In 2024, building a personal brand is essential for success. In this episode, I sit down with Ian Agard, a sales coach specializing in personal branding, to discuss how sales reps can strengthen their brand to enhance sales performance. Tune in to hear Ian's insights on leveraging your personal brand to close more deals.

Meet Ian Agard

• Initially, Ian started his career as a marketer and eventually transitioned into becoming a proficient seller.
• His exceptional ability to connect with people, attributed to the strong personal brand he has built over time, sets him apart. 
• Ian has progressed through roles as a sales leader and a sales coach, where he now runs a sales coaching program called "Level Up." 
• His program is designed to help Business Development Representatives (BDRs), Sales Development Representatives (SDRs), and Account Executives (AEs) earn their next promotion within three to six months by focusing on mindset, habits, and mastering essential sales skills. 

Why Personal Branding Matters

• A personal brand is what people think of when they see or hear your name. This is how you share your values, expertise, and journey, without having to explain it to every potential client.
• Ian shares how building a personal brand allows salespeople to create a strong connection with followers and better opportunities for sales growth. 

Building Your Brand: A Step-by-Step Guide

• Ian shares how sales representative can start building their personal brand in three simple steps: 
• Vision and Values: Start by having a clear vision for your life and understanding your core values.
• Profile Setup: Ensure you have a professional photo and a value statement on your LinkedIn profile.
• Consistent Posting: At a minimum, post once a week sharing your journey, challenges, wins, and relevant industry insights.


• Ian also shares how niching down can help with finding your target audience. He shares his own experience of focusing on helping lawyers with digital marketing and the success that came from being a recognized expert in that niche.

“Start today and build your brand. It's like farming. If you plant those seeds today, in 90 days, in 120 days, you're going to see some fruit and you'll be like, wow, why didn't I start this a year ago?” - Ian Agard.

Resources

Ian Agard on LinkedIn 

Donald Kelly on LinkedIn

https://thesalesevangelist.com/opener

Sponsorship Offers

1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com