The often polarizing term 'personal branding' can lead you to think it's all about being narcissistic, promotional, and manufactured.  In this week's branding therapy session with The Brand Therapist Michelle B Griffin, we're proving them wrong.

We Cover:
Why the term is misleading and the word that's better suited.
The Three Ps Mindset of personal branding to find your purpose, improve your skills and boost your professional opportunities.

LINKS
The Birth of Personal Branding, 1997 article
The Case Against Personal Branding, 2017 article
Personal Branding is Dead, 2023 article

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

In this week's personal banding therapy session, The Brand therapist℠ Michelle B Griffin guides you through the often overlooked journey of self-discovery in personal branding.

Learn the significance of understanding your own unique perspectives when shaping your brand with free online assessments that shed insightful clues and a deeper understanding of your personality and strengths. The answers will help you to put together the puzzle pieces of your identity and build a personal brand that's as authentic as it is impactful.

LINKS

16 Personalities
Enneagram
High Five Test
CliftonStrengths

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Have you ever been stuck on how to define your niche for your expertise online business?  If you've ever been confused about which path to take when it comes to defining your target audience, this episode is for you.
 

 Good news, there's a better way and it's the focus of this week's personal brand therapy session with Michelle B Griffin, The Brand Therapist.℠ Join me as we navigate through the jargon, debunk misconceptions, and discover the secret to finding your place and space in your industry.


In this session, you'll learn my unique approach to differentiation and communication I call "Narrow Lane." You'll learn how the important questions to ask when finding yours. 


Learn how to know what resonates with you, your ideal audience, and where how to understand what they really need.  We'll explore the power of specificity, the language of your audience, and how to position yourself in a way that resonates with your ideal clients.  Plus, you'll learn the importance of marketplace "detective work" to position your brand effectively. 


As always,  I share a "session lesson" for you to take immediate action to find your narrow lane to build your authority-focused personal brand.


Time Stamps:

[00:02:46] Focus inward, externally then this area

[00:05:31] Deep dive and be a detective to find VOC language.

[00:07:27] How to find the intersection of your narrow lane for your personal brand.

[00:10:37] Your "session lesson" action item. 

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

We've all been plagued by that nagging feeling of not being enough and feeling like an imposter when launching our personal brands.

• Why should anyone listen to me?
• What's the point, it's all been said before
• Does the world really need another (INSERT YOUR THING)?

 Sound familiar?

If you're ready to shake off the crushing imposter syndrome, this week's personal brand therapy session is about the power and payoff of putting yourself out there (#PYOT) to craft an authority-focused personal brand.

I share my PYOT Pyramid framework and the 3 steps to climb to contain our never-ending fears and imposter syndrome.  As always,  I share a "session lesson" for you to take immediate action.

It's time to PYOT because nothing good ever comes from sitting in our comfort zones.




Time Stamps:

[00:00:39] Impostor syndrome prevents sharing, despite good intentions.

[00:06:29] The PYOT Pyramid Framework

[00:10:00] The 3 Steps to Contain Your Fears

[00:12:10]  Session Lesson: Actionable Tips To Implement Today

[00:14:33] Join my LinkedIn personal branding community for opportunities and growth. 

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

After a year-long break, introducing The Brand Therapist℠ podcast, renamed, relaunched, and rebranded, and FINALLY here one year to the day of saying, #BRB (be right back)

It was worth the wait, promise!

In this welcome back episode, I'll share the back story of my year-long hiatus, what got me sidetracked, and why it took longer than expected,

We'll chat about the perils of perfectionism, procrastination, lazy habits, and complacency and why this one thing will steer you straight.

I'll also share why you need a brand therapist and how I take a different approach than most in the personal branding space with my signature framework. Finally, I cover all the ways I'm here to help you brand, market, and promote yourself online with ease and confidence.

Today’s “session” is a welcome and introduction and I look forward to next week so we can embark on this journey together to build a brand that takes you places.

Don't forget to reach out to me via LinkedIn! I'd also be honored if you could give the show a review and rating on Apple Podcasts to get it out of the virtual cobwebs so more solo experts can find us.



Time Stamps:

00:00:00 Welcome to The Brand Therapist℠ podcast (a year break is way too long)

00:00:17 Putting Yourself Out There for Your Next Big Thing

00:00:41 Finding Your Lane and Getting Unstuck

00:01:01 Who This Show is For and What You Need on Your Journey

00:02:10 The Power and Payoff of Putting Yourself Out There

00:02:46 Giving Yourself Credit

00:04:16 Introducing the Brand Therapist

00:06:14 Personal Branding + Personal Marketing + Personal PR (you need all 3)

00:08:18 Find me on LinkedIn, I want to meet you.

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

I'm excited to finally announce that I will be launching the new brand of my podcast soon.

 Tune in to this episode for more personal branding tips, more details about the new podcast, and more

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

How do you find or know when you’ve found your niche? It’s the same for your brand, business, and even a podcast. This episode is all about your niche positioning and how it can help your brand when it’s time to do deeper or make a shift. 

Michelle shares her own experience of how she learned and realized it was time to niche down the hard way. And also shares a show announcement of what’s to come.

Quotes:

•  “You are going to put yourself out there and you should.” (2:29-2:32)
•  “Build a community, not an audience.” (02:37-02:39)
•  "It is so good to put ourselves out there. But it's also so important to realize what you like, who you like working with, and their needs. Sometimes you have to learn it the hard way, to go through bumps and bruises before you could figure it out.." (04:25-04:35)
• “Don't feel stuck and stagnant for long, find someone to talk to, just get the clarity.” (6:08-6:12)
• “The path to entrepreneurship is a beautiful path, but it's not a straight road. There's ups and downs, peaks and valleys, but it is amazing." (6:46-6:55)
• So now that I've been bumped and bruised and know exactly where I want to go, I'm going to be rebranding the podcast. I'm going to take three weeks off and come back, with a new name, a new premise, and all kinds of new, exciting things. (4:43-4:57)
• I cannot wait to bring you the new and improved, niched, well-positioned new podcasts that'll be coming out in three weeks. (8:42-8:49)
• Michelle’s second co-hosted podcast, The LinkedIn Branding Show, is a new weekly show to build your personal and company brand on LinkedIn. (8:20-8:29)

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Human beings, we crave community. It's an essential part of our life and our being,” says Chris Colt, The Challenge Champion. Chris says this as he believes that communities we’re in, physically or not, have a big impact on our growth as individuals, and also as professionals. And this is exactly what Chris shares in this episode, why communities are an essential part of our lives, and how we can build a community.

Chris is also a cyclist, and that’s how he realized the importance of a community - when he’s with his community of riders, very strong riders that could offset his weaknesses and vice versa. And from this, he now is helping other professionals and entrepreneurs, like you, build not just an audience, but a community.

Tune into this week’s episode about what really is a community and how it could help you grow individually and personally, how to build a community with a clear and specific purpose and structure, why he recommends starting with a micro-community with a micro-niche to be referable, and why you should consider moving your community away from a rented land platform, such as LinkedIn.

Quotes:

•  “Being that vulnerable when you're in that community is extremely important, and being a community member when somebody can open up to you and share that vulnerability to support them is key.” (2:26-2:35)
•  “Build a community, not an audience.” (02:37-02:39)
•  "Here's the fact, your business ideas can be copied. My business ideas, Michelle's ideas can be copied, but that community you build around it cannot be copied." (04:25-04:35)
•  “The purpose has to be motivating, it has to be fun, it's got to be an adventure.” (9:15-09:23)
• “Everybody has a different mission that matters." (10:56-10:59)
• “A purpose needs to be very specific. So it's got to be clearly picture of who you're going to serve in this community, what will be done together, and what we'll be mastered together." (8:53-09:03)

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“I've always wanted to be out on my own, always wanted to make my own path if you will. But until I got into a space where I really could connect with something I was passionate about, then came the confidence," says Steven Arthur George, founder of SAG Advisory Services. In this episode, Steven talks about his journey of finding the thing and space where he connected and felt confident to focus on building his brand and a consultancy firm.

Steven’s journey started in the financial industry then moved to the cannabis space for more than a decade which he landed through LinkedIn. But while being employed, Steven explained that he always had this drive in him - the drive to want to do something more and write his own path.

Tune into this week’s episode about the transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship and thought leadership, how he found the confidence to go out on his own and write his own path, and how he started building his own personal brand as himself, literally 

Quotes:

•  “I've always wanted to be out on my own, always wanted to make my own path if you will. But until I got into a space where I really could connect with something I was passionate about, then came the confidence” (4:31-4:43)
•  “Start now, right. Start now, and just find something you're passionate about, you want to be known for. And LinkedIn is a place.” (11:00-11:08)
•  "This is much more powerful than just a lead generation tool or a 'find a job' tool, okay. There's a lot more to this platform." (13:39-13:47)
•  “Once I started to show up and realize, I said, ‘Steve, you have more to talk about. And you have more to say. So you're going to have to say it.’ And then I started to talk about more stuff.” (18:43-18:45)
• “I think, "As you build your personal brand, you're developing yourself as an individual. And really focusing on you and trying to give the best of you to the world." (19:01-19:11)
•  “I've always known I had this inside, but for some reason, whether that was childhood, problems, or other different things, I suppressed it, right? But then also, which led to misery, which led to depression, which led to anxiety, which led to not a happy life. And as soon as I stopped suppressing all of that and started believing in myself more and being more of myself, things changed." (28:42-29:07)
• “If you're going to go build a personal brand, and you're going to put yourself out there, you better damn well know who you are. And if you don't, you've got to do that work first, o

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“It's not that you have to have so much experience, or someone amazing promoting you. You just need to know how,” explains Lisa Simone Richards, Visibility Strategist. Lisa works with coaches that are struggling to grow their audiences to get more exposure and visibility for their businesses. She teaches clients how to navigate the three mediums of content consumption, the ABCs of visibility, and the dos and don’ts of podcast pitches. 

Many entrepreneurs mistakenly think that they need a big fancy PR firm or decades of experience for their content to be featured in popular media. But the truth is that with the right networking, anyone can gain access to platforms like magazines, popular websites, podcasts, and even television shows. According to Lisa, it is important to start small and understand that it’s unlikely you’ll be featured on Good Morning America right away. Start with pitching to small local television shows, being interviewed on your friend’s podcast, writing a piece for a smaller blog, then work your way up to larger platforms. When you go back to the basics of creating the ABCs of visibility (awareness, buzz, and credibility) for yourself and your brand, bigger and bigger opportunities will become available to you. 

Tune into this week’s episode about growing your audience and getting more PR for your personal brand business. Learn how to get exposure through written, audio, and visual media and get an understanding of the ABCs of visibility. 

Quotes

• “We need to be focusing on visibility and making sure every single week we see that follower number and email list grow. It is important that we're not just selling to the same few people over and over again, but expanding our audience.” (4:36-4:46)

• “It's not that you have to have so much experience or someone amazing promoting you, you just need to know how. And once you learn how you can do it over and over again.” (7:01-7:11)

• “Your ideal client has their preferred way of consuming content. And through this ladder of publicity, we're going to hit each of the three ways. So no matter how they like to learn, you're able to get in front of them.” (10:13-10:22)

• “Who's someone that’s doing something similar to you, but is three to five steps ahead? Where are they getting featured? That could be a great place to get started. Just come at it from a different perspective.” (19:49-19:58)

• “You can be strategic and intentional with your relationships, but really use them in a genuine way that develops legit friendships.” (29

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn