Business Branding

Run from Negative People

It’s not necessary to wait for a kind word to spontaneously appear. It is acceptable and wise to ask for referrals. A letter of recommendation, a review on a directory, or a positive comment on a social network are all examples of endorsements to be championed, but dim in comparison to a verbal, “you should talk to…” or a forwarding of your contact information from someone they know. Every correspondence made in the name of your company is a recommendation to do business (or not do business) with you.

Whatever conversation you have on social media should always be in the positive, at least as it is in your control. Whenever you have a positive voice, people are drawn to you. When you gripe and complain… it’s repulsive. We each have enough dialog inside us offering the negative without yours being added to our own. I know that there are some who would argue that optimism and pessimism are equally valid, but making a purchase in order to avoid a negative is never as much fun or reciprocally lucrative as purchasing to pursue a positive. It is a reality that people spend money to avoid the negative, but if there’s a way to wrap that into a positive; you have a much better chance of gaining referred and returning business.

What is your brand? You don’t have to create an entirely new product to establish a unique personal brand.

• Use one characteristic to distinguish yourself
• What is your unique value proposition
• Something that makes you standout
• Something that makes you exceptional
• A point, a thought, a concept, that in your industry, you might be the only one who sees what you see.