Upcoming Personal Branding Classes

Pump It Up: Building a Memorable Personal Brand

Are you presenting yourself and your work effectively to your core audiences? Whether you're speaking to agents, editors, industry professionals, members of the media or your readers, a powerful Personal Brand will help you stand out. Join Personal Branding consultant Jenn Stark as she brings fourteen years of marketing and branding expertise to help you create a memorable Personal Brand for yourself and your writing. You'll also take away easy-to-use tips and techniques to help make your Personal Brand work for you!

Power Branding: Maximizing the Impact of Your Personal Brand

Now that you have a Personal Brand that really showcases your writing, take the next step and develop a comprehensive Branding Strategy for yourself and your work. Personal Branding consultant Jenn Stark will take you through the 6 P's of Marketing—Placement, Promotion, Product, Price, Packaging and Positioning—to show you how your Personal Brand can help guide every aspect of your writing life for maximum impact. At the end of the course, you'll take away your own customized Branding Strategy Guide to keep your Brand on track for lasting success.

Note: Ideally, participants will have previously developed their Personal Brand before enrolling in this class.

Personal Brand Bootcamps and Consulting

Looking for one-week bootcamps for small groups or one-on-one coaching to create a Personal Brand and Slogan for your writing career? Jenn can create a Bootcamp customized for your needs.

Contact Jenn directly.

Your Branding Minute: Fast Branding Tips for Writers

Sometimes, you need Branding information—and you need it now! The following links take you through some of my blog posts on Branding, hosted originally at www.authormba.blogspot.com. Check out the AuthorMBA blog for marketing and career information to make the most of your writing career!

Featured Tip:
Using your Brand with the Media
Brand Focus: Writing Brand

"Does anyone have any questions for my answers?"
-- former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

The benefit of establishing a powerful Personal Brand for your Writing goes beyond helping you direct your promotional materials and writing choices. It also can help guide your every conversation, including those with the media.

The important thing to remember about working with the media is that you and your message should remain consistent, interview after interview. This is true of whether you're talking to the community press or The New York Times, whether you're promoting your first book or your fiftieth. Editorial coverage is the cheapest and most powerful advertising you can get—and your Personal Brand can help you prepare for optimal media coverage. Here's how:

1. Use your Personal Brand in a hook the media cares about

The media have two goals. A) to make money for their station or publication, and B) to solve a problem for their audience. If you write romance, you're an entertainer—that' s a built-in hook, but it could help or hurt you depending on the venue. So you need to go deeper. If your stories speak about heroines overcoming abuse or harassment, then your media pitch should discuss how you bring a new voice of advocacy to this important topic. If your work instead is intended to entertain as pure escapist fantasy because, hey, you're all about de-stressing people, then “cutting stress” is your hook. Whatever your hook is, tie it to your Personal Brand to ensure you can discuss your topic with passion.

2. Back up your hook with credible support

Presenting yourself as a go-to person on a topic important to you will only work if you have the credible support to back it up. Assemble research that supports your angle, gather anecdotal reader comments that add color to your claims, or simply use the success of your sales as an indication of public support, but be clear on what you have to offer to the media in your pitch materials or media kit. If your hook reflects your Personal Brand, you'll either already have this information or be excited to research it.

3. Solicit the interviews you want

Create awareness with reporters by contacting them with branded pitch materials, establishing yourself as an expert on topics that will help their audience. The easier you can make a reporter's life with a well-supported pitch that presents you as this type of expert, the more likely they will be to want to work with you. And the more you get in front of the media consistently touting a message that's important to you, the stronger your Personal Brand will become.

What Can You Do Today?

Come up with 1-3 topics that link your writing to your Personal Brand, topics that you'd LOVE to discuss with the reporter of your choice. Consider creating space on your website or in your publicity kit to present these topics.

Other Branding Tips:
Branding 101 Part 1: The What and Why of Personal Branding
Branding 101 Part 2: The Who When and Where of Personal Branding
Your Personal Brand and your Business Cards
Blogging and Your Personal Brand

Branding 101 Part 1: The What and Why of Personal Branding

“Tell me, who are you?... 'Cause I really wanna know!”
-- The Who

Chances are, you've already heard something about Personal Branding. It's become a bit of a buzzword in the writing industry because as writers we not only promote our work, we promote ourselves. But what does it mean to have a Personal Brand... and why should you care about yours?

First let's look at brands in general. A brand is how you identify a product: how it's packaged, promoted, priced, positioned, and made available to you. As a consumer, you use brands to make decisions all the time, generally about products that are fairly similar. Think about all of the brands out there for bottled spring water. I mean, come on… water is water! But if you consistently buy one brand of spring water over all of the others—even if the others cost the same as or, especially, LESS THAN the water you favor—it's because the “brand” of your spring water (the packaging, advertising, and promise of the product) stands for something positive to you.

As busy people, we are faced with literally hundreds—even thousands of decisions every day. Brands help give us the input we need to make those decisions almost without thought.

We make snap decisions about people, too. When you first meet someone, you form an opinion about him based on how he looks, how he carries himself, and how he speaks. Those aspects are all part of his Personal Brand and your initial decision about him—also referred to as a “first impression”—is a significant influencer over every subsequent decision you make about this individual. A Personal Brand works that quickly—and that powerfully—for everyone you meet.

So…what about you? Did your Personal Brand create the kind of positive, memorable first impression you wanted…today? Take the quick quiz below to find out!

Your Personal Brand Quiz:

Think about a Personal Goal you've long wanted to achieve—to be a NYT #1 Bestselling Author, a Nationally-Known Motivational Speaker, Time Magazine's Person of the Year, etc.. Imagine yourself in that role as clearly as possible, then ask yourself these questions:

• Did I dress myself TODAY in a manner that is a match for that ideal role?
• Did I speak to others TODAY in a manner that is a match for that ideal role?
• Did the dedication I showed to my work TODAY match the dedication I would need for that ideal role?

If the answer is 'no' to any of these questions, consider what you can do TODAY to start shifting yourself more toward your ideal role. By taking on the characteristics of that ideal role, you will help refine your Personal Brand in new and powerful ways.

Branding 101, part II: The Who, When and Where of Branding

The entire point of having a Personal Brand is to help you sell yourself and your work, but your Personal Brand isn't a fabricated personality that you turn on and off like a light switch when you think you need to go into selling mode. That would be a) exhausting and b) difficult to remember and c) did I say exhausting?

So just When, Where and for Whom do you express your Personal Brand? Here's a handy Q&A!

Q. Who gets to see my Personal Brand?

A. Anyone I'm selling to. Now, this might seem like an easy answer for writers—because you're selling to readers, right? Well, sure, but that's not the only selling you do. Your audience actually is made up of many layers: your agent, your editor, your editorial team. The marketing department of your publisher. Your readers and the friends of your readers who come to the bookstore to buy your book as a gift. Your reviewers and your publicist. Your fellow writers. Even your family and friends who have supported (or been secretly annoyed by) your work and your success throughout your career. Bottom line, anyone who has any interaction with you as a writer should be shown a Personal Brand that is consistent, positive, and memorable.

Q. Where do I have to display my Personal Brand?

A. Everywhere there's a selling opportunity. So yes, at book signings, in emails to your agent, through the contests you enter and the events you attend. But also in the supermarket, at the library, at the Parent-Teacher meeting and at Thanksgiving dinner. Remember, you're not just selling your book here. You're selling yourself as a writer, and selling opportunities sometimes happen where you least expect them. By creating and refining a Personal Brand that fits you like silk gloves, you won't mind showing your best self to all of your audiences, wherever you might find them.

Q. When do I have to display my Personal Brand?

A. This one is easy, because Personal Brands are intended to sell something. If you've got nothing to sell in a given circumstance, then you can stop thinking about your Personal Brand and start thinking about diving into that new novel you picked up last week. But don't be surprised if you find yourself living your Brand even in your 'off time.' After you've cultivated a Personal Brand that really resonates with you, you may find that it is simply second nature to project yourself as your best self… so relax and enjoy it!

NEXT STEPS:

Think about the day ahead of you—are there any selling situations you could influence by bringing your Personal Brand to the table? Going into a situation with a focus on who you are and what you have to offer can help you position yourself for success!

Your Personal Brand and Your Business Cards
Branding Focus: Your Writing Brand

Business cards are often the collectable of choice at national conferences. Chances are you've gathered them from complete strangers, if only to help you decide what you like (“oooh, cool slogan!”) and what you don't like (“if I see that template used one more time I'm going to throw up”). You've dutifully carried them home and now they're lying in the bottom of a drawer... you know, for when you finally get around to updating (or creating) your own business cards.

Well, unless you're planning on contacting those folks, throw those business cards away. Really. You don't need them. Instead, use these tips to create your own unique, memorable business cards:

1. Consider how you will use your cards

Even before you begin to design your cards, think about how you will use them. Will you be giving your cards out to fans? Business contacts? Prospective agents/editors? What might they want to know about you that can be included on your card?

Perhaps you'll decide you need a quantity of cards for readers, and different cards for your professional contacts. As long as they work together (with similar or complementary styles), this can be a good approach.

2. Choose your business card source

Here are three options for business card printing:

--Do-It-Yourself, with software and paper you load into your own printer
--A template provider like VistaPrint.com
--A professional printer

There is no “wrong” way to do business cards, as long as they are professional and unique. Ideally, however, do NOT choose a standard pre-made template for your cards if you can avoid it. Either take a template and tweak it to make it your own, or provide your own artwork.

3. Include your Branding elements

At a minimum, your business card needs to include your name and your contact information. However, these additional elements can help you “brand” your cards as uniquely yours:

--An artistic element that is also carried through all your correspondence and promotional materials
--Your slogan and/or additional explanation about your work
--Your literary genre
--Your website or blog

I've also seen some authors include the title of their current published or available novels on their cards, either as a clear sticker attached to the back of the card or literally printed directly on the card. If you can produce your cards in small quantities, you may want to consider this option.

NEXT STEPS:

Sort through any business cards you've collected and divide them into two piles. Pile A are cards that catch your eye—Pile B are cards that don't. Pick up Pile A and go through it again, asking yourself these questions:

--What do I think this card communicates really well?
--Why do I think that?
--Does this card make me want to learn more about the author or his/her work?

Business cards are a basic, but important Branding introduction to your contacts. Make sure yours work for you!

Jenn

Blogging and Your Personal Brand
Brand Focus: Writing Brand

When you first launch a personal blog, it can be a dizzying prospect. There is so much you can say, so much you can express, and it can be uploaded so quickly! But just as with all of your business correspondence and promotional materials, blogs should be handled with extreme care. Here's a few tips to make sure yours effectively reflects your Personal Brand.

1. Decide why you want a blog, and name yourself accordingly

There are many reasons to have a blog, but as an author, your name or pen name is Pure Gold, particularly on the internet. So anything that features the name you use as an author should match up with your Writing Brand. For example, let's say you write erotica – but you are also a proud llama trainer, and have lots of funny stories about llamas that you'd like to blog about. Ideally, you would post your llama blogs under a name other than your author name/pen name, or you will have some very confused readers who go to your blog thinking “erotica author”, and leave thinking “llama lover” (not that there's anything wrong with loving llamas).

2. Choose your tools wisely

There are a number of blogging sites available, from blogger to live journal to myspace.com. Each of them has its own unique appeal, so explore your options before you choose a blog residence. Where you set up your home on the web says a lot about you! If you can choose a tool that allows you to customize your blog's look to match your Personal Brand, so much the better.

3. Be prepared to blog for the long haul

Blogging can be a lot like a new puppy. Fun and charming the first week, an extraordinary hassle by the tenth. Decide up front that you'll give proper care and feeding to your blog on a consistent basis—hosting contests and recruiting posters, blogging according to a pre-set schedule, and keeping your posts on-topic and engaging. I know this from experience: A lonely, forgotten blogsite is truly a sad and terrible thing. In addition, be ready to stand behind the opinions you express on your blog—once you hit Submit, they are part of your Personal Brand!

NEXT STEPS:

If you already have a blog or are preparing to launch one, consider the following questions regarding your home on the web!

1. I'm blogging at least once a week, and/or following a stated schedule. Yes [ ] No [ ]

2. I would be thrilled if a top literary agent checked out every one of my posts! Yes [ ] No [ ]

3. I utilize my blog to provide something of interest, use, or value to my readers as often as I use it to comment on something of personal interest to me. This *does* include sharing info on upcoming books to reveal "inside information" (that's okay to share) that readers wouldn't usually know. Yes [ ] No [ ]

If you don't answer “Yes!” to every questions, you have some work to do o get your blog into professional shape.