We all must have heard of the age old statement: Behind every successful man, there is a woman, this statement has evolved into Behind every successful man, there is a well crafted personal brand" and for SMEs and emerging companies, the first rays of light in terms of business generation majorly comes from the network of its founding team/ stakeholders.
Lets put it this way: in the above sentence the real important keywords are: Successful, Personal Brand.
In my personal experience of the marketing domain, Iv seen many brands build. Iv been lucky enough to work with and under some real business leaders who with their knowledge, business acumen, experience, risk taking and acting faster than everyone else growing in niche domains, have created personal brands. They are re-called. THEY SELL.
YES! I said it, THEY SELL. Products from major Brands which we buy today in the market are known because the brand spends dollars and dollars on creating a strong brand recall with us (their customers).
But what happens to companies which are small?
Well, they sell because the first thing that sells for them is their founding/ co-founding/ core team. First the man/ woman, his/ her words sell. His/ Her brand sells. Coming from this thought, well, in my marketing experience I have had the chance of getting in touch with entrepreneurs and hence I talk from experience.
Great to know this, but how does one grow upto making/ building a personal brand?
There are may theories and a simple Google search on personal branding, will give you enough gyaan about how to go about it and what all should you do etc. Let me share my understanding of talking to many entrepreneurs how they generate business for themselves and why do their clients buy them, I have made a standard pointer list which essentially is a step wise approach to building a personal brand
- Question yourself: what are you really good at
- Find your passion: start doing what you really really are passionate about
- Find your niche: realize your niche, your domain
- Add value: start working for not earning money, but to really add value in the early stages of your career
- CREATE A STRONG NETWORK: NETWORK: NETWORK: NETWORK: there is nothing more powerful than a strong and relevant network. A powerful network takes you places
- Credibility is CREDIBILITY nothing else. Period.: work while creating a strong credibility from the very beginning
How do you Network?
One of the best things you can do for yourself which will keep paying back to you for the rest of your professional life, well, go and attend as many relevant events, as you can. Events are the best places to network with people who can help you improve and leverage your talent and connect and explore opportunities, while building new opportunities.
There are many platforms like IndiaMart, TiE and NASSCOM, which you can subscribe to and upon becoming members, participate in their events.
Which is the Next must event for the SMEs in India?
Be there at the SME Conference 2011 by IndiaMart and TiE at Sheraton, New Delhi, on January 28th.
Network Socially: quickly and for free
Use free and powerful social networks like LinkedIn: with a powerful profile on LinkedIn, you will sure be able to attract and connect with the relevant network of people.
Position Yourself, Go Talk, Create Content!!
Start a blog, share your thoughts/ thought leadership and express yourself
Finally, let me take a deep breath (have been breathless till now, stopping myself from saying this): well, the truth sure is, behind every successful man, there is a woman, cmon' how could you forget it?
Look forward to your comments!!
Post Contributed By: Aditi Thakur (Expertise: Marketing)
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