* Differentiate yourself. Schwab and others started out by hanging their marketing hats on something that made them different from their competitors. Whether you choose to highlight your education, your high-tech equipment, an aspect of your service, or your expertise in a certain facet of finance, pick something that sets you apart from others and begin from there.
* Create a position. Your position is the place you occupy in the minds of your prospects. You might specialize in a specific service (Jiffy Lube made millions with this concept) or focus on a specific audience (real estate people often focus on a community; others can pick a dream client with unique needs and goals). Decide what position suits your background, abilities, and audience, and then build your marketing around driving that position home.
* Consistent and persistent. Once you’ve determined your position and your differentiator, create your brand by advertising yourself — over and over. Use print ads, direct mail, radio, websites, speaking engagements, newspaper articles — and any other medium available to communicate your name, your slogan, and your message to the target audience.
* Customize your services. Once you’ve built your brand, begin changing and evolving your services and business to fit your identity. If you preach personalized services, you need to qualify your identity by promising to offer a specified amount of one-on-one time with your clients. If you talk about your large, helpful staff, hire one. If you promise a unique specialty, back it up by offering a focused blend of products and services based on that specialty.
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Really good advice. Pursue what you’re good at, and make sure you differentiate yourself from others. In building “Brand You”, one of the most important thing is not to be like everyone else. Brands won’t have much use if all the brands were the same.
Even psychologists tells us that “Conforming sucks”. Be yourself, be authentic. Be willing to be different. It’s better for you, and it will energize and draw more people to you as well.
