In today’s world with instant response this provides a great lesson on communication of not only your brand, your message, but the key features you, your product, or your service provides.

Show, Don't Tell and Prompt Action (Image by Lisa)

We haven’t talked about personal branding in a while.  I go back and forth on this. Personal branding as a concept makes sense but in practice it to me is a form of self appreciation that is overrated. Focus on being great and good at what you do. From there your personal brand will build itself.

In that light here are two concepts while taken from the broader scope of branding can be applied when someone is focusing on the art of self marketing.

Show, Don’t Tell

Presenting yourself or your personal brand isn’t an idea or description. It’s an expression by example. When given the opportunity to present yourself don’t just tell what you believe but show what you believe. If you believe marketing one way is superior to another then show through your own efforts how this is effective. Yes, actions do speak louder than words.

Showing someone the way is more effective then telling the way. Have you noticed when someone on the street gives directions they oftentimes look in the direction you need to go then point when you or describe the route with their hands? This is becuase at the heart we a visual beings. We love a great story but we love it even more when it’s told through actions.

Prompt Behaviors, Not Ideas

We complete our internal conversations about things with our own actions, and by doing so we become associated (engaged) with a process. It’s one thing to have an idea, but moving people to action with this idea is another thing. Go beyond having your idea, work on taking your idea and connecting with people to spur the idea forward.

When you create a behavior this draws out a further connection with people.  Today, the messages and the interactions we have are two way streets. No longer do we broadcast messages out and they are there to be consumed. Consumption of your idea happens when people engage, react, and add to that idea.

To do this you must define the core of who you are to create the core of your personal brand.

This is the essence of you. What you are, your values, you personal mission from the inside out.

This is a critical element of your personal brand. You can’t fake this, if you do create a core brand that is not in alignment with your primary values everything around your brand will be completely ineffective.

A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or organization. It’s a person’s gut feeling, because brands are defined by individuals, not companies, not markets, or publics. It’s not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.

Your Core Brand Must Differentiate

Our brains act as filters to protect us from too much information. We are hardwired to notice only what’s different.

So explore your landscape and be different.

You want to create a personal brand for which people believe there is no substitute.

When you are speaking or doing something from your core you don’t have to think about it. In fact, your prospects or customers will resonate with this.

Communication is even more nonverbal as it is verbal. When you are speaking from your core of knowledge and experience no matter what medium you choose, this will resonate true.

Core Brand Creation

Creating a core brand is not as easy as it looks. Answering the below questions will help you get started but keep in mind this takes focus.

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• Why does it matter?

Unless you have amazing answers to these questions you need more focus.

Or more concise questions:

1. Clearly define your product or service.
2. What are your core values?
3. What is your personal mission in life?
4. What is your tagline? Yes, personal brands need taglines.

Now comes the difficult part. You must take the above items and dig even deeper. The goal here is to get to the level within yourself where the core of what you do and say comes natural.

This done correctly will create an instant bond with your customers and prospects. They will know you are speaking and communicating on a core level. In fact, this is the most effective way to build your personal brand.

The key in answering the above questions is to be concise, clear, and effective. Take some time to do this exercise as done correctly it will pay off massively.

In the next segment I will give you the key steps on how to innovate and create distinctiveness with your personal brand.

Do you think of greasy food? Spending time with the family? The carnival games? Or the many attractions that are beckoning for your attention?

What the Fair can teach you about personal branding.

When you are at the fair, you see all of the booths, the overpriced heart stopping food that your stomach just can’t live without.

As you stroll amongst the crowd and take a closer look… what offers and experiences draw you in?

Why are you there?

Before you came to the fair you knew what to expect. You knew that finding a spot to park, spending money on the games and food were part of the budget when you came.

But why did you go?

You went for the experience, the lasting memory. Your there because they offer something once a year that you can only get once a year. Think about this for a second.

Most state fairs or even local fairs give you a complete unique experience that you can only get when you are there.

So what can the fair teach you about creating a personal branding?

It’s about the experience.

Can you develop a similar experience?

The kind of experience that clearly defines your unique value to your client or prospect.

You want this to be an essential part of what you do as you interact with your clients, audience, or your target market.

Create that once in a year feeling. Remember it’s the little things.

Someone I met with recently gives amazing gifts to each and every person he works with. Even if you pack away the gift (very few do) you are guaranteed to remember it… and him by the way.

Why it works

Why is the fair successful? In most places it has become a tradition. People plan on it, some people plan their summer around it.

So make this special thing you do just like the fair you want to make it a tradition.

It should be something that you do each and every time.

Done correctly this can be one of your personal brand touchstones.

So this year if you go to the fair consider this as you eat your deep fried twinkie!

It seems that each and every time I watch a video on Ted.com that I’ve seen before I get some new insight.

The talk below is a great classic talk by Seth Godin on standing out. If you haven’t watched this before it is a great video that gives some good examples of standing out in the sea of competitors.

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.