BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Small Business Expert: What's The Value Of Your Business and Personal Brand?

This article is more than 9 years old.

Editor's Note: You asked and Cheryl Conner answered. Today is the first response in Forbes' weekly Ask An Expert series, running from now through the third week of November.

The gauntlet’s been thrown and today my responses come back on readers’ biggest questions about their business and personal brands.

First off, how do you qualify as an expert within a personal brand?

From Dr. Jessica Egbert @JessicaDEgbert, via Facebook: “One of the challenges I'm observing is people branding themselves as content experts without a proven track-record, a following large enough to substantiate the claim, or documented credibility (such as general work experience or education). For example, I've recently observed a  so-called life coach posting Internet memes that are quoting himself. As a consumer, I find quoting oneself a counterproductive personal branding strategy, like writing your own testimonials--generally not well-received.”

How right you are, Jessica. Personal and business brands are intertwined, and an aligned personal brand can have a great impact on a business or a product success. For example, consider Michael Jordan’s impact on the Nike brand. How many people would buy a pair of Nike shoes that are branded as “Michael Jordans?” All told, Fortune estimates Michael Jordan’s impact on the economy as “$10 billion and counting.”  Forbes estimates Jordan’s earnings to be $80 million a year even though he no longer plays.

But for a small business owner to be quoting himself or herself? Even with demonstrable expertise, that’s a minus for brands. It becomes very clear to readers and listeners when an entrepreneur’s brand is more about themselves than their business and they will gradually (or quickly) be sliding away.

Smart experts aren’t afraid to shine the spotlight on others who reinforce the brand characteristics they admire (witness my article earlier this week on Joe Polish—he devoted most of our interview to shining the spotlight on others, but the characteristics he admired in them reflected back strongly on him with much more success than if he’d spent his energy promoting or quoting himself).

From Jessica: “So for individuals who are still new to their chosen field, what are the most effective and creative ways to establish credibility and expertise? And how can they mobilize others to assist in brand creation?”

For newcomers, there is likely at least some expertise you have gained the course of launching your business that is of value and use to others. Share it freely. You can also research and report the helpful expertise of others (with credit, of course) as value-add information you can share with current and prospective customers. They will value the information just as highly as if it were your own experience and will come to regard the source of the beneficial information as you. You can also aggregate the expertise of others, and by doing so, invite them to share in the energy of sharing their published information with others (and all of the amplified community building will also point back to you.)

From Èzé Çhukwùdí ‏(@EzeLimitless) How do I create content that clicks with my potential consumer? 

Ézé, how about simply asking them? What are their biggest pain points? What are their biggest needs? What informational resources can you be providing for them? Then, when you post, invite them to respond and to let you know how you’re doing (and to add additional questions and remarks of their own). Many of my articles are the results of questions or requests from Forbes readers. You’ll never outguess them. So co-opt them by inviting them to let you know what they need, and not only will you be closer to the mark, they’ll engage with you more fully based on the opportunity to participate in the process with you.

From @MullingHagel: How does one make a brand more recognizable and understandable to an international audience?

That’s a great question, Mulling. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges of one of our agency clients, MultiLing. They’re a global company that provides IP translation services in some 120-plus languages, so you can imagine the challenge of creating messages that are meaningful across geographies (and that don’t accidentally mislead or offend their potential clients in other locales).

In a nutshell, what are the aspects of the company’s value proposition that are universal and pervasive across all geographies? Focus in on those issues in the materials you generate, and then perhaps rely on Google Translator or other standard language translation mechanisms to let the press you generate tell a uniform story across the other locales. Collect the coverage you generate from all countries and share the results in your update messages to all clients and partners to let them see the messages emanating uniformly across other regions as well as their own, and your readers will be smart enough to recognize the significance of the same message spreading in all of the regions you serve.

From Amiee Mellon, @Friedkarmaftw: What’s the value of your Brand Equity?

Aimee, your question wins the prize for the toughest ball I’ve been served. It’s very hard to determine the monetary value of your personal and company brand (though many have tried. Witness the varied reports on the worth of the M. Jordan brand.) Furthermore, your brand equity is a moving target. A scandal or a product problem could change the perceived value of your personal and company brand overnight. For examples of that consider former Food Network star Paula Deen, or Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty. Suffice it to say having a personal brand is a significant benefit to an organization if the personal brand is aligned positively with the company’s core value proposition. For example, the value of a personality like Steve Jobs to the Apple Brand, versus a no-face brand such as IBM. But if the personal brand is tarnished or the individual leaves—the company’s brand takes an accompanying risk. Long story short – the value can be very high, but an exact valuation is a moving target and somewhat complex to evaluate. (Perhaps there is more to follow in an upcoming post.

Finally, from @ThuleCoupe: Is Blogging still a mainstream online brand awareness tool?

Yes, Thule, it is. But that presumes you blog effectively, and that you share the content with your existing and potential community well. Make the information interesting, and cover topics that are vital to your audience. Resist the temptation to hype or promote. Also, in parting, many organizations believe as their first step they should vie to contribute their blog content to national mainstream publications (such as, for example, Forbes.com). In actuality, this is the last thing they should do, after establishing a track record and significant audience—not the first. But having done that, your willing audience should help to lift you as a thought leader and an authority to whatever realm you desire.

That’s it, and thanks to all who read and who posted—and watch this space for the upcoming topics on #SmallBizExpert. Happy Friday to all.

Have question on relationship building? See answers here.

Have question on hiring? More answers here.

How about a few on financing your startup? Answers here.