About guts, leadership & authentic personal branding A clear story that helps you make the difference Almost every day I meet advisors, coaches and trainers who struggle to sell themselves despite the fact that they are really top professionals in their field. They tell the customer everything about their experience, their accreditations and the models they use. But customers are not interested in that. Your customer does not want to study your models or techniques at all. He wants to hear that you can solve his problems and that together, you can realize his ambitions. On top of that, they prefer you to have your own vision and ideas. And finally, the customer wants to feel a (special) connection with you.
With professional knowledge alone you don’t make the difference Your own vision distinguishes you from all those others who also do something with leadership or organizational change. To bring your vision to the world, you need a good story with which you attract the right customers. I would like to help you get your brand and your vision clear and then get your story right on stage.
"It's less about the product being sold, but more and more about the story you tell. " It is much easier to 'sell' yourself if you can keep a good story about what you do and what results you achieve. Many of my clients like to work close to their feelings and intuition, but they also have a tendency towards science and facts. They do things in the areas of leadership, culture, organizational development and team development. They are able to bring peace, provide confidence and let people grow. At the same time. when processes need to be improved, they have a practical and concrete impact. Such a versatile profile is difficult to present without lapsing into jargon. Moreover, many of your colleagues say exactly the same about themselves. Your potential customer understands what you do much better if you can give concrete examples of your working style. Show in your presentations what your working method looks like and what the impact of your approach is. And show something of yourself too. If you show what your values are and what you stand for, your customer can taste whether there is a connection between you on a personal level. Shared norms and values have a binding effect. It helps you to attract the customers with whom your company will make progres.
Develop your own brand story Storytelling is not just any tool that just happens to be popular right now. It also provides a lot of confidence when you always have a good story ready when you sit down to talk with a customer. By using your personal story, building a meaningful brand isn’t just a trick, but really something of yourself. British advertising legend Sir John Hegarty nicely names the core of building a brand: "A brand is a collection of stories connected by a vision." A powerful personal brand is no more or less than a collection of stories around a clear vision. Through which you connect with your market and inspire people by showing yourself. How are you asked as much as Simon Sinek? Reading stories about successful people can be intimidating. But don't let yourself be put off by the idea that others may be better at something than you. Imagine that after studying the paintings of 1
Rembrandt, Picasso had thought "I will never get that good!" Picasso created his own style. You can do that too. Simon Sinek became world famous quickly because of his TED talk and he’s now a much-sought after management guru. But also Simon just started as a simple consultant with an agency that was not immediately very successful. It was precisely through his story that he broke through and became famous worldwide. All because he used a story he had lived himself. His story was such a success because it was more than a smart model that he had developed from a marketing point of view. Simon Sinek presented the result of his own quest, which is why he was so inspired and inspiring himself! In 2002 he started a company and became an entrepreneur. When people then asked what he was doing, he said that he was doing 'positioning and strategy consultancy'. But it wasn't a dream for him, it was just business. Big successes were not achieved. ‘We had enough to live on, but not much more than that," he honestly states in his book. And then at the end of 2005 an enormous sense of demoralization struck him. It hit him pretty hard. He had never been so close to a deep depression. He was convinced that his company was not going to make it. He needed all the energy he had put into sustaining his business, to keep himself afloat. To find a solution to his problem, which included both his business and his own well-being, he sought advice everywhere. He attended conferences, read books, consulted successful friends, and tried to understand why one marketing approach worked and another didn't. And gradually he discovered the secret of the 'why' of successful entrepreneurship. And he became a successful entrepreneur himself. Reinier Rombouts and Raf Stevens interviewed many leaders and discovered that good leaders not only tell a credible story but also connect on an emotional level. They know how to touch people. You do that by showing what you stand for. Show what your values are and what you believe in. Show to which social cause you want to contribute. As a consultant you can also connect to your personal market, with those customers that you would like to work with because you are on the same page. Only then when you speak not only from your head, but also from your heart, you are able to touch people. That requires courage, leadership and a good story.
People do business with people they can connect with I regularly get in touch with people who say, "You don't know me, but I feel that I already know you a little bit. Through your blogs. What you wrote appeals to me. When can we get acquainted and work together?" If you connect with your market in a genuine way, you will successfully build your company from a strongly authentic brand. Then customers will contact you themselves because they feel related to who you are, what you can do and what you stand for.
Ten questions to map your brand and market: 1) What do I stand for as a professional? What is my mission? 2) What are my personal values and motives? 3) What gives me energy? What environment do I want to work in? 4) What characterizes me? How do others describe my personality and character? 5) Which behavioral traits make me successful? 6) What experience and expertise do I have and do I want to use for my customer? 7) What does my customer need? What problems and ambitions does (s)he have? 8) Why do I want to offer this service? 9) How is my solution different from that of competitors? 10) What is going on in the market? Why is my service needed now?
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The 3 styles with which you build a convincing brand How to build a balanced authentic brand with the right story Have you come to the point where you finally want to have a good story as an umbrella for what you do and what you have to offer? A story in which people immediately understand how you can help them and what your added value is? What makes the best customers choose you with conviction because they immediately understand what you can help them with? Then it is time for you to get started with your personal branding. And you better start on time. Marketing can also be done with integrity. You don't have to become the loudest person on social media, who bores people with all kinds of - look how good I am - messages. Good personal marketing, authentic personal branding has a completely different approach.
Be 'real' “Good marketing is not a selfish thing, but a generous act. It is the opportunity to provide service to people" . Marketing helps people solve a problem. You say: 'I see an alternative. Come with me. " I often call it inspiration marketing. In addition to customers, it also gives me many nice reactions, such as in the email below: “I unsubscribed from many newsletters (boredom, too much advertising, too pedantic, etc.). But I read your blogs with interest and I regularly forward your tips to others. Every time I get something beautiful or useful for myself from your newsletters. Thanks!" For years, I had had the idea that I would have to commit much cold acquisition to make my business viable. That's why I kept hesitating to start for myself. Until I learned how to build a strong authentic brand and how you can effectively use social media to attract customers without pushing 'to sell'. Hence, it can be done differently. Marketing from authentic branding means that you tell honest stories; stories that resonate and are passed around. You have to build your brand consistently and congruently . That takes guts and leadership and sometimes some blood, sweat and tears. But it is also a lot of fun to do. You get more satisfaction in your work and you also get more guts. You grow as a person and your company grows with you . Which will make you stand even more firmly as a brand . And so you often attract even nicer customers with even less effort. If you want to build an authentic brand, it is important that you are visible and start sharing your stories . If you tell the story about the added value you have and the impactful projects you supervise more to the outside world, you will get a recognizable face in your market. And you increase your market value. With a good and relevant story you make something loose with your target group. It is essential that you can tell in your story what you can do well, but that you also have a vision. When you combine these two things you have laid the foundation for an irresistible personal brand. Of course you do this from a smart and thoughtful plan because it makes little sense to throw haphazard stories into the world.
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Step 1: Determine your message You have something to say, you want to achieve something. Try to capture your message in one sentence. Or possibly in a short text. Preferably there is something that shows that you understand the market and something that shows what you are passionate about. And show that you know your market and understand your customers.
Also write down for yourself What is your distinctive vision? Through which perspective do you break with this; How do you create value for your market? What do your customers want to know? Why do they want to know this?
Building a balanced brand with psychological persuasion If you use these 3 styles for your personal brand, you will build a balanced brand. It concerns the following styles: 1. authority, 2. friend and 3. example
1. AUTHORITY An authority is someone we trust because we consider him or her as an expert: the person with the overview, who knows all about it. People would like to see that you are an expert in your field and that you understand the things you talk and write about. Someone who is seen as an authority is taken seriously and others will also adopt your decisions more quickly. People see you as a natural leader and will tend to follow you. It can be disadvantageous that people experience distance and share less information with you or trust you less . For example, you can easily expect the doctor to act as an authority with expert knowledge. This does not alter the fact that the doctor is even more convincing if he appears sympathetic. That is why it is important to be seen not only as an authority but also as a friend. You will read more about this later.
Show that you are an expert Make sure you have a short ‘about me’ ready in which you process a number of things that give a good picture of your experience and your knowledge. Preferably you have an ‘about me’ with the common thread in your career and some very short examples of what you can do. You can put that paragraph ‘about me’ at the bottom of your blogs and include it in your quotes etc.
Work on your position of thought leader A thought leader is a person or organization that has specific expertise and is seen as an authority in a certain field. Someone who is recognized as a specialist by the target group. It is someone who has a clear vision and clearly knows more than others in his field. Who knows how to convey this knowledge in an attractive way At SAP, they know that storytelling is a good way to get a message across. Microsoft has also successfully harnessed the power of storytelling. You might not expect this in such a technical environment. However, when they started to use the power of storytelling in a targeted way, it worked so well that people could easily remember and apply even the most complex concepts and applications. 4
Thought leaders spread a message and want to get their audience thinking. You don't do that by sharing figures, facts and facts. You do that by sharing stories with a head and a tail. Stories that people can easily remember and tell. The best thought leaders are storytellers who know their classics and illustrate their vision through bite-sized examples, cases, etc.
2. FRIEND A friend is someone we like. People like to do business with people they have a connection with. Customers want to be able to connect with you. They want to know what your values are and who you are as a person. The stories in which you show more of yourself are an important basis for an authentic brand. When people see you as a friend, they will believe that you want the best for them and you gain a lot of customer goodwill. People trust you easier and take more from you. It's not just about sharing your success stories. With success stories you show your authority (for example in your ‘about me’) but it is less binding.
The power of vulnerability The American sociologist Brené Brown became quickly world famous by her TED talk "the power of vulnerability", that was viewed over six million times on the Internet. It has given wings to her business. Brené Brown has been a strong brand ever since. What can you learn from her as an entrepreneur? In her years of research, Brené Brown discovered that it is precisely the people we experience as inspiring, who have one important thing in common: they dare to be vulnerable. They know that they are worthwhile even if they are not perfect and still make mistakes and blunders on a regular basis.
Humor and perspective You are much more accessible and interesting to your environment if you occasionally dare to share some of your vulnerability. It takes courage, and with that you show your strength. That is not to say that I am a fan of people who constantly tell tear-jerking stories about every personal growth spurt they go through. It's about the right balance in what you show and don't show about yourself. And how you bring it. Brené Brown's TED talks are inspiring and fun to follow, due to her dry humor and self-mockery.
Keep balance The downside of only showing yourself as a friend may be that you're less of an authority and expectations may be lower. That is why it is important to balance the stories you share. Show balance between yourself as an authority and as a friend. It is important to ask yourself which stories resonate with your customer. Take a look at the stories your customer is telling himself, the things that frustrate him, the things he is struggling with and what he dreams of. Focus your story on things that your customer can identify with.
3. EXAMPLE The advantage of being an example is that people find you special, which makes you stand out and be remembered. That also increases your market value. If you are seen as special, you will be asked more often for lectures, congresses or articles in (trade) magazines. 5
An example is someone we think is special, cool, hip, different / better. They radiate that they know what is okay and they show what we should do or find in order to be so special or good.
Do's and don'ts: On the internet I regularly see expressions where self-appointed 'gurus' position themselves as an example by showing exorbitantly that they have a fantastic life. They show all kinds of exotic places where they take a holiday or work as a 'digital nomad'. They screen the fact that they were once on Neckerman Island with Richard Branson. Most intelligent people see through this quite easily. Frankly, this is not what I mean by example behavior. It doesn't inspire me at all, I'm too level-headed for it. When I think of example behavior, I think more of people who really stand for something and share their passion for it. Like Tony Chocolony: ‘Our mission: together we make 100% slave free the new standard in chocolate. How do we achieve that great mission? That's not easy. And quite complex. We set the example and show that chocolate can be made differently: in taste, packaging and the way we do business with cocoa farmers. We show that it’s possible to make commercially successful slave-free chocolate with Tony's rules for slave-free cocoa.’
Show what you have and use your brand to build a flourishing business Looking at my customers, I see how much confidence it gives when you have your brand and your story in order. It gives confidence if you know how to reach your market. But I also see that you often have to overcome something. For many people, visibility means getting out of the comfort zone. You may now think: I have no special vision at all. Who is waiting for my stories? What I do is very common. What is really distinctive about me? Showing myself seems like a step. How am I going to do that? You prefer not to speak too much. Suppose they don't like your story or your vision. I know, there are thousands of excuses that all sound very reasonable. But in the meantime, you procrastinate and keep muddling on with your company. How long do you want to continue like that?
Is this reserved for me? Do you ever suffer from such that voice in the back of your head, starting when you do things you’re not sure about? It is at those moments that the voice can be really nagging. Let it nag and ‘turn the sound down’ a bit. Successful people who are among the top in their field also regularly struggle with serious doubts about themselves. Hence, it is not surprising that you and I also suffer from that. If in doubt, just continue If you really believe that you are capable of achieving your goal, you will succeed. You will have to choose to go for it while you are not yet sure about the end result. And that is sometimes a bit anxious. It is what it is. For most people, there will never be a day when you will no longer be bothered by uncertainty or self-doubt. Don’t let your choices be determined by it, but choose your own course. 6
You won’t get any further within your comfort zone If you start with new services or with a new approach, you need a lead time before it catches on. Many people become nervous about this and then go back to the old familiar concepts. Or they will follow another professional training. That is of course not the solution to get your company off the ground. For that you have to build your brand, your story and your visibility. Crazy plans? Marcel van Driel wrote a nice book entitled 'Crazy plans'. In his book he indicates that the majority of people have all kinds of beautiful dreams but never make them come true. They keep dreaming, because dreaming is safe. The most frequently cited reasons why dreams often continue to be dreams are: • You think you cannot do it. • You think you don't have time for it. • You think it will cost (too) much money. • You are afraid of the reactions of others. • You are afraid that you will succeed and that your safe world will change. Do not postpone your decisions endlessly by constantly reconsidering the different possibilities, but do something. Go for your dream! Dare to try something. You can always start small. If you have made an incorrect estimate, you can still adjust things. But get moving, it all starts with that.
Do you dare to make choices? You may still be searching. You're not ready yet. What keeps you from doing the things you would like to do? Recently I spoke to a new customer who kept hanging on the same point every time. She dared not take the step to go for what she really wants to do deep in her heart. That frustrated her immensely. That's why she came to me. Only she couldn't make any progress. When she joined me she realized she’d got stuck once again . Again she had put herself in an assignment that gave her no energy. An assignment in which she could not fulfill herself at all.
Dare to believe in yourself The crux was that she did not dare to believe that with her specific talents she could make an offer that customers are really waiting for. She wasn't sure if there would be a market for it. So she kept doing what was asked instead of putting her own offer in the world . Together we looked at what was holding her back and what was possible. She saw very clearly that she doesn’t have to continue like this. She has more than enough to create her own market. Relief radiated from her eyes. Immediately after our appointment, she quit the job that made her feel chained. Of course in a neat manner and with a notice period. Finally, she’s free to put her talents, with which she can make a difference, in the world. Now, she is working on realizing the best ideas.
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People don't want PR talk, they want authenticity You create an attractive personal brand by showing courage and authenticity. Every organization, every advisor has a unique and important story to tell. It is important to get your ideas out there, by telling your customers stories that match their problems. David Meerman Scott, online marketing expert and author of the book "The New Rules of Social Media" says:
"We now have the opportunity to create our own brand in a niche market of our choice" A quirky view of things is stimulating and arouses curiosity. Write for yourself: ● Which issues does the customer have that you have a strong opinion about?
● On which subjects do you have a lot of expertise that you would like to share? ● On which themes would you like to show more of yourself as an expert? ● What special elements could you highlight in your stories? When I enthusiastically shouted to a customer of mine, "Girl, you really have gold in your hands!" She was shocked. Because she’d known that for a long time. She admitted that wholeheartedly. But the idea of actually coming out with it, caused a few sleepless nights. She needed a little support to really take that step. But she also knew that. So she arranged a coach for herself. I have a world of knowledge and experience, 'doing it by myself' is my credo, but I also know that I cannot do everything alone. That is why I take care of myself and my company by regularly working with a good coach. Because I know it benefits my business.
Gather people around you who can help you further Uncertainties are part of entrepreneurial life. It is therefore important to gather people around you to help you take the right steps. You need people around you who can advise you and hold up a mirror at the right times. People who can give you that little push, so you’ll dare to do new things that are outside your comfort zone.
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