Creating the Business you Love Personal Branding for Consultants and Freelancers In the 10 years that I have been working with independent consultants, the most challenging part of running their business is sales and marketing. The first step in marketing yourself is to understand your product – YOU! Why do people pay higher prices for certain brands? Think – Starbucks, Nike, Sony, Mercedes Benz – It is that with the name, people have certain expectations of performance and quality. The reason for that is that year after year, these companies have consistently delivered high quality products so people just grow to expect it. With that expectation, they are willing to pay a higher price, recommend it to others, and buy it even in an economic downturn. So if popular brands such as these can benefit from branding, why can’t these same concepts be applied to people? They absolutely can! The core of personal branding is the expectation that you will perform consistently in a certain way. The only way you can deliver consistent results is if you stay focused on what you are good at and deliver products and services you are passionate about. Successful personal branding is all about being authentic to yourself everyday, so it is critical for you to understand your unique strengths, values, interests and personality. Just like the strong corporate brands, successful personal brands are not created; they are uncovered, strengthened, and nurtured. Once you have built a winning brand you will benefit by: Enhancing your visibility and presence thus reducing your time spent marketing yourself Attracting the kinds of customers you really enjoy working with Getting many referrals Charging higher prices and making more money Once you have built a business based on your true authentic self and utilizing skill sets that are your unique strengths, your satisfaction with your work and life will significantly improve. Our one-on-one personal branding program is a rich and satisfying 1-year program that works with you to create the work and life you want. Call me for a free – no-obligation, one-hour consultation and I promise you, you will get value from our very first meeting. “Once you recognize that the purpose of your life is not to serve your business, but that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business rather than in it, with a full understanding of why it is necessary for you to do so.” Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited Sales Coaching One-on-one or group programs According to a recent survey performed by Crystallizers in September 2004, 81% of all independent consultants and small business owners surveyed, were not satisfied with the revenues they were making. 15% were actually struggling to make ends meet. When asked why they weren’t making the revenues they wanted, most stated a need for a more focused marketing and sales plan. Our one-on-one and group sales coaching programs are designed to work with your specific business requirements, your values and mission, and your personality style, to build a strategy that delivers the revenue you want while still creating the work you love. Our philosophy is to build a sales plan that will work for you – not one you are going to be forced into! Our coaching program focuses on creating a high-level sales plan so that you can be strategic with your efforts and maximize your time. You will learn and practice effective sales techniques that are congruent with your own personality style and values. You will also learn about selling to other personality styles and how to adapt and connect for greater success. Our group coaching programs are designed to have similar outcomes combined with group sessions to bring you together with other like-minded professionals to nurture and support your ongoing efforts. Our coaching program starts with a Sales Effectiveness Navigator profile to help us clarify where the challenges might be and focuses on improving customer communications, adapting and connecting, strategic account management and sales technique improvement. Coaching brings new ideas and perspectives designed to re-energize, support and improve performance over a period of time. If you are interested in our coaching program, please call us for a free no-obligation consultation on how our coaching program may help you meet your business objectives.