Building a personal brand

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy New Year 2017!

While I'm still shocked and sometimes even wake up thinking I'm still in some kind of weird dream in which somehow Donald Trump became the President of my country, I still impressed by how effective the building of his personal brand was able to pull a victory for one of the hardest if not the hardest jobs in the world.

I am literally speechless everytime I try to come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened and how did we get here. To make matters worse, Trump hasn't even been sworn yet and he is already starting to break some of his promises. During the campaign, he:

• Said that if he got elected, he would appoint a special commission to look into Hillary's "situation". Now he's saying he's gonna let the whole thing pass, just because.
• Claimed he would build "a beautiful wall" across the US-Mexico border, and Mexico would pay for it. Yesterday, he said that for the sake of speed, Congress should approve construction of the wall and he'll make Mexico pay for it later.

I wonder how things would have turned if during the campaign he would have made promises such as:

• If I get elected, I will let Hillary get off the hook with her "situation"
• If I get elected, I will build the wall quickly and will get a deal with Mexico's for them to pay later

As I wrote in my entry about Trump winning the US presidency, I think that this is just the result of a masterful marketing lesson Trump gave us about personal branding. And if there is one thing we all have clear, is that we can actually learn a thing or two from him.

So, if you are beginning or already in the process of marketing your own personal brand, here are a few pointers to start the New Year 2017 on the right foot:

1. Social Media is your friend.

Ever wondered what people think about at work? at class? at your condo? Well, now you have to wonder about what people think of you on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram. Social media can be your biggest friend or your greatest enemy, and personally, it's better to have it as a friend.

Social Media is how you reach out to not only your friends, but to the world. Who knows what piece of information is shared by any of your friends to their friends, and so on (with your without your consent). The amount of weight this has is large enough to build a virtual persona of yourself. An image that has its own pulse, presence, thoughts and ability to become a significant player in our society. While most people pay little to no attention to their posts on Social Media, managing a personal brand demands lots of attention.

• Twitter: 140 characters are enough for you to make a statement. The saying "less is more" couldn't be more accurate when talking about Tweets. Pick your words wisely and make sure to double check for spelling errors. Also, use hashtags accordingly, so that your voice can be heard by more people.
• Instagram: "a picture says more than a thousand words" is another saying that couldn't be more on the spot on this matter. Branding yourself on Instagram requires good quality pictures (the higher, the better), with the images having a definitive purspose. With the inclusion of videos, you have a larger range to cover, but pretty much with the same guidelines. If you are playing an instrument or giving cooking tips, make sure your voice is head and the sound is crystal clear.
• Facebook: more and more, Facebook is becoming like a huge undesirable bulletin board. The unfollow function serves as relief to keep being friends with that person who likes/dislikes gay people, Barack Obama, or the New York Yankees. The way I see it, Facebook is falling under the "birds of a feather flock together" saying, meaning it's the one Social Network where those who want to read you, do so because they REALLY want to read you.

Do you think Trump's usage of Social Media helped him win the election? I have news for you... it did.

2. Image is (with a few exceptions) everything

Whether if you are in your house, or commuting to your work while you read this, please allow me to ask you a single question: Did you mom or dad dressed you today? I'm very sure that 99.9% of the time your answer will be "Of course not! I dressed up myself!" Great, that's good news: in that case then, you are the sole responsible for the way you look and the appearance you give to the world.

Now let me ask you another question: let's say you're driving around the city, and for a moment you come across two McDonalds restaurants, next to each other. The one on the left has the McDonalds logo shining, with the yellow color in the arcs looking as if it was painted yesterday. The one on the right has the McDonalds logo broken, and the yellow color is long gone, now turned into something whitish-pale. The question is, which one would you walk in to buy food?

You pretty much get the picture my now.

The image you transmit of yourself, is the image that your brand will transmit. It's going to be a bit hard to brand yourself as a personal trainer if you aren't seen training or look like you don't have any muscles at all. It's going to be hard to brand yourself as a piano teacher, if you don't show your piano skills. But more importantly, the aspect that deals with personal care, neatness, appeal and eveything that can be perceived by the eye of your consumers or prospects, can and will make a substantial difference when it comes to reviewing you and your brand.

Remember that most of the time, you walk into a clothing store because you liked something that you saw.

Do you think Trump's image help him win the election? Well, with over dozens of hotels, buildings and resorts with his name on them, as well as a successful TV reality show, I have news for you... it did.

3. Stay loyal and consistent to your message

Consumers like consistency, so give it to them. That's why you see most republicans following republicans, and most democrats following democrats, just like you see most people who own a PlayStation 3 buying a PlayStation 4, and most people who bought an X-Box buying an X-Box 360. It's incredibly hard for consumers to switch from liking one message to another.

Do you ever heard of the monumental failure of New Coke? In the mid 80s, the Coca Cola company was completely convinced that their soda did not taste as well as the other sodas in the market. So they came up with this idea of launching a new product that would replace the Classic Coca Cola, and they called it New Coke. Results were a complete disaster. Coca Cola learned -the hard way- that their consumers were loyal and consistent to the message the Coca Cola brand gave them, more than to the product itself (and it's not like they weren't loyal to the product). Using Trump's example, like it or not, he always stuck to his message from the beginning of the Presidencial race.

The product or service you're offering through your brand also has a core message and a core competency as well. Early in the development of your brand, it is your objective to determine what will the message that your brand will transmit, and while you can improve your message to adapt to the needs of your consumer, you shouldn't not drift away from it. It's one thing to upgrade or re-invent yourself, and it's another to be something you are not.

It doesn't matter how many products Apple comes up with, they will always be perceived as the "cool" brand, just like Samsung is perceived as the "techie anti-Apple" brand, and Microsoft is perceived as the "classical" brand. Audi, Mercedes and BMW will always be perceived as German luxury cars, and Toyota, Nissan and Honda, will always be perceived as middle class cars. Feel free to differenciate yourself.

Do you think Trump's constant never-ending talk about anything else that wasn't the wall, or making America great again, or "crooked" Hillary, helped him win the election? I have news for you... it did.

4. Impress your consumers, and more importantly... don't lie to your consumers.

If you have a product or a service, the relationship of your product/service with your client has three options:

• You don't meet your consumer's expectations
• You meet your consumer's expectations
• You exceed your consumer's expectations.

I believe that the more satisfied your consumer is, the more likely things will fall into place for everyone. He will be loyal, he will buy more from you, he will recommend you new clients, and he can even become a partner of yours.

Keep in mind that your consumer has two stages of being impressed with you: the first one is when he sees "the box", and the second one is when he "opens the box" and uses your product/service. The first one is managed by the consumer's expectations, and the second one is managed by how those expectations were met.

I don't think it's fair to use Trump on this one, because he actually hasn't taken oath yet, and although it seems he's already changing his speech on some of his promises, we still have to give him time to see how it all works out. Also, well, it's politics.

A brand new cell phone though, or a camera, or a stay at a hotel, that's something we can talk about. Think about how big is your smile when something you buy is better than what you expected. Now think about how frustrated you feel when something you buy is worse than what you expected.

Start by offering what you promise and always try to push a bit higher, towards the sky.

And if you don't like Trump being used as an example, then think about him...

Like it or not, he knows a thing or two about personal branding