From the monthly archives:

April 2009

LaunchingPad Secrets: 5 Steps to Sustainable Business Success

by T.C. Coleman

The key to leveraging the attraction of your magnetic brand and the power of social media lies in having effective systems in place that lead prospective clients and joint venture partners (“leads”) through my five step process:

Step One- Lead Attraction. Lead attraction in magnetic branding and social media involves developing a profile and image that resonates with your target market. For maximum effect, pay attention to keywords and the energy conveyed by images.

Step Two- Lead Collection. Lead collection in magnetic branding and social media involves having an automated system in place to collect the basic information of those who want to stay connected with you. I suggest using a service like Aweber or iContact to create a database of those who are attracted to you. An automated system is essential for staying in touch and in front of your market.

Step Three- Lead Conversion. Lead conversion is magnetic branding and social media involves staying in contact with those who are in your database and who are watching and learning from you on social networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Myspace). An effective lead conversation system will help your target market get to “know, like and trust” you at an accelerated pace.

Step Four- Lead Retention. Exceptional service is the cornerstone for building an effective systems that helps you retain leads who have been converted in Step Three of my process. Building a thriving sustainable business requires you to have systems in place to support the needs of your current clients. This is also the section in my five step process in which you consider and develop additional services for your existing clients that meet their needs and expand your business. Current clients are your best new clients.

Part Five - Lead Referrals. A solid referral base is at the core of successful thriving businesses: happy clients referral their family, friends and colleagues. There is no more effective endorsement of your ability to deliver than the recommendation of a trusted source.

Once you have implemented the systems listed above, you are well on your way to enjoying a fulfilling successful and thriving business!    The tie that binds my five step process is Prepare, Positioning and Promoting Your Magnetic Brand.   I’m always thrilled to help clients “get” the power of magentic branding and social media in my workshops and private coaching session.

I invite you to listen in as entrepreneur extrodinare Suzzane Tipton Offner shares her thoughts about working with me around these important components of building a sustainable thriving business.

Suzzane Tipton Offner: Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

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Magnetic Branding: What it Means … Why it Matters (+ a heartwarming testimonial)

by T.C. Coleman

Regardless of whether you know (or like) it or not, you have both a personal and professional brand. Those who come into contact with you are continuously making judgments about you and your professional value that are based on their perceptions of your integrity, ethics, values, etc. Such perceptions can be the result of direct experiences or, more commonly, what people have heard or seen that is related to you or your business.

Before we delve into the importance of personal and professional brands, let us back up and establish clear definitions for the terms “personal brand” and “professional brand”.

In my work around “magnetic branding,” I teach that a personal brand is your unique promise of value as a fellow citizen of your community and the world. Building a powerful personal brand requires deep introspection and UpwardAction based on the lessons learned during your introduction. Working with a coach is a great way to make powerful strides in distilling lessons from introspection and implementing the lessons learned.

A professional brand is your promise of professional contribution to your clients, customers, employees and employers. Building a powerful professional brand requires a clear and compelling vision for your professional success and doing what it takes to attract others to your “vision”.

A magnetic brand is the combination of your personal and professional brand. A magnetic brand is built on what others expect of you as a citizen of world and how they expect you to “show up” in professional settings. Your magnetic brand lets people know what ‘you promise to deliver’ when hanging-out on a personal level, interacting in social settings, collaborating on a professional level and giving or receiving instruction in an work environment.

Building a magnetic brand requires you to go through a three step process.

Step One: You must be clear about your personal and professional values; personal and professional vision; business and life mission; and personal and professional goals.

Step Two: You must be aware of the perceptions that others have of you and your business.

Step Three: You must develop strategies and techniques to bridge the gap between the clarity you have articulated in Step One and the perceptions that exist in Step Two.

Having a powerful magnetic brand is imperative for service professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants, financial planners, business coaches, insurance agents, business consultants, etc.) whose success is tied to their likability and expertise. While I find that most professionals understand the importance of a powerful personal brand, I also find that they often do not go far enough in building a powerful professional brand that is thoughtfully prepared, positioned, packaged and promoted.

The combination of a strong personal brand and powerful professional brand blossoms into a magnetic brand that moves you from a state of chasing clients to a place of attracting them. A magnetic brand is what you need to build a sustainable thriving professional service business.

It is my joy to work with attorneys in building magnetic brands that catapult their careers to new heights of success.

Below are reflections from a rainmaking partner at a top law firm after she attended a Branding Brilliance workshop I co-facilitated about intentionally building a powerful brand via social media.

Lori Bockman, Law Firm Partner

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