Yesterday I listened to the Reach Interview with Michael Port, author of “Book Yourself Solid.” It’s the book that first got me seriously thinking about niching and branding my business.
It’s also a book I continue to recommend to my CFO clients because when they are in a job search, they are the product being marketed. And Port has some effective strategies in his book that work well for understanding the power of branding and value messaging to a targeted audience.
Here are a few gems from the interview …
— Marketing is authentic story-telling and creates awareness
— When you know, and can clearly articulate, the role you are playing, you are authentically branded
— The most successful people provide specific solutions to specific problems within a specific targeted audience
— Personal branding tops Port’s list for understanding who you serve and what you help them do
Port’s “Red Velvet Rope” strategy resonates with me and will probably resonate with you, too. When you are working with your ideal clients or when you have landed in your ideal environment, you do your best work. You love what you do and people are talking about you and how you do what you do.
Alternatively, when you are in an environment that is less than ideal, you can quickly come to feel that your work is not valued and every day feels like one big energy drain.
So here are three take-aways …
— Understand, embrace, and leverage your authentic market differentiation (personal brand); and
— Get visible to the audience who needs what you do, and will pay – and pay well – to get it; and
— Begin before you need to find that next opportunity. That way, you have the luxury of deciding if it is your “Red Velvet Rope” environment / position or not, and if not, whether you really want to accept it.