Do you want to become a legend in your industry?

How would that affect your sales performance? What would your day look like if you had inbound leads hitting your inbox rather than having to cold call until your fingers bleed from dialing?

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Shama Hyder shares a bunch of personal branding examples and a step by step process to getting known in your industry

Sharma is known as the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by Fast Company.

Keep reading below the video interview to learn how.

Full Video Podcast

 

Step 1: Measure

Sharma suggests a measurable part of your personal brand is tracking how often people say “oh you’re everywhere and I’ve heard of your company. Everyone in sales knows the difference between calling someone and getting hung up on, verses they pick up the phone and say I like you guys”.

If you are a no one in your industry, your approach is going to differ compared to someone who has been selling the same products, to the same market for the past 20 years.

Knowing where you are starting from is an important first step before you move onto tactics to increase brand awareness and see some specific personal branding examples.

Step 2: Quickest Way To Build A Brand

Sharma advocates that the highest leverage activity for building a personal brand is to “ask why and what are you trying to accomplish”. 

The reasoning for this is that many people dive in, build a LinkedIn profile, build a website, start shouting across the internet “I’m HERE!” before they know what their message is.

You only get one shot at a first impression. So don’t waste it telling the world that you’re a great lover, salesperson and exaggerator.

So let’s start with the end in mind. Your message must have a goal –

* Shorten sales cycles

* Build “trust at distance”

* Open new non-selling opportunities

* Create a side-hustle business

* Get visible to increase inbound leads

What is your end goal with your personal brand?

Step 3: Build Your Personal Brand Statement

Your personal brand statement makes you viral. Your statement is 1-2 sentences answering what you are the best at (value), who you serve (audience) and how you do it uniquely (USP).

It’s not a mission statement or anything as cheesy as that. But rather your catchphrase you are known by that shares your specific industry expertise.

So working backward from the goal you want to achieve, you can build your statement with the following 4 steps –

* List out what you’re good at. Simple for sure but when people are searching for experts in your industry, they don’t want the 47th best at X task, they want the top players. This will be the main focus of your personal brand statement.

* Choose your audience. Are you selling to CFO’s? Are you selling to middle managers in the SAAS IT market? You need to clarify who your message is for so that you can use the language that they like to use.

* Make it memorable. With that said, a 6-year-old should be able to understand your personal brand statement. There shouldn’t be any overly technical terms as you might be getting referred around by non-technical people too.

* State your USP. Everyone is gifted at something. What are you incredible at and how does that relate to adding value to your customers? Sure being able to suck your own toes is impressive but your USP must be something that your prospects will...