Branding yourself

Think of Martha Stewart, The Donald, Oprah, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton. As
soon as you see or hear the name, that person’s face probably pops into your
mind. And you probably can describe what each person does. That’s because
these people have brand presence. Through their own self promotion and a
lot of help from the media, these folks have achieved celebrity status.

While you may not crave celebrity status or want the paparazzi photographing
you while you’re on vacation, you can achieve a certain level of brand
presence on your own by creating your own buzz-marketing blitz:

Market yourself on paper. Start slow with your own business cards and
brochures. Hand them out to everyone you know and everyone you meet.

Market yourself in the media. Are you an expert on what you sell? You
should be. Leverage your expertise in your marketing efforts. Offer to
write articles for local newspapers and magazines. Call the local TV and
radio stations and offer your services as a local expert for news stories
related to your area of expertise. Offer to speak to local groups for free. I
gave more than 1,000 free speeches before I ever was able to charge a fee.

Market yourself on the Internet. Every salesperson should have at least
one Web site or blog. I have over 200, including AboutRalph.com (professional
services site), BigNail.com (about branding), GetFlipping.com
(to promote Flipping Houses For Dummies), FlippingFrenzy.com
(about real estate and mortgage fraud), RalphRoberts.com (a real
estate site), and KolleenRoberts.com (a tribute to my older daughter).
The Internet is an entirely separate world, a virtual world, where more
and more people are spending more and more of their time. You have to
be there to meet and greet these tech savvy customers.

Advertise everywhere. Wherever people who buy the products and
services you sell happen to hang out or obtain their information, you
should be there. If your customers watch TV, you should be on TV. If
they tune into the radio, they should be able to hear your voice occasionally.
If they read the papers, you should have an ad in the paper.

I put my phone number and e-mail address on everything. That makes some
salespeople a little nervous, because they don’t want everyone calling them
at all hours of the day and night. I have assistants who handle much of the
added work, and I strongly recommend that you do the same. Yes, having to
field calls, answer questions, talk with reporters, write articles, and do all
that other self-promotional stuff requires more time, energy, and effort, but if
you want to be the top salesperson in your industry, that’s what it takes.