• Command a higher price for your products or services
• Become the category leader and win against the competition
• Leverage social media to broaden your reach
• Capture the attention of the traditional media – including print, TV and radio – and make them eager to write about you and your work
• Create a relationship with your audience that keeps them coming back for more

What you also get by creating a powerful and recognizable brand is what big celebrities and companies call Brand Equity.

It gives you the staying power to:

• Create products or programs to sell or license
• Build a loyal base of brand evangelists who’ll tell the world how great you and your products/services are
• Attract potential joint venture partners, investors, product creators and more

HOW you go about creating and building your branded presence is, of course, much more than a discussion – which is why I’m always in teaching mode.

You can get started in an easy, gentle way with my DVD “Branding You: 5 Strategies for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand”. At $49, it’s a POWERFUL first step toward your effective and compelling BRAND. http://libbygill.com/store

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

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As an executive coach with a past life in branding, it’s my job to tell people the truth about how they’re perceived by others. I’ve told people they were perceived as ditzy blondes, no-confidence lightweights and surly troublemakers. No matter how blunt my comments, I’ve always been thanked for my honesty. What about you? Do you have any idea how others perceive you? Does your personal brand, image and reputation help or hurt you? Maybe it’s time to find out. Use my Personal Branding Tool to get started: http://bit.ly/YourPersonalBrand

To get more of my tools, sign up at http://www.libbygill.com/sign-up-for-tips-tools-to-get-you-unstuck

…

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert
Entrepreneurial Coaching, Executive Coaching, Brand & Web Strategy

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Case in point…the infamous “Ground Zero Mosque.”  Never mind that the former Burlington Coat Factory will become an Islamic community center which will be open to the public and will house a basketball court, swimming pool and auditorium…along with a prayer mosque.  And that it’s two blocks north of Ground Zero.  The media doesn’t seem interested in making those distinctions.

However you feel about the “mosque” being built in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood (mind you, it’s a whole block further from Ground Zero than the New York Dolls Gentleman’s Club), you’ve gotta admit that the media has slanted the entire story with the misleading language they’ve chosen.  And once one outlet uses the loaded language, others follow suit.  Pretty soon, it’s a political, religious and moral topic of discussion rather than a completely legal real estate transaction.

My point?  Words matter, so choose them wisely.  As I tell my brand mentoring clients, it’s okay to go right up to the line when you’re describing your customer value, past accomplishments and current services– just don’t cross it.  Nothing kills trust and credibility faster than misleading your customers!

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

PS: Ready for a language overhaul? Pick up my DVD “Branding You: 5 Strategies for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand”. At $49, it’s a POWERFUL first step toward your effective and compelling BRAND. http://libbygill.com/store

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Within a few hours of my initial consultation, she went into her website and put up a very clear call action, inviting prospective clients to sign up for her Free Podcast: “Setting and Manifesting Your Intentions”. The site is still a work in progress, but it is on its way.

Another client created a website so focused and a credibility story so clear that the number of inquiries and client engagements increased by 30% in just four months. That’s when she knew her website was telling her credibility story and it was backed up by a clear call to action.

Let me ask you about your call to action. Assuming your site visitor has about 4-6 seconds to decide whether or not he wants to engage, what are you asking them to do? Are you asking them to register for something?  Please offer more than a free newsletter, because who wants one more email.  (And remember, if it’s about you forget it, if it’s about them, you’ve got a shot.)

Are you asking them to click a link?  If you do and they are doing it, then you’ve engaged them to go deeper into your site.  Are you asking them to subscribe?  Click on a video?  Go to your blog? Join a community? Read about your programs? There are an endless number of ways you can engage your website audience, if they believe you are worth spending time with, if the look of your site doesn’t scare them away, and if they know what you want them to do.

Consider these:  Have them sign up for a free gift of something, Offer them “Ten Ways to Tell If You’re Stuck,” or “The Three Branding Mistakes You Never Want to Make,” “5 Ways to Get Stains out of Carpets.” You get the picture. Whatever is it, ask them to take that action.

Here’s to YOUR powerful, effective web pages and your successful and compelling brand. And by the way, DEFINITELY sign up for your free Tools to Stay Unstuck at http://blog.libbygill.com (AND be entered, automatically, in my TGIF 3 Book Giveaway!)
Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

PS: If you’re ready to get your powerful, branded website in place, pick up my DVD “Branding You: 5 Strategies for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand”. At $49, it’s a POWERFUL first step toward your effective and compelling BRAND. http://libbygill.com/store

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The truth? Most sites are unfocused, unclear, DO NOT brand you properly and don’t have a compelling call-to-action. What are the 3 things your website absolutely must have? Well, I’ll share two of them today, and I’ll share the third on Monday.

#1 Clarity of Message. If potential customers come to your website and they are confused, you have lost them. If your site has some obscure language about who you are and what you do, that’s simply NOT good enough. Or, if it has a thousand messages (which is far more common), and your core message is lost, that’s a big problem. (And so many of you are guilty of this – you know who you are, right?)

#2 Visual Appeal. Please know that I am not saying your website has to be beautiful or that it needs to win graphic awards. But if your site looks boring, dated, amateurish or doesn’t reflect your personality and your BRAND – and by that I mean the personality of your business or product – that’s a big problem.  In fact, you’re practically inviting people to go away the very moment they arrive. It’s like going to a party, taking one look inside and saying, “Not for me…” and making a u-turn at the door.

And ONE thing you do NOT want your website to be is a revolving door.  You want people to come in, find you and your message compelling, and to stay a while.

By the way, when is the last time you checked your site statistics or Google analytics?  You need to know your bounce rate, that is the number of people who come to your site and then “bounce” away without visiting another page.  In other words, they’re in that revolving door!  They’re not liking what they see and hear. (Sometimes, this can be attributed to the message, but the visual appeal is also very important.)

Next week, I’ll share about the third MUST have for a successful website: CALL TO ACTION. For right now, spend some time just looking at and reading your website.  Look at each page – ask friends and clients to look at it also and to give you feedback on the clarity and visual appeal.  Use that data to help you plan your website renovation.  And watch out for my upcoming 1-Day Web Makeover Course.  I should have it together for you guys before the end of August.

Here’s to YOUR powerful, effective web pages and your successful and compelling brand.

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

PS: If you’re ready to get your powerful, branded website in place, pick up my DVD “Branding You: 5 Strategies for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand.” At $49, it’s a POWERFUL first step toward your effective and compelling BRAND. http://libbygill.com/store

Libby Gill Branding DVD

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1. Companies you’ve worked for and titles you’ve held. These can be in-house or as part of your client base. Notice that a few days ago I told you Universal, Sony, Turner Broadcasting. I also feature these on my website. Do I think you may have heard of those companies? You bet I do. Did I intentionally tell you I was the head of corporate communications and PR?  Yep.  My point?  This is NOT the place for humility.

2. Results you’ve achieved. I got Dr. Phil on the cover of Newsweek the week his show premiered. That’s about a quarter-million dollar piece of advertising, except you can’t buy it. It was a credibility builder for him at the time, and now I use it as shorthand as a credibility builder for me. If you’re a fitness trainer and you’ve got a 95% track record for keeping your clients at their target weight or BMI, that’s important. If you’re a sales person and you’ve increased sales numbers 46%, that’s credibility. Even if you think you don’t have anything dazzling to report, I guarantee you do. Sit with your history and really focus on this. It’s a HUGE selling point.

3. Testimonials. This is really important, go to my blog and you’ll see a piece about gathering testimonials. I just went through this exercise personally MANY times as I introduced new products and services to my brand.

4. Credibility-building content. Write and publish GREAT materials that truly feature your know-how and expertise. Get them out through your blog, syndicated articles, books, media appearances, etc., etc.

5. Finally, remember that your website can be a huge credibility builder or it can kill your credibility. I’m going to talk about that later this week, and I want to encourage ALL of you to take my one-day web makeover course to maximize this VITAL piece of your credibility and marketing – The course will be available in a downloadable form in just a week or so.

IF you’re on my mailing list, I’ll send you a special invitation and discount to this program.  You can sign up in the top right hand side of my blog page.

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

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Let me give you an example… Back when I was in the entertainment business, I oversaw promotion on a ton of shows, everything from Law & Order to Married With Children, as well as many talk shows: Ricki, Sally, Maury, yes, even Jerry… Both of these professional labels would have been accurate professional descriptions:

She’s a talk show publicist.  Okay, nothing wrong with that, right?

Or, try this one…
She’s the head of corporate PR and the Spokesperson for Universal’s Worldwide Television Group.

Which one sounds more impressive, more credible?

Even if you have a specific designation, like a client of mine who is a clinical psychologist – we now describe him as a Positive Psychologist, Teen Expert and Bestselling Author.  Who do you think sounds more poised to position him as a speaker, media star and breakout success?  Not that there is anything wrong with seeing clients in the office all day – he’s just ready for a bigger platform where he can help more people.

Consider a client of mine who’s an executive recruiter.  In describing herself, she told me she did what everybody else did – arrrghh – I coached and repositioned her as Virginia’s #1 Executive Search Firm.

If you know that you are NOT branding yourself well enough – or defining your professional label effectively enough, you are welcome to register for my current Branding Course, and to learn how to dodge the mistakes and embrace the abundant opportunities to make your brand work for you!  http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

PS: My upcoming expert in my branding class is Social Media Guru, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos. (Her expert Q&A represents a $497 gift to my course participants.)  Be sure to tune in and get YOUR expertise solidly out there to serve you and your business.

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I’m going to assume that you have a ton of amazing information, products and services to offer your clients. I see stellar authors, speakers, psychologists, real estate professionals, people in all walks of life all the time. But like you, they’re not experiencing the success they deserve.

Why? Because they have not established themselves as the authority in their fields, or their cities, or whatever you consider your market. Notice I didn’t say an authority in your field. I said the authority. Because I want you to be one of one – not one of lots of people who do something similar if not exactly the same thing you do.

My personal mission in life is to stamp out the generic. We’re not generic people or generic professionals. So why should our marketplace positioning be generic? And by the way, I’m not suggesting that you turn yourself into something fake or phony for the sake of being different. Rather, I want you to find a way to position yourself in order to reach the right audience in a credible and compelling way.

It’s also very possible that you take your experience for granted and undervalue your own worth. Women particularly tend to be guilty of this – but it’s a huge mistake for anyone. I often tell people that the first sale is to yourself, but if you don’t believe your credibility, no one else will either.

I want to point out that having credibility and creating the perception of credibility are two very different things. This week, we’re going to look at what makes you a credible authority, then how you create and confirm that perception in the eyes of your audience.

Stay tuned to my blog and be sure to respond back to me through my inbox if you have questions.  And if you know that you are NOT branding yourself well enough, you are definitely welcome to sign up and tune in to participate in my current Branding Course, and to learn how to dodge the mistakes and embrace the abundant opportunities to make your brand work for you!  http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

PS: My upcoming experts in my branding class is Social Media Guru, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos. (Her expert Q&A represents a $497 gift to my course participants.)  Be sure to tune in and get YOUR expertise solidly out there to serve you and your business.

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As a branding expert and coach, there are some very basic mistakes that I see entrepreneurs make over and over again that not only aren’t winning them new business, they’re actually driving business away.

This week I want to talk about 3 Biggest Branding Mistakes and how you can avoid them. This week, I’m going to tell you what they the branding mistakes are and get into some practical, simple ways you can avoid them and turn your branding around. Don’t panic!  It’s not about throwing out everything you’re doing, but about making some tweaks to your brand message, marketplace position and marketing materials so you can gain the competitive edge.

Here are the 3 biggest mistakes that you may be guilty of making right now:

1. You’re not confirming your credibility persuasively enough to position yourself as the go-to authority in your field.
2. You haven’t created a compelling call-to-action on your website, in your marketing materials or in your sales conversations.
3. You have failed to establish a consistent emotional connection with your customers.

As skilled and knowledgeable as you may be in real estate or financial services or fitness or whatever you do, it can be very difficult to assess your own brand.  This is why I want you to get some objectivity about how you’re positioning yourself in the marketplace, and then some quick and easy things you can do immediately to elevate your brand.   Consumers have lots of choices and you’ve got to give them plenty of reasons to choose you.

For today, sit with those three mistakes and hold yourself accountable.  Consider your products, services and brand.  Are you doing a great job – or are you leaving money, clients and opportunities just out of your reach?

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker
http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

PS: Upcoming experts on my branding course include Marketing Guru and Author, Paul Keetch and Social Media Expert, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos.  Sign up and tune in to participate in my class, to learn how to dodge the mistakes and embrace the abundant opportunities to make your brand work for you!  http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

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1. The number one task is always to feature your core message and expertise first. In this way you are constantly building your online recognized expertise. That has many wins – but the main one is building your audience – the one that is attracted to what you do and how you do it.

2. The second task (and win) is simple but not easy – it’s to build your products and events FROM your brand – from your core expertise and passion. In that way you hold the mindshare of your client base.  Capture the mindshare WELL, and you naturally capture the MARKET share. In other words, you may not be the only one out there doing what you do, but if you capture the hearts and minds of your audience well enough, it will be YOU that they turn to, rather than another provider. This is where branding really comes to the front: Who you are, what you do, and how well do you communicate it through events and products.

3.  Finally, there’s another win that almost comes in through a side door – it’s affiliates and joint venture partners. When you are well known and respected as an expert in your field – one who produces great products and events – OTHER experts want to work with you.  It’s like becoming a magnet for other amazing experts – in your field and in other fields.  Everyone wants to hang around with you!  And little by little, THEIR client / fan base becomes YOUR client / fan base — simply because your branded expertise is introduced to them (and it’s too compelling to ignore).

I have gotten to work and partner with some incredible experts – experts on everything from online marketing and social media – to some of the best goal setting and time management experts out there.  Why?  Because my brand is clear and compelling and my client base / fan base rocks.  They know that I’m here for them and bring my expertise to everything I do.  Why do they know it?  Because every product, paid event, webinar – and even my free radio shows – feature my brand and my branded expertise. And yours can (and should) too. 

Simple?  You bet!  Easy?  Nope – not easy.

I’ve built an entire career around supporting remarkable executives and business owners identify their core ideas and passions, build their brand around that core, and promote their products, services and events under that umbrella of their brand.  If you’ve hit a wall around the SEO idea and are ready to try marketing that works – back up and start with the 1-2-3 of your brand.

To meet and work with some of the GREAT experts I’ve attracted to support my clients and fans, sign up for the remainder of my Branding Webinar. It started on July 7^th, but you can still join us.  You will receive the download of last week’s class to listen to at your convenience. Register now as I teach How to Capture the Mindshare in order to Capture the MARKET Share. http://libbygill.com/mindshare-branding-webinar

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker

PS: Upcoming experts on my branding course include Marketing Guru and Author, Paul Keetch and Social Media Expert, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos.

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