A few months back, I did a video series on branding where I asked questions like What Color Is Your Brand?  and even declared Let The Branding Begin!  I was shocked at the number of emails I received  from people who were still confused about what branding is and what branding is NOT!

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), brand is defined as “name, term, sign, symbol, design or combination of them intended to  identify goods and services of one seller or group of sellers to differentiate them from other sellers.  According to Stephanie C. Harper, it’s the consistent thing you do or show that makes others think of you, your product and/or your service.  One of the things attached to my branding is the color purple – and in a particular shade.

So that we are clear here….BRANDING IS NOT…about getting your target market to choose you over the competition…BRANDING IS…getting your prospects to see you as the only one that can provide a solution to the problem.  When you look at the following image, you will note they are always consistent.

A good brand

• Delivers a clear message
• Confirms your credibility
• Connects with your target (emotionally)
• Motivates the buyer
• Concretes user loyalty
• Is consistent
• Is recognizable

The brands shown in the above image have established their Name Recognition, Brand Image, Brand Position, and Brand Promises.  When you see them, you know exactly who they are, what they do, and what features and benefits that are available to you.  THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR BRAND NEEDS TO DO TOO!

I had a friend named Louis Green.  We talked everyday, but I never knew that he was in so much pain.  One day, we learned that Louis Green had committed suicide.  He hung himself with fat laces.  Yes, this was in the 80′s…I was in the 8th grade.   His family asked me to sing as his funeral, and I did.  I sang, The Greatest Love of All.  I was always a creative person, so I changed the words just a bit and instead of singing, “I found the greatest love of all inside of me”.  I sang, ” I found the greatest friend of all in Louis Green.”

Today, I was sitting on the couch watching movies with my husband when my skype began to sound.  It was a friend in New York, telling me that Whitney Houston had passed.  I felt numb and the first thing that I thought about was how I felt when I lost my friend, Louis Green.  I posted about my friend Louis Green on my Facebook page.   Several of my classmates who remembered Louis also commented.   Then I thought about Bobbi Kristina and I began to pray for peace that passes all understanding.

I was a Whitney Houston fan, I remember standing in the mirrors and singing to her songs.  I always admired Whitney from afar.  She sang with such ease and grace.  I remembered her first album cover (yes album) and remember reading about her being a model.  I just liked Whitney!

Whitney’s up’s and down’s played out in the public eye, so there’s no need to bring them up here.  I just wanted to share her words with you, “ I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow. If I fail, if I succeed at least I lived as I believed (that’s powerful, if you just reflect on it).  No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity!  I found the greatest love of all.  It’s easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. I found the greatest love of all inside of me.”   Like Whitney, each of us will have great times, face some hard times, make decisions, and ultimately leave this earth.  No matter what we choose to remember about Whitney, we can’t forget the mark she made in music, nor the beautiful melody she sang.  No one can deny the numerous singers she influenced (I mean c’mon, she’s Aretha Franklin’s god-daughter).  Nor can anyone deny the millions of lives she touched.

Rest in Peace Whitney Now you are Free to Dance With Somebody Who Loves You!

Even though I give career and business tips everyday, I have a confession to make that I hope will help each and everyone of you in your journey. It’s no secret that I am a certified human resources professional by trade who got laid off in 2001 . That’s part of my success story on how I used the layoff as a defining moment to take control over my career. I worked hard to build a brand, and make a name for myself. I have been blessed to become an author, career expert, speaker, radio host and even Publisher of a CAREER Magazine. My secret is, this ever-changing technology had me afraid to try something new! Ya know, launch out into the deep….

For many years, I “controlled” my career, but left certain parts of my destiny to others such as graphic designers and web designers {no, they are not necessarily the same}. Why? Fear. Not the spooky kind of fear, but fear that I would not or could deliver in excellence so I made an excuse and stuck with it. I am a human resources professional and human resources is what I do! While I am the first person to tell my clients to “sell your strengths and buy your weaknesses”- – I still have to admit; I have paid way more money than I should have over the past 10 years on websites. While I understand being an entrepreneur requires wearing MANY hats, I simply refused to wear the hat of a web designer. Since 2001, I have had approximately 10 websites built and I paid someone to do it each time (I currently have 6 separate web sites).

Fast forward… I had a discussion with my graphic designer who is proficient in both graphic and web design. I shared my goals to update the CAREER Magazine website (which she created in 2008). Based on our conversation, and the direction CAREER Magazine is heading, she suggested a Word Press website because it offers the most flexibility. She found a great template for me and offered to do the website for less than $300. That’s important to share because that’s the cheapest quote I ever received for any website. Knowing the caliber of her work, and her worth; I figured she just was giving me a price break because of our long-term working relationship. Or she felt sorry for me because she was aware of my graphic designer nightmares and all the THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS I’ve spent on websites over the years.

When I was finally ready to move forward with my website, my “main” graphic designer was in the process of expanding her business and moving her home business to a retail location. She was happy to upgrade the website, but told me she could not start on it for another two months. As a general rule, I have always worked with several designers because experience has taught me to always have options and sometimes – - people just get busy!

I have two other graphic designers that have successfully completed other projects for me when my main designer was unavailable. But decided to just go in a totally different direction and try a BRAND NEW designer I had met online a few years ago (and met him in person summer 2009 while visiting my best friend in Detroit). Before turning over my website I had him to do a graphic design project for me and I was sooooooooo happy with “his” work. So, I turned over my website and a $300 partial payment as his requirement was 50% down to start. After waiting more than three months for my website, I began to look through some emails and realized that my new “graphic designer” did not design the project I was so happy about – – HE HAD OUTSOURCED IT! (which explains why the website samples he sent were not up to par). Long and short of it, I never got my website from him, I have yet to get my money back {which he has repeatedly promised to return} and I will be working on my formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau as soon as I finish this blog. But I digress.

During this process, I began to mentor a young lady in the New York area who wanted to start a Magazine. I explained to her that my time was very valuable and her mentorship would be a working one. During one of our frequent talks, she mentioned “updating her website” and the light went off. I asked her about her web design skills and low and behold, she has built several websites using the Word Press platform. I told her that I now needed her to pour back into me as I had poured into her. She willingly agreed. Via Skype, she walked me through the BASICS of creating my website through Word Press. For some reason, I still had the fear that I could not do it to the level of excellence that I would be satisfied with. So I put my website aside and began to work on my husband’s website. Once I got the hang of how Word Press operates (and I’m still confused about some things). I buckled down and completed my husbands website over the Thanksgiving holiday

(see www.CoachHaynes.com) and you guess it, I went ahead and knocked out my personal website as well (www.StephanieHarper.com), I worked really hard so don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter). So now I have defeated my fear of websites. I did not complete ONE, but TWO. YES, I WIN!

I shared my websites with my graphic designer who gave me a thumbs up. Now there are some things I can’t figure out and she will go in and fix them for me over the next couple of weeks, but the point is….I DID IT….and I’m ready to take on the upgrade of the CAREER Magazine website without fear! And guess what, the template only cost me $35.00, some sweat equity and a few cups of courage. Best investment ever! SCH

“Are you on Facebook? What’s your Twitter handle? Send me the link to your LinkedIn profile.”
Thousands of social networking accounts are created every month. And a large percentage of those new networkers become easily frustrated because it doesn’t seem to be working for them. It’s what I like to call the “Field of Dreams” approach: if you build a profile, thousands of people will find you, become your friend, join your mailing list, buy your products, sign up for your services and anything else you need to become wildly successful.

If you’ve been toying around with social networking for a few months you know it’s not that simple. Before you write off social networking as a waste of time though, consider these six reasons that social networking isn’t working for you:

1. You don’t have anything interesting to say: In this day and age things move fast. And information travels at light speed thanks to web and mobile technology. Are you providing outdated information? Talking about last year’s trends with no new insights and observations? Or are you offering a unique perspective based on your personal and professional experience? This isn’t about creating everything from scratch, but it is about being able to offer more than rehashed content and links to your network. This doesn’t help you grow, nor does it help anyone else grow. True networking works because you bring a distinct flavor or brand to the party. With all the social networking opportunities and fellow networkers competing for my time – how are you going to capture my attention so that I want to connect with you on a regular basis.

2. You don’t have a clear message about who you are: One thing that interests me when I search for people to connect with is that they are clear about who they are, what they love, and what they do. Take the time to develop a social presence just like you would take the time to make sure that your physical presence commands a certain level of attention in a live networking event. In the beginning it may be a little sloppy – that’s to be expected when you are just learning. But you have to learn fast and make the transition from sloppy messaging and style to confident, savvy, smartly branded communication. If you find someone with a style you like – learn from them. I didn’t say stalk them or copy them. But do observe, take notes and find ways to let their savvy influence your own style.

3. You don’t have a fan club: People talk about people who are talked about. So how do you get people to talk about you? Start with a small group of friends or colleagues and become fans of each other. To do that, it means you have to invite your friends and colleagues to the party. Not only will you build up your list of contacts, but you get insight into who has connections to someone you may need to be introduced to. Tip: Always create a smaller inner circle of people who are willing to promote each other’s content, events and ideas. This inner circle should also be willing to share insights and resources. Once you’ve built that inner and outer layer of your network, become a fan of other people. Do some research, checking out profiles and connections of people that interest you and extend them an invitation to join your network. I guarantee that the person on Facebook with 1,000+ friends didn’t get those friends by sitting around waiting for someone to discover their profile. Start with people who are in the same industry as you, or people who have joined the same sub-group that you have.

4. You’re all promotion and no solution: You’re all about your product, your service, or your group, and not enough about people and genuine connections. You are so focused on your product or service you forget that the real reason people are looking for you is because they have a problem. Find out what it is. And if you don’t have an answer, refer them to someone or somewhere that they can get help from. If you can’t refer the people in your network to resources and information, then you need to step up your game so you have something to contribute. The social networking relationships that I invest the most in are those that help me solve my problems whether or not they can sell me something. I avoid like the plague, the social networker who is out for the hard-sell from the gate because they need to make money.

5. You’re looking for 15 minutes instead of 60 minutes: Despite the apparent fascination with having high numbers of connections, social networking is not merely a popularity contest. At first glance it might seem that way. Take Twitter for example, everyone wants to connect with Guy Kawasaki or Chris Brogan, or some other social media thought leader with thousands of followers. But consider how they got they got the bulk of those followers: they offer valuable insight and information. At the end of the day your network is really about who you’ve helped and who has helped you, not just who has linked to you. If all you are concerned about is getting 1,000 friends or followers you miss the point. You are looking for 15 minutes of fame, and eventually you’ll get it. But then it will be over and you still won’t have the critical connections you need to make things happen. Want you want is the 60 minutes interview: There’s a different level of depth and buzz associated with 60 minutes and that’s where you want to be. Remember – at some point what’s hot has to cool down. The trick is to create cycles of 60 minute waves that keep you at the forefront, rather than 15 minute peaks that are over in a flash.

6. You don’t have a plan. It’s okay to sporadically explore the different social media platforms when you are first starting out and trying to determine which ones will work best for you. At some point though you need to break from exploring and create a concrete plan for how you will incorporate social networking into your marketing strategy. Your plan should include what you want to accomplish, your plan with a time line for how you will make it happen, and how you are going to measure the results of your efforts. For example, if your main reason for networking is to establish credibility, then your time spent on social networking should focus on answering questions and promoting your articles to leaders and active participants in your network. The results you could expect may include being invited to guest blog for a high traffic blog in your field or maybe get a request to be interviewed. Without a clear goal and targeted results, you will constantly feel like you are spinning your wheels and wasting your time.

So, before you write off social networking, try approaching it with the five considerations listed in this article. And keep in mind that nothing happens over night. Just like it takes time to build rapport in face-to face networking, it’ takes time, and sometimes more time to build a level of trust and genuine interest in someone. If you are looking to build a network without investing the time to really connect with people then social networking probably isn’t for you. However, if you are ready to build relationships and willing to do the work, this list should help jumpstart creating a valuable network.

Cover Story:  Shaka Senghor, Author, Speaker and Mentor shares his power story of recovering, rebuilding and restoring – - when your life depends on it.

Cover Titles:
Tools and Tips for Branding on a Budget
Find Out How and Why Google in the New Resume
Special Section 10 Page Author Resource Guide

Cover Story:  Tai Goodwin talks Brilliant Beginnings & How EmployedPreneurs can launch while working.

Cover Titles:
How to Define Go:  No Resolutions, Just Results!
Tools to Overcome Fear and Get Out of Your Own Way
UCLA Story on the 85%:  The Verbal, Vocal and Visual Brand
Bonus:  Top 20 Mistakes of 1st Time Entreprenuers

Happy 2012! Yes, we made it! Another year is an another opportunity to become whomever you dream to be!

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