Self Brand Strategy No. 5: Be the Expert
By Catherine Kaputa, founder of SelfBrand (www.selfbrand.com), a brand strategy company that works with people, products and companies.
This article is number five in a series covering ten brand strategies from the commercial world that people can apply to themselves to propel business success. The strategies are excerpts from Catherine’s forthcoming book, U R A BRAND! How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success (Davies-Black Publisher, Hardcover, April 1, 2006, Foreword by Al Ries). Here is self branding strategy number 5.
Being a “Jack of All Trades” is not a smart strategy, but being the “Expert in One” is. Focus is powerful, and the narrower the focus, the more powerful the brand is. This is an era where specialists thrive; generalists do not.
In executing the expert strategy it helps to be able to interpret something in a new way. One of the ways to do that is to choose an area that is not too crowded already with “experts” so that you can be dominant. Or you can choose an area where the current experts are not doing a good job of communicating, where there is a need for better information and interpretation or a fresh point of view.
Perception creates reality. By positioning myself as an authority,
I became an authority.
-Barbara Corcoran, New York City Real Estate Expert
The expert strategy is what propelled Barbara Corcoran into the stratosphere in the New York City real estate brokerage community. With less than a dozen real estate sales to her name, Barbara Corcoran created a marketplace report called “The Corcoran Report” and sent it to all the newspapers. One day a nobody, the next, Corcoran was the real estate expert in NYC when the first issue of her real estate report landed on the front page of the Sunday Times Real Estate Section.
Corcoran recounts this and other tales of how she outsmarted the ladies in mink (the establishment brokers) and even Donald Trump in her book, If Your Don’t Have Big Boobs, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails.
So consider carving a niche where you can be the expert. Remember, the media is always looking for a new face to interpret something. The makeover craze has spawned new experts on the media stage who are hairdressers, image consultants and stylists. The popularity of home and garden improvement has created a strong market for expert renovators and gardeners.
The expert strategy is perfect for tactics like newsletters, workshops, media interviews or by-lined columns. Another smart play is the book route. If you have written a book, you are instantly an expert. And your book tour can be a great way to promote your expertise and your business.
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February 1, 2006 Vol.2, No.2
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U R A BRAND
How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success.
By Catherine Kaputa with foreword by Al Ries.
Pre-order from
Amazon.com or
Amazon.co.uk
In Bookstores
April 1, 2006
Click to find out more
Who We Are
Catherine Kaputa is a brand strategist, speaker and author. She is president of
SelfBrand, a marketing consultancy that works with companies and individuals
who want to unlock the optimum marketing focus and game plan.
www.selfbrand.com
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