malpractice Lawyers. They are branding themselves as the authority in their fields. These professionals are saying that nobody can do it like they can.
Having the right brand is critical for your business. It determines where your brand will be on the “Branding Ladder”. On the Branding Ladder, you can go from brand absence, which means you have no brand to brand advocacy where people insist on only doing business with you. I will discuss this concept in more detail in a future post.
In The Book On Investing www.thebookoninvesting.com and The Savvy Investor Program™, we demonstrate to you how we are building a brand for our real estate investment firm, RADAR Investment, It’s Always On, www.radarinvestments.com. We use the principles of branding to separate the firm all of the other real estate investment firms. We are always on 24/7 looking for the best deal for our clients.
To find out more about how you can brand and grow your business in today’s economy (1) Sign up to receive our blog and other valuable business information and(2) Join us at Raymond Aaron’s The Ultimate Author Bootcamp ™ (www.ultimateauthorbootcamp.com).