Planning to build a business around your personal brand? Read this first!
Inconsistency of story, message and actions confuses people. Worse, it seeds distrust. And trust, as we know, is the social currency of today.
G’day, my name is Trevor Young and this is my newsletter about how we can best ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities that come with being an active participant in today’s ‘Reputation Economy’. You can subscribe by clicking on this button:
I didn’t read this first (obviously!) – and it cost me heaps of time and headspace. Don’t be like me 🙂
One of the most powerful exercises you can do before committing to run a business off the back of your personal brand (or any other high-impact outcome you’re hoping to achieve) is this:
GET YOUR PERSONAL VALUES IN ORDER.
It sounds flaky.
It sounds airy-fairy.
I hear your battle cry!
“I just wanna sell stuff, why should I waste time thinking about my values?”
Whoah pardner … slow down a sec …
Seriously, you might think that now, but ultimately, not having your values articulated and firmly in place will likely cost you in the long run in terms of time, effort and headspace (and yes, probably money too).
WHY? Because getting your ‘values’ house in order first will cure a lot of ills down the track when it comes to marketing and branding especially, but also other things such as – which clients should I work for? (if you’re a consultant, for example).
Why do values work?
Because they provide you with parameters to work within. THINK: a 10-pin bowling alley for kids. Your values are your ‘bumpers’ – they keep pushing you back into your ‘lane’ so you can stay focused and, more importantly, true to yourself.
Communicating your brand and marketing your products is a tricky business at the best of time; if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be time-consuming and expensive, and worse, confusing for your audience.
Any inconsistency in putting yourself out there, creating content and communicating with your audience is going to get noticed.
Inconsistency of story, message and actions confuses people.
Worse, it seeds distrust. And trust, as we know, is the social currency of today.
It’s hard enough to cut through with your communications without muddying the waters!
Now, I’m not just spouting theories here: I’m speaking from experience. I’ve gone through the process, thanks to my sessions with educator, trainer and business coach, Suzy Jacobs.
What do ‘values’ look like?
I’m not sure there’s a particular ‘look’, to be honest. No doubt they will differ from individual to individual. We are, after all, unique beings, with our own quirks, personalities, skills, experiences, resources and goals.
And that’s the key: when you’re crafting your values, they need to be unique – to you!
Don’t copy anyone else’s. Take the time to work through them yourself. It’s not an easy task, as I found out, because it requires you to look deep inside of yourself to reiterate and confirm what’s important to you. Not just important, but really, really important.
Values are your principles. They’re what you stand by as an individual. As a professional. If an issue comes up, some potential conflict for example, by reverting to your values you have guidelines to help you make a decision.
Dig into your values
Say a new business opportunity comes your way, but there’s something about it that doesn’t feel right. Dig into your values – is there alignment with your potential new client? You’ll pretty much know straight away, and then the answer whether you should take on said client becomes clearer and therefore straightforward.
But of course, your values also extend to your personal brand communications: the content you create, the speaking gigs you undertake, the conversations you participate in on social channels. In essence, how you present yourself to the world.
If you detest how some internet marketers go about their business, pummeling people with a barrage of “buy now’ emails – if your ‘value’ is to treat people with respect, then you know what to do.
If you believe in being open and generous with your ideas, insights and expertise, then don’t hold back! Publishing content that helps others will feel right because it’s aligned with your values.
Suzy Jacobs says “choose the values that are most meaningful to you”.
Below is a quick clip of an interview I did with Suzy on this very topic
I once talked about values at a virtual You Are The Media Lunch Club Zoom gathering, organised by Mark Masters.
Small agency specialist, Christophe Stourton, followed up my talk with a LinkedIn riff that continued the ‘values’ conversation. He wrote:
Values are fundamental because they are your fallback in a crisis and when making decisions. They are also a powerful way to attract new clients. When they share your values, that’s the basis of a long-term relationship.”
Christophe also published a terrific video that shows how your values can make you different. And isn’t this what we all want to do in the marketplace? Differentiate our business and personal brands?
So what do values look like in action?
For the purpose of illustration, here are the values I developed and shaped with Suzy’s help. Importantly, they continue to guide me today:
What does this mean for me?
If you know me, I would hope that I live up to these values.
Maybe I “fall off the wagon” occasionally, but having these values written down, staring me in the face most days, ensures I’ve always got something to guide me in my decision-making, whether it’s the content I create, the clients I work with, or the collaborations I undertake. Generally, how I show up in the world.
Let’s face it, the fear and uncertainty brought on by Covid-19 has seen many of us reassess our lives. I’m no different. I have spent a fair bit of time over the past couple of years renewing my thinking around the direction I want to take moving forward, both professionally and personally. I have been reassessing everything, and my values have helped me immensely during this ‘think time’.
What about you?
Have you gone down the ‘values’ path, and if so, how helpful has it been for you professionally? Hit reply and let me know!
Thank you for reading … let’s connect on the socials (links below)!
Onwards!
Trevor 💪
P.S. Did you know Reputation Revolution is also a podcast? I’m publishing episodes regularly here on Substack, or you can check out the full playlist of episodes here.
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