Have you ever heard the quote from the legendary Eleanor Roosevelt: “Do one thing every day that scares you”? When you decide to embark upon becoming a brand, you won’t have to worry about achieving Eleanor’s milestone every day. Building yourself into a brand is not for the faint of heart. But it is well worth it. Having a brand is the prerequisite for building assets that work while you’re sleeping and generate income in the process. Unless you’re happy working for every dollar you earn, you might want to read on. The sooner you start building your brand, the sooner it will start generating cash for you. Here’s my formula:

1.  Know who you are – What do you like to talk about most? Is there a pastime you enjoy beyond all others? These are clues to knowing who you are and what you love. I always ask clients, “What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?” When you love something, you can go about it with the obsession it takes to become a strong, successful personal brand. If you’re just so-so, ho-hum, your brand (yawn) will be too.

2.  Change the physical – When you change your outside your inside will go along for the ride. I know, it sounds crazy and hard to believe that a haircut, new make up, new clothing style, will transform you. But understand, the changes cannot be subtle. They have to be big, forcing you to leave your comfort zone. That’s when transforming change happens and your brand begins. Antoni Patrik, image consultant extraordinaire in Scottsdale, Arizona, gave me a new style and my life changed forever.

3.  Learn to present – This is the most important skill you can have. If you can’t speak in public, you’ll have a hard time developing your personal brand in any big way. The first time I spoke in front of a room of 3,000, I recalled a past repelling adventure I took with my Entrepreneurs’ Organization forum group. I kept telling myself, Kathy, you stepped off a 200-foot cliff, backwards, holding a rope! You can do this.” Find your point of strength and if you don’t have one, do something daring that gets you out of your comfort zone. Practice is key, but it takes more than going to Toastmasters.

4.  Find a mentor who will push you – We all need a good kick sometimes. One of my mentors is Robert Kiyosaki, entrepreneur and author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Conspiracy of the Rich and many other books. He pushes me out of my comfort zone all the time. Thanks to him, I learned to speak in public, put Heart & Mind™ Branding on CDs and expand HEASLEY&PARTNERS internationally. Find that person who can challenge you, and then follow the advice. Another mentor of mine is personal trainer Tony Horton, although he doesn’t know it. I work out every day to his P90X program, and he pushes me more than he’ll ever know.

5.  Stop the negative self-talk – Blair Singer, author of Little Voice Mastery, the “Little Voice Master” himself helped me recognize that being in control of your own thoughts is the key to success. He’s helped me overcome my little voice that has told me my entire life, “that’s pretty good—for you.” No longer! Seek out your own Little Voice Master and silence your inner critic. Thanks to Blair, when I hear my little voice, I laugh right in its face, then I go for it!

6.  Write like a leader – Even in the video age, writing has never been more important. Writing like a leader isn’t about just communicating facts and information, it’s about inspiring and creating followers. If you are not a natural writer, don’t fight it or try to fake it. Hire a writer who knows how to engage and inspire while conveying information. We ghostwrite for many people. They have the ideas; we make them come alive.

7.  Be genuine – Even though I said, you need to transform your physical, your new look needs to be genuinely you, only bigger. No matter the kind of person you are, if you put yourself out there, genuinely, you will find your followers and your fans. That means, matching your beliefs, personality and behavior to each person you meet is a BIG no-no. (There’s a politician joke in there somewhere…)

8.  Be meaningful – So on one hand I said to be genuine. Now I’m going to tell you to be sure to stay relevant and meaningful to those you serve. That means evolving with the times and the needs of the people. Keep your eyes and ears open because as they say, what got you here won’t get you where you want to go. We’ve evolved HEASLEY&PARTNERS many times over 15-plus years. We’d be dead if we were the same company we were in 1994. (Yo, politicians, this isn’t a license to evolve with every hand you shake.)

9.  Be different – You can’t be like everyone else. Even if you offer a similar good or service, change up something and make it meaningful to the customer. It could be as simple as packaging, a unique service “moment” or even a money back guarantee. The trick here is to study your competitors and look for the gap in the segment that will matter to customers. For us, that’s Heart & Mind Branding.

Developing your personal brand isn’t an event, it’s a way of life. Make the choice and take action. Don’t start tomorrow. Start today. I waited 15 years to begin, and that was a big mistake for myself, my family and the thousands more people whose lives would have been improved by what we do. I learned from my mistake. Please learn from it too.

Filed under: Branding, Entrepreneur by Kathy Heasley
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