The Power Of Branding And What It Can Do For You

Branding is very important.

It doesn’t matter if you are an entrepreneur or you are still employed. Branding can do a lot for you and I’ve enjoyed the benefits of branding in a very personal way.

2 Saturdays ago, I attended Gobala’s mastermind session at a hotel.

I enjoy going for seminars to hang out with other marketers.

In the past, I was actually quite a shy person when I attend seminars, I noticed something different about this one.

Most of the time I would sit in a corner and interact mostly with the group that I’m familiar with. Back then, saying ‘hi’ to a stranger and shaking his/her hand was quite a challenge for me. Although I’ve conquer that weakness, I did something new this time…

I walked around the seminar basically just chilling out and getting my own food. But as I was eating, a couple of the attendees (total strangers to me) started CALLING ME BY NAME and stretching out their hand to shake mine!

Now… I’ve never considered myself as a famous person since I’ve always kept a low profile, but because of my reputation in Internet marketing, I seemed to have gained somewhat of a celebrity status over the past few months.

It’s nothing to shout about actually, but things really were different because a few people were fighting for my time, asking me for advice, going out of the way just to get to know me and I notice others were just hanging around our circle eager to start a conversation with I but feeling nervous about what to say (the same scenario I faced years ago when I was a nobody!) In a strange way, it feels good to see people talk to me and ask me about my personal life as though they had done some research about my life before talking to me (mostly through my blog as they asked me about my copywriting expertise and my recent wedding).

Here’s what I think…

When you are perceived as an expert, a couple of things happen (and I’ll relate my personal experience to you):

• If you are a service provider, people will choose YOU over others. If you are an employee, you will be head hunted by good companies. Although I believe that working 9-5 sucks and I never intend to get a job for the rest of my life, I believe that it will still grant ‘branded’ employees certain leverage compared to a common wage slave.
• You don’t have to SELL. In other words, you will be perceived as an expert rather than a peddler or a sleazy salesman. I’ve never sold my services before - my clients seek me out and come to me (and they refer MORE clients to me for free)!
• You don’t have to differentiate on price - I NEVER differentiate on price (and I never over-charge either). If I did, I’ll be out of business. There are many cheapskates in the world who offer poor rates for my services. I can very well live without them because you have to be very clear how much your time is worth. If you feel that you are worth $1,000 a month, you can do it by getting a job. However, I believe that I’m worth much, much more than that so if you can’t afford my rates, it’s not my problem.
• If you are a teacher/coach/trainer, you can carry out your job easily because people are listening to you and when they in believe you. If you are just another guy in the street, people won’t take your advice seriously and you won’t be as effective. In my humble opinion, it is a waste of time. If they don’t perceive you as an expert, you would be better off saving your breath convincing them because it is an uphill battle trying to convince others.
• You don’t have to waste so much money on advertising. I’ve never spent a cent advertising my services. I believe that if you do a good job, people will perceive you as an expert in your field and they will recommend your services to their friends and partners (after all, any sane human being will want the best for their friends and partners, so if you are the best, people will recommend you in a heartbeat)
• Your staff or underlings will do as they are told. You will face anarchy if your sub-ordinates disrespect you (or are staging a mutiny behind your back because they don’t respect your skills). I would never outsource writing work if I know nuts about it. How many times have you been ripped off at a car mechanic because you know little about cars? (You’ll see what I mean…)
• If you are an expert, money will come. Don’t worry too much about making money. People often do it at the expense of quality. That is wrong. Once again, if you do a good job, your happy customers will summon all their friends and they will beat a path to your doorstep.

I’ve learnt all about expert branding from 2 experts. I subscribe to their newsletter and I would not hesitate to open their E-mails. The first is Perry Marshall (AdWords/Sales & Marketing) and Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring (network marketing). These two are my gurus when it comes to branding and their teachings have changed my life

Try and brand yourself as an expert today and see what happens!

Technorati tags: branding, how to become an expert, expert branding, how to be known as an expert