Let’s imagine it is December 2020, you are closing in on a good year. Your calendar is full with your ideal clients, with a waiting list of others who want an audience with you. Your products launched and sold in record amounts, and you are being requested to speak as an industry expert. You have exceeded your goals, and now you must decide what to pursue next.

What if that could happen for you? Why wouldn’t it?

If it did, the first step would be to set the right goals for your personal brand.

As you set your plans for 2020, consider these four personal branding goals.

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On one of my European trips, I saw the name of a business, called Azure, and I thought it was so cool. I was smitten. Now, the word means blue in English, but I came home and named my non-blue photography business based on that clever word — Studio Azure. 

Then came the point when I took it to market. Nobody, not even me, knew how to pronounce it. Nobody could remember it. Folks would frown and say, Studio what?! It turned out being a horrible decision.

At that point, I remember some advice my little sister gave me. Name your business something that tells people what you do, unless you have millions of dollars to run ads that educate your customers.

That’s a message that should serve us well as we name our businesses and products. When it comes to names, clear is much better than clever.

 Be simple in these five areas.

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Whether you are a photography beginner or you've been shooting long enough to have developed your consistent style, here's something that might not know. You are just a few steps away from being a brand.

I don't mean a brand like Oprah. Let's not go crazy. I do mean a brand as in people recognize your photography, eagerly await the release of your next images, and support your projects and businesses.

That kind of brand is realistic and much more attainable than you might realize. I'm going to give you the blueprint. It's the same one used by photographers you know and follow.

In this replay, I'll show you how it works for them and how it can work for you. Here is a simple blueprint you follow for your journey.

“If you’re a real estate agent or broker, you can significantly grow your leads, sales, and overall business by implementing one key marketing strategy:
Building a personal brand.”

Those are the words of marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk to the Agent2021 Conference. As Gary Vee knows, having a strong personal brand can often be the difference between chasing clients and having them come to you.

“Focus on building your personal and distributing your content across social platforms. That way, when people think about buying a home in a particular area, they think of you.

That’s how you differentiate,” he says.

Here are nine reasons real estate agents should invest in personal branding.

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My cousins and I have a running text chain that we’ve kept open for about four years now. There are five of us, and we talk about everything, from sports to life.

One morning, one of my cousins shared this quote that has stuck with me. I thought we’d use it for today.

"This has been in my mind the past couple of days...

Show me somebody who is truly GREAT at what they do, and I'll show you someone who really cares about THE WORK.  Notice I didn't say he or she really cares about the rewards, the fame, the money, the treasure, etc. - no, they really care about THE WORK.

If you really care about what you do, go and be great.  If you don't, think about whether it's time to find something you really do care about."

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Let’s assume you are relationship eligible, and you meet someone who piques your interest. You have great conversation, feel a connection, and think this might be promising. 

You don’t hear from this person for a couple of weeks, and then they text you a casual one-liner.

Maybe a month later, you see them again, and they begin professing their love and asking you to commit. What do you tell them?

I’d say they made the one big mistake many of us make with our brands and businesses — randomness.

As irritating as a random romantic interest might be, it can have a worse effect on business prospects — they simply tune us out or worse, forget us.

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In 1997, shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he realized the company was in much worse shape than he had thought.

He needed to do something to speak to his Apple faithful and invite new users into the fold. At that point, Apple had been a mainstay in creative circles, a small portion of the overall market.

With his advertising team, they created this manifesto to the Apple tribe - Here’s to the crazy ones, speaking to what was unique and quirky among their users.

When you understand who your customers are, you can speak in a way the resonates with just them. You can create your own manifesto, and it will be as if you are reaching through the clutter, tapping them on the shoulder, and inviting them to come along on your journey. 

In our last episode, we discussed what do you want to be know for?

Today’s question takes your branding a step further. Who do you want to be known to?

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Five years ago, as the new guy in town, I had to go about replacing all the vendors I had known and loved in the DC area. One person I thought would be particularly challenging — my barber. It’s always tough to find a good barber when you are new in town. You don’t want to do too much experimenting.

Standing outside my house fretting, I noticed the mailman headed my way.

“Hey man, I have a strange question for you,” I said as I approached him. “I’m new here, and I need to find a barber who can cut my hair. Do you know any?’

He chuckled. “That is a strange question.

“I go see Troy at Community Barbershop. It’s on Belmont - in Paterson.”

I was thinking about Troy this week as I pondered the topic, “What do you want to be known for?”

Troy was known for towns away for his trade and skill as a barber.

What do you want to be known for is often a tough question for many entrepreneurs or creatives to answer, but the answer often reveals itself when someone asks for a referral. 

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If you are trying to establish yourself as a personal brand, there are four elements that you should use. These pillars will help you best cultivate your public persona, create authority, and start the engagement that leads to growth.

Not having one or two of these pillars won’t be a death sentence, but think of it as you would your food groups. You don’t have to eat your vegetables, or you might get away with overloading on carbs, but that rarely leads to healthy living. Or growth.

Here are the four elements for your personal branding identity:

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Hi there, and welcome to the first episode of Personal Branding with Lyn.

I’m happy you could join me for this first episode.

I’m looking forward to meeting with you regularly to talk about growing our businesses

If you are an entrepreneur of any kind. If you are a creative. If you are the face of your business then you know that the success of your business relies on you — to get out and talk about it, to promote it in person and online.

That can sometimes be difficult. So much noise. So many messages. So many people and businesses vying for attention. How do you stand out?These are the kinds of issues, we will be dealing with on this podcast. How to stand out in a noisy world

We’ll do it using personal branding.

You might be wondering what in the world is this personal branding thing, and do I need it? How would I even go about it?

In this first episode, we’ll deal with the basics.  We’ll unpack it together in this episode....and this podcast.

So let’s talk about personal branding.

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