Personal Branding Strategy: A Roadmap for Professionals, Experts and Executives | Hinge Marketing

1. Level 4: Industry Rock Stars. These names are well known across the nation for their niche areas of expertise. They attract premium clients and fees. As a result, they become significant assets to their firms.
2. Level 5: Global Superstars. The world’s elite experts, Global Superstars have broken out of their niches & become recognized more broadly in their industries. They command the highest fees & firms around the world want to be associated with them.
3. Your first job is to figure out which of these levels describes you today. Then you need to decide what level of expertise to achieve.

1. Apart from pumping up your ego, what tangible benefits can a powerful personal brand deliver? For starters, Visible Experts make more money.
2. Buyers are willing to pay over 13 times more  for a Global Superstar than an average professional.
3. But even Level 1 experts hold a significant advantage over their undistinguished brethren.

1. The reason stars can charge more is that many buyers are willing to pay a premium for experts they believe in.
2. They are willing to shell out extra for the confidence that a Visible Expert will bring more knowledge and experience to their problem, solving it more quickly, and with greater precision.

1. Highly visible experts attract more media attention. When a reporter needs an authoritative quote, they reach out to the experts most closely associated with the issue at hand.
2. Well-branded experts also are able to secure valuable partnerships more easily, and with more desirable organizations.
3. And as I mentioned earlier, they attract better quality clients, too.
4. Experts with strong personal brands also benefit their firms. As a result of the halo effect, an expert’s reputation often spills over to the organization.
5. This affects a firm’s brand and business development prospects.

1. Demand grows at a steady rate through Level 4, then drops off sharply.
2. Why aren’t Level 5 experts getting the love? The answer almost certainly has to do with their sky-high fees, which dampen demand.
3. Of course, when you can charge thirteen times more, you don’t need as many clients.

The right marketing tools have the greatest impact on an individual’s personal brand.

1. Writing a book is an effective way to demonstrate your expertise & build visibility.
2. If you look around at the highest profile experts in your field, chances are most of them have written 1 or more books.
3. Next are public speaking engagements. The best-known experts speak frequently to large groups, including prospective clients and industry peers.
4. Websites — both firm sites and personal ones. Not all Visible Experts have personal websites, though Level 4 and 5 experts often do.
5. These individuals tend to write frequently, including blog posts, articles and monthly columns.

1. A book is a critical credibility builder. Your book can be traditionally published or self-published.
2. Traditionally published book can deliver instant credibility, but self-published books (for which you can set the price or give away for free) offer more flexibility.
3. Either way, you will also need to promote it, since even name-brand publishers rely on their authors to do most of the marketing.
4. A book can be a heavy lift, so don’t feel like you have to tackle it right away. But set a firm goal to produce one in the next couple of years, if not sooner.

1. Public speaking is an important platform for building your reputation and personal brand.
2. Audiences are predisposed to trust anyone who stands at a podium, so just getting there is half the battle.

1. Public speaking is an important platform for building your reputation and personal brand.
2. Audiences are predisposed to trust anyone who stands at a podium, so just getting there is half the battle.

1. If you are part of a larger firm, you’ll want to focus first on your bio page.
2. It should present sufficient credentials to convince people that you really know your stuff.
3. Here are a few things it might include:

• Detailed personal bio
• Academic degrees
• Certifications
• Awards
• Publications
• Presentations
• Important projects
• Associations
• Affiliations
• Speaking videos

1. Every expert should be blogging. It’s the most accessible way to demonstrate your expertise.
2. It’s also one of the easiest ways to start building a loyal following.
3. And when you apply search engine optimization (SEO) principles to your posts, you open up a whole new world of prospective clients who, for the first time, will find you through online search.
4. A blog is an essential tool if you want to spread your wisdom quickly and widely.
5. Your blog can either reside on your firm’s website (this is preferable, since it can boost your SEO performance), or you can create a separate blog.

1. If your blog is for introducing gobs of new people to you, email marketing is how you turn many of those readers into loyal followers — even raving fans.
2. Using offers to download valuable educational content such as executive guides and whitepapers, you can entice a certain percentage of your blog readers to opt into your mailing list.
3. You can then feed these followers a steady diet of free educational goodies, as well as additional offers that deepen their engagement.

1. Every year, more and more organizations use online search to find and vet their service providers.
2. But even more relevant to your journey up Mount Expert, business people today instinctively fire up Google whenever they encounter a thorny business problem.
3. In many cases, they research the problem and possible solutions themselves — before they seek out professional help.
4. In other situations, professionals use search to find thought leaders in their field. SEO is the tool that connects you to the people who are intensely interested in the problems you solve.

1. Experts get requests for bios, speaking samples and photos all the time.
2. So it makes sense to have those things ready to go at a moment’s notice.
3. Even better, put them up on your website bio page where interested parties can find them without asking.
4. Every time a last-minute request comes in, you’ll be glad you have it at your fingertips. Wondering what one looks like? Here’s the media kit of Hinge’s Managing Partner, Lee Frederiksen.

1. The “master skill” that will encompass your entire Visible Expert journey is your role as a teacher.
2. You see, your reputation as an industry leader will be built to a great extent on your ability to translate complicated material into easy-to-understand language.
3. While not all experts are teachers, all Visible Experts and thought leaders are excellent  teachers.
4. What I mean by this is that you will be dedicated  to educating your audience.
5. Your driving impulse is to be helpful.
6. You will be a teacher first and sales person a distant second.

1. Writing.  If you want to be an effective teacher and build a compelling personal brand around your expertise, you must be able to produce clear, nontechnical prose that’s a pleasure to read.
2. Public Speaking.  Most experts are comfortable speaking to their target audience and fellow professionals. Like all skills, mastery comes from doing.
3. Blogging.
4. SEO.  Search engine optimization is an entire discipline in itself, but you can learn the fundamentals in a day or two — enough to begin thinking more strategically about what you write.
5. Email Marketing.

1. Step 1: Determine where you are today.  Before you can begin your ascent, you need to know where you are starting.
2. Step 2:  Identify your specialized area of expertise. The more niche your expertise, the easier your rise will be.
3. Step 3: Define your audience. Who will be buying your services? Who will influence your buyers? What industries do you serve? What roles in the companies buy your services? The answers to these questions will be the people for whom you craft every blog post, every speech, every book, every webinar. Always keep your target audience in mind.
4. Step 4: Find your angle.

1. Step 5: Decide which tools you will use.
2. Step 6: Assess your skills. This is perhaps the most challenging part of the program if you are doing it yourself. Not because it takes a great deal of effort. But because it is so hard to be objective about one’s own strengths and weaknesses.
3. Step 7: Determine who is going to help you. Decide if you really want to try to make a solo ascent or are there any that you might want to outsource?
4. Step 8: Create your media kit.  Hire a pro to take a few photos of you and write a short and long version of your bio. Add public speaking clips and download link.

1. Step 9: Enhance your bio/build your website.  Add credibility-boosting features to your bio, such as articles you’ve written, speeches you’ve delivered and accolades you’ve won — anything that might convince a reader that you are the real deal.
2. Step 10. Get set to blog.
3. Step 11. Set up your conversion tools.  To turn web visitors and blog readers into leads, you’ll need to offer them something that’s compelling enough they will provide their name and email address in exchange for it.
4. Step 12. Set up your social media profiles.

1. Step 13. Select and prepare your email platform.
2. Step 14. Set aside time each day to work on new skills. The most effective way to tackle a long-term project is to make a habit of it. That means carving out a little time each day to work on one or two pieces at a time. Never forget that this is a business commitment, not a hobby. So it’s okay — in fact, it’s important — to devote part of your workday to upgrading your personal brand.
3. Read over your plan one more time. Then start implementing it. It will be slow going at first, but it’s important to get the ropes and ladders in place.

1. The key is to break down your personal branding strategy into manageable chunks.
2. Don’t try to tackle too many things at once.
3. Little by little, you will begin to see results — a new trickle of email inquiries here, a speaking opportunity there, and an incoming tide of new followers.
4. At some point, people will begin asking for you. And eventually a few will want to hire you and your firm on the basis of your reputation alone.
5. The thrill that comes with seeing steady progress makes all the hard work worth it.
6. Good luck. And happy climbing!