Sep 10
10

We Are All Branding, All The Time!

Branding is usually associated with commercial brands for products or services. But personal branding, whether online or offline, is a matter of reputation. As you interact with others, they may come to know, like, and trust you. They are open to buying what you have to offer. They may even believe in the value you have to offer their friends. They may refer you or recommend you to their friends.

Social media and other internet tools are simply new channels of communication to accomplish what we have always enjoyed: friends, followers, and centers of influence. Networking is about leveraging trust and influence. People don’t like to be sold, but they like to buy–from those they know, like, and trust. The concept of “six degrees of separation” from anyone else on earth (leveraged connections) is enhanced by the global exposure of the internet, but the old adage, “Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” still applies.

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Tags: Branding, Brands, Business Relationships, Contacts, Influence, Networking, Relationships, Social Capital, Social Networking, Trust

This entry was posted on September 10, 2010 at 11:40 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Business Relationships Internet Tribe Relationships Personal Alliances Social Media Relationships by Buddy Hodges 13 Comments

Terry Petrovick says:

September 12, 2010 at 11:05 am

I think this says it all, “Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” still applies.

Your brand is what people say behind your back. Everyone has a brand. This has always been the case. The good thin about online marketing is it gives us a chance to re-invent ourselves which could be a very good thing LOL!

Best of Success!

Terry

Buddy Hodges says:

September 12, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Thanks for the comment, Terry! You make a good point about re-inventing one’s brand.

I would add that internet leverage, used strategically, may speed up the process.

Kelly Baader says:

September 13, 2010 at 6:42 pm

Hi Buddy,
You are right! We are constantly branding ourselves without knowing about it.
The true brand is how we live out, not what we act out. Thank you for sharing!
Kelly

Ryan Martin says:

September 13, 2010 at 9:26 pm

You guys make some good points here. The internet definitely allows you to make an impression on more people, however, the same rules of influence apply both on and offline

Johnnie Walker says:

September 14, 2010 at 1:47 pm

Hey Buddy,

Great post my friend. Branding has definitely become a new buzz word for social networkers who use this medium for business. As you said it is all about “reputation.”

It should be the first thing a new network marketer should learn. If you can reach out to demonstrate branding and it’s successes and in turn how spamming destroys reputation, then this industry would become a lot more successful than it already is.

Your post has really got me thinking…

~Johnnie

Walter says:

September 15, 2010 at 8:43 pm

This is a simple concept that many does not understand. Above all, trust in the primary element of branding. 🙂

Julieanne van Zyl says:

September 17, 2010 at 8:56 pm

Oh yes, we even start branding ourselves as young children. I think of a “brand” for a network marketer, as your personality. Whatever you say and do online, is all part of your personality.

So… an online entrepreneur who doesn’t know about “branding” might simply send out links to their products or business opportunity. However, nobody gets to know THEM when they do that, and that’s why hardly anyone clicks on their links.

Looking forward to more of your posts Buddy. Have a terrific weekend, Julieanne

Palak says:

September 21, 2010 at 1:35 pm

We all are sending out branding signals to build an image of ourself.However it takes a long to build a reputation we would want,and more important is to perform in a way that would maintain that positive image.

Dave Robinson says:

December 16, 2010 at 9:14 am

There is a fine line between branding and selling and we often trip over that line. Staying true to yourself and your values will eventually surface and resonate with those that you will develop relationships with.

Buddy, I appreciate your insight into this online world of ours and I look forward to more of the same.

Still looking for my “dock on a lake”

Dave

Buddy Hodges says:

December 16, 2010 at 10:50 am
Thanks Dave,

I appreciate your continuing dialogue. I am beginning to think of you as a friend. .As you know, people love to buy; they just don’t like to be sold. I think the best thing about social media is that it expands our opportunities to make new friends — globally. Networking has always been about SHARING your knowledge and resources with friends and friends of friends.

“New School” online marketers often say that “the money is in the list,” and “it is all about relationships with those on your list.” Paradoxically they turn around and say, “don’t approach your friends and family” (the list you already have). The main difference, besides the media used to develop the relationships, is whether you want to begin with the list you already have or you want to take time to create a new list.

Spamming your list before relationships are developed is very similar to “chasing” friends and family, or “approaching strangers at the mall.” Most people are unsuccessful in network marketing ONLINE, as well as offline, because they try too hard to sell and not hard enough to serve. Unlike the sales profession, we derive very little benefit from convincing prospects who don’t really want what we are offering. A signature on a distributor application is almost worthless unless they are going to multiply.

See my post on “The Speed of Trust.” https://relatingonline.com/archives/436

Jennifer Fisher says:

December 22, 2010 at 11:11 am

Hi Buddy,

One of your commentors made the statement that it gives us a chance to re-invent ourselves. Though that is true in part, as long as what we re-invent is the ‘authentic’ person we are becoming, but it is not going to remove things we might have etched online in the past.

Looking forward to getting to know you as a friend, too, Buddy.
~Jennifer Fisher

How to Get in Circles on Google Plus – Turning Friends and Followers into Real Relationships says:

August 6, 2011 at 11:16 pm

[…] it was always true that people did business with those they knew, liked and trusted. Actually, we are all branding all of the time. It has always been less about what you know than who you know, but in the age of the internet, it […]

Bruno Buergi says:

November 20, 2012 at 7:01 am

I think reputation comes when people see that you are committed and have passion for what you are doing and of course making money with it. And over time it will build your brand.
Bruno Buergi recently posted..5 Key Principles to build a Laptop Lifestyle

We Are All Branding, All The Time!

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