The Brand Called You Building And Broadcasting Your Brand

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers The Brand Called You: Building and Broadcasting Your Brand Do you have a brand? When clients think of you, what comes first to their minds? One of the books  I most frequently recommend is Never Eat Alone  by Keith Ferrazzi.  When it first came out several years ago I both listened to the book and read a hard copy. Most law firms are focused on building their brand, but only a few lawyers are focused on it. In chapters 23 and 24, Ferrazzi discusses building and broadcasting your individual brand. What do you want people to think when they hear your name? There is also a great 1997 article Tom Peters wrote for Fast Company magazine titled: The Brand Called You. Interestingly, his points are still valid today. He writes: If you want to grow your brand, you’ve got to come to terms with power â€" your own. The key lesson: power is not a dirty word! In fact, power for the most part is a badly misunderstood term and a badly misused capability. I’m talking about a different kind of power than we usually refer to. It’s not ladder power, as in who’s best at climbing over the adjacent bods. It’s not who’s-got-the-biggest-office-by-six-square-inches power or who’s-got-the-fanciest-title power. It’s influence power. When I was building my law practice, how did I try to create influence power.  I wanted my potential clients to think I was: For 25 years I wrote a column for Roads and Bridges magazine titled “Law: The Contractor’s Side.” That column enabled me to build my brand more than anything else I did. First, it gave me the opportunity to show readers I understood them and the construction industry. Second, the column led to many speaking opportunities, which furthered my opportunity. What do you want your clients to think about you? What is the best way to show them your brand? One final thing: The Kindle version of my books-Prepare to Win, Say Ciao to Chow Mein, Rising Star and It Takes a Team are on sale at Amazon for $2.99 and $1.99, less than 1/2 what I will pay for my Latte this morning. I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.