The Bridge to Your Brand
Likeability
Marketability
Credibility
By S. Renee
Published by S. Renee at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 S. Renee
Discover other S. Renee titles at Smashwords.com
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
****
FOREWORD BY KEITH R. WYCHE
A There Is More Inside™ Product
Published by:
SRS Productions, Inc.
P.O. Box 177, Dover, DE 19903
302-736-5131
Or visit our website at
Copyright © 2011 by S. Renee
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from publisher.
The Bridge is a There is More Inside™ product. There Is More Inside™ is a registered trademark of SRS Productions, Inc.
Inquiries regarding permission for use of the material contained in this book should be addressed to:
SRS Productions, Inc.
c/o: S. Renee
P.O. Box 177
Dover, DE 19903
302-736-5131
Special Sales: There Is More Inside™ books and products are available in special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special interest groups. For information, please email srenee@srenee.comor call 302-736-5131.
Cover Design: Andy & Cheri Wenner, Aurora Art Company
Photographs: Jakeem C. Smith, JProductions Photography
****
Also by S. Renee
There Is More Inside
Personal Essentials Needed for Living a Power-Packed Life
****
The Bridge is dedicated to:
My sister, Wanda Marie Smith-Barclay
You are one of the most likeable people I know. You have been sent to this planet to be the bridge that leads people to love through laughter. Intuitive, funny, and generous, you love deeply and give liberally.
Out side of our parents, you’re one of the most credible people I know, and the only person on earth I’d go to war with knowing you’d show up on time, do what you said you would, and no questions asked, have my back.
Now, that’s a brand to brag about!
I love you, Sis
****
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A gigantic “Thank You” to the special people who love, surround, and support me and my outlandish dream to kiss the world with the voice of love and self-empowerment.
• My parents, William J. Smith, Sr. & Shirley M. Taylor-Smith whose brand is as tight as they come: “We’ll be there for our daughter no matter what—praying, uplifting, and encouraging her to be her best and do what she’s been sent to this planet to do and become.”
• My Aunt Joan Draine-Burris. You love me as a daughter and treat me like a sister. Glad we’re on the same path.
• My friend Kirra Cruise-Streat. For 26 years we’ve been on this journey together—laughing, crying, and sharing the secrets of our lives. Without judgment you stand with me, unconditionally loving and encouraging me to stay on the path. You are my BFF.
• My friend Kevin J. Bacot. You’ve caught my tears with your heart. God is full of surprises. Thankful for our friendship.
• My friend Phyllis Brooks-Collins. It was a divine connection when we met over a decade ago. Surprised by our immediate openness to share our hopes, dreams, and fears, you’re a reminder that we never meet a stranger. We’re just being introduced to ourselves over and over again.
• My friend and editor Sandra Scott. You traveled as an assistant and now you assist as an editor. In both cases we’ve had long nights (and conversations), tight deadlines, and great faith. The last six years have been as amazing to me as you have expressed them to be for you. It’s good to be a gateway.
• My friend Chris Delprince. You’re always looking for ways to help me to help others. You believe in my mission, message, and value. But above all, you believe in me.
• My brother Joseph. You’re committed to the cause. Like the undercurrent of a river you’re always moving; quietly serving without the need for acknowledgment.
• My brother Mark. Your serious interest and commitment to follow my message astonishes me. You excitedly watch television interviews and training videos, listen to radio interviews, and read my manuscripts. Then, you provide a detailed, analytical critique of my work. Someone has to have the courage to do it.
• My brother-in-law Thaddeus Barclay. It seems that when things get backed up, just in the nick of time you call, asking “How can I help?”
• My brother William Jr. and my nephews and nieces. Glad you’re leaving footprints in the sand.
• And to you, the reader. The Bridge was written for YOU! Six years have passed since the release of There Is More Inside, and for the last six years I heard: S. Renee, when are you going to write your next book? I thought about this new journey we would take together every year since we first met. Sometimes I thought about you for months at a time. In my mind, I would rehearse what we shared during workshops, private sessions, conferences, or chatting on the street.
Based on those experiences, I wanted to provide you with information that would help you to step higher, move faster, and feel better about who you are, your life’s journey, and your personal and professional relationships. This is it—The Bridge to Your Brand Likeability, Marketability, Credibility. A bridge provides safe and swifter travel from one side to the next. Fortunately, bridges don’t have to be everywhere—just in locations where conditions are impossible or too dangerous to travel. You know where you need bridges in your life. In those places, lay out the information in this book to help you cross over.
Remember, I am with you. I wish you safe travels across The Bridge.
~ S. Renee
****
KEITH R. WYCHE
President & CEO, Cub Foods
More than ever, to enjoy a successful career, build a lasting and meaningful relationship, or to even have a sense of inner peace requires introspection and planning. Given the competitive nature of the business world, the stress and demands of family life, and the desire for “drama-free” relationships, we all are looking for something or someone who adds value and meaning to our lives.
As I began my personal transition from “success to significance,” I began to understand the extreme importance of being “known” for something. Too often we spend our lives like a ship without a rudder unsure of who we are, what we stand for, and why we were put on this earth. Conversely, at the same time, we are attracted to those who have a keen sense of purpose, know their value, and are secure in their own skin.
A few years back, the term “Personal Branding” came into vogue. For many of us, it was an obscure term that we struggled to understand. We more clearly understood the meaning of brand when it came to products or companies. In my thirty-plus years in corporate America, I’ve been blessed to work for companies whose brands are highly respected. To this day when people learn that I once worked for IBM and AT&T there is an assumption of competence that I enjoy. In part, it’s because of who those companies are, and what their brands stand for.
However, in a personal sense, few of us really grasped the importance of having our own, individual brand. Just as a BMW is known as the “Ultimate Driving Machine,” and the Volvo brand is associated with “safety,” each of us, whether we know it or not, has a brand image. People make decisions about us, promote us, date us, marry us, or befriend us, based upon our personal brand. Likewise, they fire us, break up with us, “de-friend,” and divorce us if our brand does not live up to our brand “promise.” In a nutshell, does who we “really” are match who we claim to be?
More often than not, most of us do not fully comprehend what it takes to understand, develop, and manage our personal brand. We spend years on our jobs working hard, performing well, but not receiving the pay, recognition, or rewards we deserve. Not because we aren’t good professionals, but because we have spent little time cultivating our brand. We waste our most precious commodity—time—on people and relationships that end in disappointment. Not because we (or they) are bad people, but because we don’t fully understand our brand and embrace people who value and appreciate what we have to offer.
Life is a journey, filled with adventure and experiences. We travel from place to place, from one adventure to the next, crossing bridges that take us from where we are to where we want to be. To take such a journey without secure knowledge of who you are, why you are here, and what you have to offer leads many of us to a bridge to nowhere.
Fortunately, we have S. Renee to help us navigate this journey. As a life coach, seasoned professional, and a leading authority on personal branding, S. Renee has blessed us with a roadmap to creating a brand that contains the three most critical elements in branding: likeability, marketability, and credibility. I have had the good fortune of not only sharing the stage with S. Renee, but also, more importantly, being helped by her insight, wisdom, and knowledge in this all-important area—personal branding.
Every day when you walk outside your door, your brand goes before you. It speaks for you when you are not in the room. It defends you when you are attacked by the uniformed or the “haters” that life brings your way. It comforts you when failure rears its head (and it will). Most of all, it sustains and defines you in an ever-changing world.
I encourage you to take this journey called life and enjoy it to the fullest. As you do, allow S. Renee to help you navigate its difficult terrains, lead you through the expected and unexpected topographies, and help you create YOUR personal brand! If you allow it, The Bridge to Your Brand will help you achieve more than you ever thought possible, be more than you ever imagined, and give the world more than you knew you had to offer.
****
The Bridge to Your Brand
Likeability
Marketability
Credibility
S. Renee
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: PRINCIPLES FOR PERSONAL BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Innovation, Intellectual Property, and Value Proposition
CHAPTER TWO: FOUNDATION FOR BRAND SUCCESS
The Importance of Personal Branding
The Value of the Branding Process
Building Your Brand’s Foundation
The Pillars to Brand Development
CHAPTER THREE: PURPOSEFUL LIVING
****
PRINCIPLES FOR
PERSONAL BRAND DEVELOPMENT
DO YOU HAVE A BRAND?
It is a cold winter Sunday morning. I’m running 20 minutes late. Church starts at 11 a.m. It is 11 a.m. I still have to pick up a child I’m mentoring who lives 15 minutes away. I arrive at his home. Instead of sending my usual text “I’m here,” I anxiously, but gently blow the horn. He walks to the car, opens the door, and jumps in. While pulling the seatbelt, he says, “Ms. Renee, you are the only person that trusts me.”
Showing no emotion, yet completely shocked by his eyebrow-raising statement, I wait to hear the click sound of the seatbelt that lets me know it’s okay to begin to back out of the driveway. As I put the car in reverse I’m suspiciously wondering: Am I about to get punked by a seven-year old? Shifting to a mindset lacking emotion or judgment, I asked, “Why do you say that?” Without hesitation he said, “Because every time something happens, my mom asks me what happened, but when I tell her she doesn’t believe me.” Trying to be objective, yet wiser than the mini man, I threw out another question. “So why doesn’t she believe you?” I don’t know, he replied.
I understood his bewilderment. Like what many of my adult clients face, this young child’s quandary illustrated a classic personal branding issue based on past events and behaviors. I searched my mental database looking for an age appropriate way to explain his problem and how he could solve it.
After serious contemplation, I couldn’t decide. Hesitant to guide him from pure assumption that he had created some trust challenges that needed correcting, I waited to collect more data. Driving on to our destination, I decided that reassuring him with a list of people who trusted him would suffice for the moment. I did, however, bookmark his statement intending to revisit it when I could best serve him.
Later that day we went to his favorite place, McDonald’s. After eating a six-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal, a cherry pie, and drinking some chocolate milk, he claimed he was still hungry. Surprised, I asked, “Are you sure?” Nodding his head up and down I continued, “What would you like?” He pointed to an oversized color poster hanging on the window that advertised a 10-piece Chicken McNugget for $1.99. “I want that,” he said energetically. “It’s only a dollar ninety-nine.” I didn’t offer to buy it for him right away because I wanted to give myself more time to think and make a good decision.
Finally I asked, “And what else?” He added, “A small fry.” After some savvy seven-year old negotiation, I silently opened my purse and pulled out my wallet. Looking for $3 for the $2.99 meal, I began explaining to him how to go to the counter, place his order, and pay the cashier. Watching closely from afar, I heard the cashier say, “You don’t have enough money.” Thinking that I could have made a mistake and not wanting him to feel embarrassed, I rushed over to find out where I went wrong in totaling $1.99 + $1 = $2.99.
Puzzled by the miscount, I looked probingly into the eyes of the cashier and asked, “He doesn’t have enough money?” She confidently replied, “He ordered a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, a small fry—and a smoothie.”
I smiled at her, peered down at the mini man, and gave him my you’ve-been-naughty look. I requested that she remove the smoothie from the order. I then walked slowly back to the dining area to wait patiently and wisely for him. As I perused my mental database again for the best way to handle this defining moment, I suddenly remembered the statement he had made earlier. But before I could say one word, the 4’2” fella hopped up in the seat and cleverly declared that the smoothie was for me. “I wanted to surprise you,” he announced.
I thanked him for his attempt at generosity. Then I carefully constructed an illustration that explained why surprising someone with a gift by spending their money on what he believed they wanted failed to exhibit genuine kindness. I also revisited his opening statement for the day, “Ms. Renee, you are the only person that trusts me.” This led to his first free coaching session on personal branding and its impact on his present and future relationships and endeavors.
If you are like him, you may not realize that you have a brand that you’ve been consciously or unconsciously building since you came to this planet. It’s the reason you were treated a particular way in school by your classmates and teachers. It’s what’s causing you to be overlooked and underestimated. It’s your brand that is still tagging along with you determining your personal and professional advancement.
The most important point to recall is that you have a brand. At any moment, you can assess it, redesign, and launch a new brand, which is probably the reason you are reading The Bridge.
If you’re just beginning the branding process, I would recommend that you complete this exercise. Write down three adjectives you think describe you. Then select and ask three people to provide you with three adjectives that describe you. Consider a family member, friend, and co-worker. Ask a customer, neighbor, or pastor. Supervisors, spouses, and children are also great contributors to this fact-finding process.
It is important that you give them permission to be honest and objective. Tell them that you are trying to grow and need their help. This will ease their mind to share their honest thoughts and feelings with you. Do not punish them for their honesty by debating, defending, or forcing them to justify their submissions. More than likely, the adjectives that you see more than once or the synonyms to those words indicate the way you’re received and perceived by others.
Even if you don’t like, agree with, or want to accept the descriptors, you have to remember that it’s the way others see you that is important during the research stage. It’s like going to the doctor; a diagnosis comes through the process of elimination. You have to figure out what is and isn’t working for you. What you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. What you like about what people are receiving and perceiving from you and what you don’t like.
As I tell my clients, stop saying, “I don’t care about what people say about me.” That’s not a true statement. You may not care about what everyone is saying about you, but you care about what some people are saying about you especially those you depend on for support. And, everyone needs support from others.
Did the adjectives that you wrote down to describe yourself match the ones given to you by others? The data collected serves as a starting point to awaken you to the fact that people have a clear opinion of you. That opinion matters, especially in environments where you spend the majority of your time—at home, work, and in other social settings. Awareness is growth. Are you awake and aware of what’s going on around you? What about what’s going on because of you?
****
WHAT IS PERSONAL BRANDING?
Brands are everywhere. Before you leave for work in the morning you use, see, hear, touch, and smell hundreds of them. Some you purchase out of necessity and others you purchase because they fit your style. Then there are some you choose because you think they will sharpen your image, convey the message you want others to believe about you (without telling them), or you just want to remind yourself that you’ve made it and you have something to feel confident about.
Regardless of the reason you purchased a specific brand of product or service, millions of dollars were spent to market the product to ensure that you recognize, like, and trust it. Millions more were spent to protect that perception and in return for that perceived faithful relationship, you spend your money. In some cases, the effective branding strategy will trigger an impulsive response in you, which will cause you to spend money you don’t have or you didn’t intend to spend. Directly hitting your emotional hot spots, these brand products promise to deliver what you want if you use them—sex, money, power, influence, great relationships or something that eventually leads up to those things.
Although there aren’t many differences in product and personal branding, one of the conclusive differences is the size of the financial budget to research, develop, market, maintain, and protect your brand. Fortunately, unless you want to reach celebrity status and have that level of an impact in the marketplace, you won’t need a large budget for personal brand development. You do need time for reflective thinking and strategy development. But if you are serious about getting results, you need a branding coach, which can range from a few hundred dollars for a consultation to a few thousand dollars depending on who you hire to help you, what you are trying to achieve, and how much money you want to generate from that brand.
Once you discover, understand, and implement the foundational pillars of personal branding [Chapter 2], your responsibility is to be loyal to the most important brand: YOU. In many cases, unfortunately, this may be the most difficult task. That’s because who we think we are versus our decisions that inform us of who we really are may disturb our existing self-concepts and behaviors. As you read, you’ll learn about the consistency factor that determines if your personal brand ever gets to a level of credibility. Once your brand has evolved to that level of acknowledgment and success you’ll have a believable, buyable, and bankable brand.
So, what is personal branding? Personal branding is your personal identity. I’m not speaking of personal identifications like your driver’s license, credit card, or Military ID. These are external items that can be given away, stolen, and with good fortune, replaced. And although political parties, social organizations, and special clubs are great places to network and express your points of view, they are not your personal identity either. They are, however, identifiers that can support stereotypes and pigeonhole you if you depend on them to form your identity.
Retain this: Your personal identity is your unique footprint in the universe. Among the approximately seven billion people on planet earth, it’s what makes you exclusive, exceptional, and distinctive. It’s the value people get from interacting with, hearing, or experiencing you through your most valuable commodity—You! Your personal identity is naturally you. Your personal brand is how you choose to package and present that identity to the world.
****
IMAGE VS PERSONAL BRANDING
The Internet has leveled the playing field and literally opened the market giving us access and innovative, exciting ways to find employment, build businesses, and connect with family, friends, clients, and, yes, even strangers. YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, ODesk, Twitter, and other business development and social networking sites have broken the chains of tradition, becoming gateways to accessing a vibrant buying, selling, and hiring marketplace.
In addition, the new economic, political, and social climate is inspiring us to swiftly redefine our passions and priorities and how we express them. The workplace as we have known it is rapidly transitioning; creating an open market. A corporation no longer has to hire a person on their native soil to get work done. They can literally hire someone in another country to make and receive calls, build and update their websites, and solve technical difficulties.
Subsequently, forward-thinking leaders are shifting company cultures and projecting how to best attract, recruit, and retain the most dynamic trailblazers of upcoming decades. These leaders are looking for responsible partners not employees. The partners come fully loaded with utilizable intellectual property and presence that adds value to the organization’s goals and direction. The partners come knowing that they are knowledgeable, but don’t know it all. Therefore, they’re open to growth through experience and learning centers—books, internal and external development workshops, and industry conferences and forums.
In the ever-changing, extremely competitive marketplace—in addition to slaying micro-managed leadership styles that squash creativity and risk-taking—a well-rehearsed, staged presentation that fits what you think leadership is looking for is not going to fly anymore. Therefore, an image that mirrors leadership is no longer a guarantee for success. If they already have one, why do they need another? You have to give them a logical reason to want to pay the big bucks for you! And unlike the last several decades where showing up for work on time, keeping your mouth shut and doing your job secured rewards, career advancement now depends on innovation, intellectual property, and value proposition.
Get this: According to Google, Googlers (the term used to describe employees of Google) “thrive in small, focused teams and high-energy environments, believe in the ability of technology to change the world, and are as passionate about their lives as they are about their work.” Notice how they describe their environment as high energy. This is what we used to call fast-paced environments. Fast-paced describes a behavior that leads to a mindset. The mind is often overwhelmed, confused, and frustrated because its environment is controlling its thought process. High-energy describes a mindset that leads to a behavior. In this case, the mindset is already established prior to entering the workplace. It is focused, creative, and free to make decisions. Big difference, wouldn’t you say?
Also, take note of the statement that they are as passionate about their lives as they are about their work. This means that their work doesn’t create their life, their life creates their work. When your life mirrors your work then you are living your passion at home and at work. When your work mirrors your life you are trying to make your life fit the work. This path has led to a lot of unhappy people. In the past, our work defined us. When the shift came we were given permission to define our work by bringing our experiences, creativity, and passion to our jobs. As Rick Warren, bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life was urging us nearly a decade ago to find and live a purposeful holistic lifestyle.
****
INNOVATION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND VALUE PROPOSITION
I was having lunch with Ernest J. Dianastasis, Managing Director at Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI), a global international company in existence for 30 years with approximately 3000 employees. I wanted to know the secret to their branding success. Without hesitation, he said it was staying innovative, along with staying ahead of the curve of industry changes. “Our customers want to experience high productivity, meet deadlines, and stay within budget,” he proudly stated. “We look for the best and brightest minds straight out of college. They know the latest in technology, and that keeps us on the cutting edge.” Over the course of our 90-minute conversation, he shared the three most important elements to business and personal success—
1. Innovation: stay on top of your game
2. Intellectual Property: know what you know and make sure that your market knows that you know it
3. Value Proposition: clearly define how what you know benefits your market
Since you were hired, the company or organization chose you because of your perceived value to them. They purchased the value of your image, which is your personal brand. But personal branding is more than putting on stylish clothes and having a polished presentation. In the twenty-first century, you have to be who you say you are. This includes your personality, style, skills, experiences, creativity, and intellectual property, which your partner (employer) believes synergizes with the values, vision, goals, and direction of the organization. Hopefully, you accepted their offer because you believe in their brand—the culture, products or services, public awareness, and community service they tout.
Learn this: Your task now is to use specific strategies to solidify your personal brand in their minds, create a buzz about you, and exhibit the value you bring in the ever-evolving, busy and noisy competitive marketplace. The Bridge is a resource for your growth in helping you to position and equip yourself to successfully cross this challenging terrain of personal brand development and maintenance.
****
CHAPTER TWO
FOUNDATION FOR
BRAND SUCCESS
THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL BRANDING
During my first presentation on personal branding, I stood before an audience of approximately 300 people and held up a can of Coke, also known as Coca-Cola. I asked three questions: How many people have seen this product? Everyone raised their hands. How many people have used this product? Again, everyone raised their hands. Can I get three people to tell me why you used this product? The responses: I was thirsty. I was sick. It tastes good. Based on the responses to these three simple questions, it was evident that Coke has a brand. Why? It’s recognizable, likeable, and a trusted problem-solver.
You may be thinking that’s obvious. Coca-Cola Company is a global leader in the beverage industry offering over 500 brands in 200 countries with more than a billion consumers per day. Of course, it’s recognizable, likeable, and a trusted problem solver. You’re correct, but it didn’t start there.
According to About.com, pharmacist John Pemberton initially concocted Coca-Cola as a patented medicine. Interestingly, it was first sold to the public as a soda fountain drink. Only nine servings were sold daily. First year sales totaled about $50. Since Pemberton’s expenses were $70, he suffered a loss. About a year later, he sold the formula for $2,300 to pharmacist and businessman Asa Candler. Nearly 10 years later, Candler’s marketing strategy made Coca-Cola one of the most popular soft drinks in America.
Over the years, Coca-Cola and its advertising company McCann-Erickson have created various successful marketing campaigns to tell their story. Do you remember the slogan It’s the Real Thing? It’s one of the most popular ads ever created. Finding a commonality among people, Coca-Cola built the story on the premise that a Coke is more than just a soft drink—it brings people together, a way to spend time together. Birthed out of that story was the theme song I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke. The lyrics are:
I'd like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honeybees, and snow white turtledoves.
I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony,
I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
It's the real thing…
After the radio campaign failed, $250,000 was invested in a television commercial that began running in July 1971. The response was described as immediate and dramatic. By November 1971, more than 100,000 letters about the ad were received. People began calling radio stations requesting them to play the commercial. Advertising surveys still indicate that I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke is one of the best commercials of all time.