What kind of audience do you want?

If you want a herd of sheep to follow you to the ends of the earth, constantly seeking help but never doing anything to help themselves, use pretend-caring, over-the-top motivational rubbish in your promotions.

If you want to work with intelligent, pro-active people to help them achieve their goals on the way to going places and making things happen… treat them like they have a brain.

What does your audience look like right now?

Things change quickly in the world we live in. Language we used mindlessly three years ago is no longer relevant or acceptable. The ways consumers engage with brands has totally changed in a few short years. What we seek out or reject online comes down to the relevance and resonance of content, right this minute.

So let me tell you where the Pretend Personal sits now.

Over-the-top enthusiasm is cringe-worthy.

Boasting, thinly veiled as gratitude, is a total turn-off.

Classic sales messaging (“Buy now!” / “Don’t miss out!” / “Can you afford not to?”) is insulting people’s intelligence.

And don’t get me started on bulk emails that begin with ‘Hi Jane!’ and then continue to insert Jane throughout the email. Jane doesn’t really think you’re talking especially to her.

Treat people like the intelligent, Internet-savvy, busy people they are. Be real. That’s what works now.

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The importance of brand clarity in a buyer’s market

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Individuals   /   Organisations, boards & teams

Plans have changed, communication agendas have changed.

Whether they are business owners and CEOs leading organisations, board members forging a path forward, consultants growing/recovering their client base or executives looking for a new role, the clients with whom I’m working on personal brand positioning and communication right now are doing things differently.

It’s certainly a challenge to plan a communication strategy that fits these difficult and constantly evolving times! There is the worry that you may miss the mark with your content, losing people’s attention and trust. Or that your offering is no longer relevant. Or that there is too much noise and you’re just adding to the pile, blending in. Or you simply don’t know where to focus now, and how quickly that will change – again.

But there are some constants we can still be certain of: Your personal brand strategy needs to come from a clear purpose, a clear audience, and a genuine belief that you can help. Because these things aren’t always clear, this is usually where the discussion starts.

Once you have a clear sense of purpose and audience, it’s time to tackle strategy.

Here are some personal brand communication tactics, flowing out of strategy, that are working for my clients right now:

• Don’t ignore the issue. Those still communicating ‘business as usual’ (and there are some out there) are failing to resonate with people and are possibly even pushing them away. Speak to the issues that are front-and-centre for your audience right now, and that are relevant to your work. What is your perspective? How can you help?
• It’s ok to self-promote. If people genuinely need your services or skills right now – particularly new, more relevant iterations of them – then they need to know they exist. What matters is the intention behind the promotion (Can you really help? Is that your primary motivation?) and giving deep thought to what and how you promote, so that it’s meaningful to and respectful of others.
• Share your personal experience/examples. While I usually warn against the warts-and-all, heart-on-your-sleeve approach to personal branding (I’m not against vulnerability, but I believe in considering context and purpose!)… right now there is more than usual wiggle-room for being human – and actually, it’s helpful. We humans need reminders that everyone else is human, too. It’s comforting and helps us to see we are in this together. Giving personal examples is also a great way to explain your perspective and provide tangible help.
• Inspire and celebrate. Some of my clients regularly celebrate the work of others, just because it’s how they operate. Encouraging, supporting and talking about others’ work right now is more important than ever before. It helps your audience build trust with the person you are celebrating, as well as with you. More importantly, it provides us all with much-needed inspiration right now.

And here is a final tip purely from my own experience reading/listening to/watching others online:

• Be gentle with your advice. I’m not always that! But right now my own experience consuming content is that I am totally overwhelmed by and turned off the type of ‘motivational’ content that feels like a survival bootcamp. If you are screaming at me to do more, be more and create more right now… I can’t hear you. I know there are things to be done, to figure out, to make happen. As someone who is always striving to achieve the next goal, I am conversely more effective when I am not so hard on myself – particularly now. For the time being, I am finding advice that tells me, ‘It’s hard, and I know how you feel. Here are some things that may help’… much more helpful than ‘Get your s#*t together!!!’…how about you?

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Who will shine during crisis times?

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Individuals   /   Teams

This video includes:

• What I mean by a personal brand that is SIMPLE, CLEAN and SUPPORTIVE
• Why this is my Number 1 personal brand tip!
• Why I’m unsubscribing from podcasts that aren’t paying attention to these principles in the current times

I’d love to hear your thoughts – leave a comment on LinkedIn!

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Who will shine during crisis times?

More online personal branding tips for crisis times

Work with Julissa

Individuals   /   Teams

In summary:

• Work in the background on important but not urgent things you never usually get to (and some examples)
• Bring human qualities online (that’s where we are networking and selling now!)
• Find creative solutions to old OR new client problems (and we know how they feel right now!)
• I announce my new online tools coming soon to help with your online personal branding!

Shoutout in this video to WA Leaders

Hope you enjoy!

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Who will shine during crisis times?

Work with Julissa

Individuals   /   Teams

It’s interesting to watch people’s varied reactions in the supermarket – people loudly complaining about others’ behaviour… or filming other people who are anxiously waiting in line… strangers nervously laughing together about the craziness of it all… or those trying to be kind to people who are less fortunate. 

Turning into a narrow intersection on the road yesterday, another driver went out of their way to back their car up to let me pass… and as I drove past, thanking the driver with a wave, I heard the driver of another car yelling at the one in front to hurry up. A stark contrast, and I felt pretty grateful that my exchange was the positive one.

A range of reactions, all perfectly natural when every one of us is dealing with some level of fear about what might happen next.

I am also hearing the occasional, ‘What’s the big deal?’ or ‘I won’t get sick!’, and I’ve witnessed the odd business owner say that they don’t need to change anything about how they do business. None of us know what will happen next, but for me personally, I think that the businesses and people who are responding proactively by making some changes are the ones who will ride out these challenging times and possibly even thrive throughout.

While the threats to life, livelihood, business and the economy are real, it’s important to be a light for others and for yourself in the darkest times. It’s that – or panic and try to hide from what is happening.

To me, trying to act as a light in dark times is on a human level about kindness and mindfulness, and on a business level about creative problem-solving, connection (even with social distancing!), and positive leadership.

Walking past an encouraging shop sign or experiencing a kind smile from a stranger are experiences that shine very brightly and mean more than ever right now. So let’s all try to be part of the solution because as they say:

If you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem!

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Clarity is key – Part 1

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Individuals   /   Teams

It starts with real people

Having worked with a great many business owners and business development managers in professional services like accountants, lawyers and management consultants, I firmly believe that their approach to digital marketing and social media must mirror their traditional best practices for building the client base – and this has to do with real relationships with real people.

You could argue that relationships take time to build – so this is not a quick online strategy. This is true, but it’s not always about slowly getting to know people and gain their trust over time (though this is a valid and important consideration). A stand-out first impression can be made instantly, and this includes a certain level of trust and a readiness to work with you. Perhaps you’ve experienced an instant rapport or enquiry from a chance meeting at a networking event, or a quality introduction from someone influential, where the business just flowed. The same goes online!

The winning combination

So, when asked how do I create business opportunities online, quickly and effectively, I have to say that it’s rarely the email blast, the cold call, or the paid Facebook ad that gets me the new client. In fact, I spend little or no time and money on these tactics! For service-based businesses, I believe it’s a combination of:

1. Face-to-face (and virtual) meeting, greeting, relationship building by acting like a human being and treating others like human beings – in other words, being real and getting offline where possible; AND
2. Leveraging your time spent on #1 above by following up your coffee meetings, networking events, or regular chats with clients with online communication (particularly on LinkedIn).

This sounds simple and obvious, but the success is in the strategy and schedule: it’s all about planning and consistency  – of brand messages, of target markets, of communication. Remembering all the time, you are a human speaking with humans, keeping it real. And in fact, few companies execute this combination really well. 

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Building a culture of trust

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Individuals   /   Teams