If you missed part one of this article series click here.
There are several qualities that build influence. Being positive, being generous and going out of your way for others are qualities that do so, however there is a very important quality cultivating a strong personal branding. Your behavior, your presence, your personality and your professional image is all part of your personal brand and has to be consistent and convey the impression you want to make.
Your personal brand is not just the colors we use in our business and our tag line, it is also how people perceive us and project how you will behave. Your appearance, your behavior and your communication are all part of your personal brand. You may have had your colors done worked with an image professional and have a great smile that makes you approachable, none of this matters if you show up only 50% of the time to a committee meeting and when you do show up you are always late and never offer to help. The people on the committee will perceive you as unreliable at best, flaky at worst and you will have no influence with any of them. Also everybody talks and your behavior will negatively impact your influence with people who were not even on the committee.
Do give great attention to your personal brand and watch your influence soar. One of my favorite personal branding exercises as it relates to influence is to write down six or seven words that you want people to say about you. Then put those words in front of you in your office and read them everyday to make sure that everything you say and do and everything that represents you like a website, receptionist or voicemail message reflects these words. For example the words I have posted in front of me in my office are honest, positive, integrity generous, caring, expert and excellence. That means I make sure that everything that happens in my business reflects that. I make it easy for people to connect with me, my team and I are always striving for better client care and I am always looking for how we can improve what we do and how we do it. This also means that if something has worked for other businesses but it is not consistent with our personal brand I will not do it—why because it would not be consistent with my personal brand and therefore it would dilute my influence in the marketplace.
Cultivate your personal brand and watch your influence soar. Come back next week on more about building your influence.
Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, shows women entrepreneurs how to be loud and proud about the value they bring in order to massively monetize their mastery. Join her and other ambitious, positive and passionate women entrepreneurs as you discover how to catapult your revenue at one of her three two-day, live and in-person events: The Business Breakthrough Summit, www.bizbreakthrough.com, The Sought After Speaker Summit www.soughtafterspeaker.com or Enliven: How to Plan, Produce and Profit From a Women’s Retreat www.enlivenprogram.com
For a deep discount use code TIWMAG and get started catapulting your business today. Caterina can also be reached at cat@caterinarando.com and by phone at 415.668.4535.