From the category archives:

Personal Branding for Biz Development

Accidental Branding

You are starting your own practice or finally (on the side or as your full-time dream) pursuing the business of your dreams. And, you are successful!! Your business is starting to build momentum … clients/customers are beginning to come in. Then, one day you realize that you have accidentally built your professional brand without much thought …and your “brand” makes you a success in area different from where you started and what you want for your business.

There is an amusing blog post on Freelance Folder by Bob Younce called “The Violent Truth of Branding” that lists the following violent truths about branding (which are slightly modified for you, my fabulous readers):

· Branding yourself can force you into a niche you might not want to be in three years from now.

· Just because you want to develop a particular brand doesn’t mean there’s money in it, or that you’re good at it.

· Branding can be a process of trial and error. If you can survive the errors, however, your potential for success grows exponentially. (Hmmm…sounds like The Dip (LINK HERE to other blog post)

· The truth of personal or professional branding is that you have got to approach it systematically, taking into account market factors, ability and desire if you are going to be successful and happy in your new endeavor.

Ability and desire…

One difficult thing about developing your professional brand (and not falling into the trap of accidental branding) is the challenge of focusing on what you are good at versus what you think will make money, but you are not interested in doing.

Invest time in determining what area of practice are most to you and which two or three of those areas are needed in a great enough quantity to support a full practice or other service business. Then, develop a specialty in this area of the law. For example, if you enjoy real estate issues - consider specializing in this area and make real estate the cornerstone of your professional brand. Drill down even more to discover your niche in this area and own it! I discourage you, however, from making real estate your specialty area because you’ve fallen into a practice of doing this kind of work and you have been successful at it – but hate the work and practicing law has become a drain because you spend so much of your time on this work you had. Falling into a practice specialty in this way is an example of branding yourself accidentally.

It is possible to successfully merge what you love doing with what you are great. The two are usually connected; however, sometimes is it difficult to connect the dots. Coaching can help you make the connection and successful develop a lucrative and fulfilling business. If you need help, feel free to contact us at UpwardAction.

Expect the best!

Coach T.C. Coleman

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Build Your Own Social Network

Today’s Feature Social Network: Ning

Ning, a social media site, is quietly changing the face of social networking. While it has been around since 2004, Fast Company recently featured Ning co-founder and CEO Gina Bianchini on their cover and in April of this year there was speculation that Ning’s value was then approximately half a billion dollars (not that this is unusual in the world of a $1 billion YouTube purchase). Ning sites are extremely easy to navigate and they look and function very much like a lot of social networking sites that are open to the general public. There are existing Ning groups for every conceivable interest and Ning is continuing to build momentum.

You may be asking, “Why is a discussion about creating a “personal” social network important or even relevant to lawyers or lawyerpreneurs?” Well … creating or joining a Ning community around a topic that is of interest to your industry or that relates to your subject matter expertise is simply another great way that social networks can be used to build community, your professional brand and showcase your expertise … all resulting in increased business opportunities.

Ning is a powerful tool because it allows you to develop a network (Ning supplies all that you need … except the contacts) instead of just hooking into more “general” communities like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Ning is also extremely easy to use! For example, if you want to create a special network for colleagues, leaders in your industry or maybe people who are interested in your areas of specality, you would first reserve the name for your community (which will be hosted on the Ning service for F*REE), select the networking tools you want to be available to members (forum, photos, music, events, text, etc) and then select a template design.

This entire process takes less than 5 minutes and allows you to create a really professional interface for your social networking community. Once you’ve created your community, you are free to invite colleagues, friends and clients to your new “professional” community, start discussions, schedule events and even further customize the look and feel of the website (ifyou so desire) by updating the template with HTML. It’s just that simple! If you like the idea of creating your own social community, but have no desire to do the formation legwork (regardless of how easy it is) just let me know in the comment section and I’m happy to make a recommendation.

UpwardAction® SuccessWork:

I have five questions for your consideration.

1. Do you know where your “ideal clients” spend their time - both online and in-person?’

2. If yes, are you making valuable contributions in those places?

3. If you don’t know the answer to question one, how can you find out?

4. What needs to happen for you to show up in the places that are most powerful for your business development and that supports your authentic-self?

5. What else needs to happen?

Always - Expect the Best!

Coach T.C.

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Help a Reporter, Get Free Press…It’s A Win-Win Deal!

Help a Reporter (HARO) is a new and free media service (that outgrew its Facebook group) that facilitates the introduction of subject matter experts and journalists. You are an expert if you have something meaningful and interesting to share about your business, industry or subject matter.

If you are on an entrepreneurial journey or developing a mature practice, becoming a source of information to a reporter is a great way to position yourself (and your business or firm) as an expert. You are also providing a valuable service to reporters and the public-at-large when you provide unique quotes or insights about the matter being covered.

I am a big fan of HARO. Peter Shankman, serial entrepreneur, and founder is careful to solicit and post interesting reporter queries in funny and engaging emails. This is really an amazing free service where you’ll find great places to “pitch” your expertise while enjoying the adventures of “Shankman”.

Peter also has a great philosophy about why it’s important to him that this service is (and remains) free. He feels that connecting people in this way spreads good karma and I couldn’t agree more! :-) Peter says ~ if you feel you must donate for his services, to please do so to your local animal shelter or other similar group.

HARO is pretty easy to use. Simply register as a source by entering your name and email address. Each day you’ll receive up to three emails (early morning, around lunchtime and early afternoon) with a list 15-30 queries of reporters seeking sources. If you see a query that fits your background and expertise, you contact the reporter directly by email.

Being quoted as a subject matter expert is a excellent way to build your professional brand and raise your profile. Once you are quoted, be sure to use your quote(s) on your Web site and other promotional materials, or link to your quote on your social medial profiles or blog (you are blogging, aren’t you?). Referring to your ”name and words” in the media helps to raise your profile and let others know about your areas of expertise.

And, once you are quoted in the media, be sure to “tweet” about it. You are on Twitter by now, right? If you are not, you should be. If you are, be sure to follow me at www.twitter.com/upwardaction

Expect the Best!

Coach T.C.

P.S. - I have no financial or other interest in HARO- I’m simply a raving fan.