By: centraljersey.com
Small business owners often become the brand of their business and a large part of branding is building your reputation, said Steve Adubato, guest speaker at the Princeton Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week.
"Your reputation is all you have," said Mr. Adubato. "All you really have is what people say about you behind your back. What gets me excited about business is relationships. Three-quarters of the game is relationships. I had this crazy idea about branding yourself."
Attendees at last week’s event learned some valuable tips about building their brands from Mr. Adubato, an Emmy Award-winning anchor on PBS, media analyst and Star-Ledger columnist. He is also the best selling author of three books, a university lecturer and professional communications coach whose company, Stand & Deliver, offers invaluable workshops and executive one-on-one coaching.
His first tip to the packed room was to provide exceptional customer service. "It’s what makes you different," he adds.
Secondly, follow up and follow through is essential to secure the connection. "The Blackberry is a tool for multi-tasking," he said. "Just the idea that I’m on it builds your brand," and take the time to acknowledge e-mails that come in, even if you don’t have the answer at your fingertips. "It is a tool to show how much you care."
Another key to building a brand is face time with potential customers. "Deals don’t get cut online, they need to look you in the eye, in the face," said Mr. Adubato. "Face time is hard. Fight every day to get face time with someone who can make a decision or bring in someone who can," he said.
"I love when people send me e-mails to introduce themselves. … I don’t know how many people are getting jobs via the Internet. I’m still a believer that deals don’t get cut online; you may send the contract online, it is sitting down with the CEO or CFO," he said. "You don’t send in a proposal and hope they look at it and go ‘Wow, what a great writer you are.’ They need to look in your eyes, look at your face and see your body language and ask the question ‘Can we write a $100,000 check to this guy and believe that he’s going to use it well?’"
Admitting mistakes is hard, but is key to building your brand and your reputation. Branding is hurt when you don’t admit mistakes. "People get it when you screw up"- they’ve all done it, said Mr. Adubato. "I’m a big believer that we’re way too defensive and we hurt our brand when we refuse to acknowledge responsibility that we screwed up. Stop arguing your point. Dig in on ethics, on moral issues and issues of integrity, but don’t nit pick over the truth, because in the end all you can do is own your part of it and let somebody else blame somebody else."
When apologizing for a mistake, own your part and refrain from the blame game, which may come off as insincere. "If you say it and you mean it and you promise to turn it around quickly, it not only builds better relationships, but it affects your reputation and brand," said Mr. Adubato.
Websites are key to building a brand, but make sure they contain useful information, not just shameful self-promotion. Giving out free, useful and valuable information is also a necessity.
"Give the article away, if they read the article and it’s free and they think you’re really good, they might call and hire you to do business," said Mr. Adubato.
Mr. Adubato’s fourth book, "You are the Brand," will be in stores next spring.
