The internet is full of new media personalities who have built their personal brands to create large followings. Bloggers like Seth Godin, Tony Morgan, Michael Hyatt, Rachel Held Evans and others have developed tremendous influence by sharing content.
While church technical leaders may not be planning to build a personal brand at that scale, we can follow the strategies that make new media thought leaders successful. Strategizing a personal brand embodies the same elements that we use for our church marketing: differentiation and messaging.
Here is some practical advice for helping to build yourself (or your pastor) as a brand:
Turn “authentic” into “memorable.”
People with clear personal brands take what is most authentic about themselves and package it in a way that makes them memorable.
Motivational speaker, Sean Stephenson, reveals that he learned early that his three foot stature made people remember him. He decided that if people were going to recall him, he wanted to connect his name to a positive message. Over time, he has become a personality that commands $10,000 a keynote.
For some of us, the thing that uniquely identifies us is obvious, but others have to find it. There are tools that can help like Gallup's Strengths Finders or the more in-depth Johnson O'Connor Aptitude Testing. But there are other places we can get outside input, like asking a mentor or insightful friend what they see in us. We can also key in on things which regularly draw comment. (For me, it was that I take notes in crayon which has become a key part of my own personal brand.)
We live in a world where information—including information about people—gets processed very quickly. By creating a personal brand around the things that make us memorable, we make it easier for people to associate our ideas, conversations and work product with our name and face. And when what gets associated with us is good, it can expand our influence.
Have you ever met someone and forgotten their name right after you heard it? We've all done that. Our brains don't easily retain information that isn't connected to other information. Consider that the name, Bob Baker, can be easily forgotten. But the name, Bob the Baker, is actually easier to remember because our brains connect it to other data. The smell of fresh bread, using a rolling pin, a large chef's hat, the heat of ovens.. Personal branding that has a memorable element leverages the fact that our minds need something more to hold onto than a face and a name in order to retain the information.
Turn “a pain point” into “relevant messaging.”
It isn't enough to find what makes us memorable, people need a reason to engage with us. This is where developing our messaging comes in. Political candidates and Miss America contestants have personal platforms with good reason: important ideas connect.
Chances are that our messaging platform can be built from a personal point of pain which we have either overcome or are overcoming. Why? Because the best advice is autobiographical.
Messaging that meets someone at their point of pain is real and relevant. Marketers leverage this idea all the time in “click bait” where terms like “lose 5lbs with this simple trick” or “meet singles in your area” draw attention by connecting with a point of need. People are drawn to others who can solve their problems. Ideas that hit us where we live, resonate.
Creating a tagline for yourself that aligns with your platform should be a solution-focused version of your pain point. Podcasters and bloggers do this effectively all the time. Consider the phrases: “be more with less” (Courtney Carver); "dominate your day before breakfast" (Jeff Sanders) or "turn rejection into opportunity” (Jia Jiang). Each of these new media personalities have built their brands around a personal point of pain for which they have found a solution.
Having resonant messaging is the difference in our personal branding making us like Rick Warren or a Kardashian.
Putting the elements in play
What would it take to get a “quintessential” photo that embodies the things that make us memorable? Imagery can be one of the strongest elements in our personal brand. We typically control the images that come up first in a web search. Our photo on LinkedIn, Facebook, and personal websites tend to get the highest rankings.
We can take this a step further and make sure that all bios about us have consistent verbiage. Solution-focused messaging around our own personal pain point can become the “big idea” that produces a few key signature phrases that communicate our mission. It is often easiest to start with our Twitter bio (which will by necessity be the shortest) and then use that phrasing in other contexts.
When we focus on defining our personal brand, we facilitate connection with our colleagues, clients and co-workers. Following Mark MacDonald's advice to “become known for something” gets us noticed in our careers because we differentiate from the crowd, but it can also help us communicate more effectively one-to-one because we have taken the time to think through our own personal brand and message.
