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A good brand makes an individual feel like he is the most impor-tant person in a given moment.. Behind every brand, whether yourpersonal brand or your organization’s brand, there are und

Part TWO

Build the Brand

Chapter FIVE

Making a Brand Impression

There is confession in the glances of our eyes;

in our smiles; in salutations; and the grasp of hands.

Emotional Experimentation

I love to carefully dabble with people’s emotions I love to do this cause for me it is a kind of chemistry experiment It is throwing in alittle of this and a little of that and seeing what reaction occurs It isabout conversation, gestures, and facial expressions It’s a little likeputting your name in a hat and putting your best foot forward to seewhat happens

be-Branding is the art of emotional experimentation When weplay with people’s emotions we leave them with all kinds of impres-sions, both good and bad We always make a first impression and per-haps a lasting impression Making impressions puts us in the business

of advertising ourselves How do you introduce yourself? When we

do, we use lines, slogans, and catch phrases What’s your favorite lineyou use to advertise yourself?

On the highest-rated hit TV sitcom series, Friends, my favorite

character, Joey, always introduces himself with the question, “Howyou doin’?” He says it in such a way that there is no mistaking hissexual innuendo It is his signature line Before he even utters thewords to someone new in his sight, the audience smiles in anticipa-tion His brand promises amusement and pleasure and doesn’t disap-point We are forever loyal because he makes us feel a full range of

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sensations from his brand identity The underlying emotional logue is as important as any verbal dialogue.

dia-Many business professionals have developed a reputation suchthat their audience just knows what they will say when they enter aroom The anticipation can stir up any mixture of emotions, fromdread to exhilaration The feeling that others have as they anticipateyour arrival, as they think about you and prepare for you—that’s part

of your brand The feeling we experience as we are about to walk side a place of business is more the brand than any corporate logohanging on the wall

in-Here’s a favorite line that I almost always use with a new client,customer, or anyone I want to sell something to I say, “I really want

to impress you,” and as many times as I might say it I always mean it.This remark is usually met with a look of total surprise and ap-preciative laughter My audience never expects it People are surprisedthat I am so forthright in telling them that I want to impress them,maybe because too many of us try to play it cool in business matters.The fact is we need to make the encounter more about them and lessabout us The fact that I want to impress them tries to make them feelspecial and important, respected and valuable It leaves them withthe impression that my approach to business is unique

A good brand makes an individual feel like he is the most

impor-tant person in a given moment A great brand actually believes that this individual is the most important person at that moment.

Making people feel important is what making good

impres-sions is all about The root word of impression is impress I am not

embarrassed to tell people that the purpose for my presentation,pitch, or conversation is about making a good, strong, and favorableimpression My words have meaning and are spoken to influence,persuade, convince, or affect people in a strong way Think about itthis way: If a brand is like a rock being thrown into the water, weshould concentrate on the way the water ripples in response Leav-ing an impression should be less about us and more about what orwhom we’re trying to impress

The Secret Service of Brands

Behind the brand lies a secret Behind every brand, whether yourpersonal brand or your organization’s brand, there are undoubtedly afew secrets Every individual and every organization has them The

problem with secrets is that they are easy to make up and hard tokeep down They live lives bigger than our own We think that theyare just little things that won’t amount to anything, but we’rewrong We don’t just make secrets—they end up making us, and theywant to be heard They want out The problem is that when they ac-cidentally escape they can wreak disaster If they are revealed withthe intention of shocking the listener or getting revenge, they caninstantly devalue a brand.

Sharing secrets can get you the right or the wrong kind of tion You know that phrase, “a well-kept secret”? Secrets are rarely, ifever, well kept So whom do you tell your secrets to? Successful brand-ing finds a balance between secrets and truth

atten-The truth is something that constantly tries to make itselfknown It wants to be seen and heard Trying to bury it will eventu-ally (and sometimes immediately) create isolation, compulsions, andharm A brand that exists in isolation is hardly a brand at all

Why does your brand ultimately need to reveal your secrets? Ifyou read about the psychology of confession you will learn aboutman’s deep need to declare himself This makes sense when you real-ize that we all have a deep need to be accepted for who we really are.The best brands are authentic brands, accepted for what they reallyare Even if you pretend to be something or someone you’re not, youwish you could relax and just be yourself, but that’s a hard thing to

be It’s hard to base your future or the future of your company onyourself Behavior expert and motivational guru Tony Robbins saysthat all of our fears can be summed up in these two questions: “What

if I’m not good enough?” and “What if they won’t like me?”2

Who you really are is the composite of all of your true stories,some of which have been pushed into hiding because they’re ugly.But remember, you can never be truly accepted as long as you keepyourself hidden

Sanction Yourself

What do you hide? You hide those things that you think others willconsider inferior or horrible But the more you hide your secrets, themore you hide yourself, and, in the end, it is that very effort of keep-ing secrets that makes our secrets surface The tension of what’s insidewanting out and what’s outside pushing it back in creates such astressful situation that we can’t help but blurt out the truth It could

come out in dreams, in Freudian slips, in joke telling, or in ramblingconfessions to strangers on airplanes In business, secrets can be re-vealed when efforts to hide them create suspicion, investigations, andsometimes even hostile witch hunts.

Recently I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal I had

antic-ipated a few dicey questions, so I asked my husband for his advice cause he is the most ethical and honest person I know His wordsalways bring me back from that gray area “Remember,” he said, “thetruth will always out itself.” In other words, just be you

be-Our hesitation to do this often comes down to one prevalentthought: No one would want me (or my business, service, or company)

if they knew who I really am Psychologists (and many corporate agement consultants) agree that the single most effective healingprocess in easing the pain of isolation is to tell your secret Only thencan you make the necessary connection An isolated brand is painful Itlives a life unnoticed or unchosen The single most effective solution infixing a bad brand that seems to be hopelessly disconnected from itsaudience is to define its true identity Uncover the mystery of thebrand Don’t let your audience wonder, be confused, or come to thewrong conclusions about what your brand is really about

man-But what secrets am I really encouraging you to confess? Whatsecrets am I talking about? As far as your personal brand is concerned,

no one needs to know what you look like in the morning or the realcolor of your hair This kind of information is private, not secret Re-garding your professional brand, not everyone needs to know yourcash flow or bank covenants That’s confidential, not secret What we

do need to share, though, is the essence of our being; that whichmakes us authentic

Actions Speak Louder than Logos and Taglines

The best revelation, as seen in branding, is what we show people aboutourselves based on our values In other words, reveal your secretsthrough the behavior that your experience has taught you Here’s how

it works The fact that I had cancer is not a routine part of my sations, but my values shaped by my experience with cancer permeateeverything I do and say Living with cancer and its long-term aftermath

conver-is part of my story and, consequently, my brand As a result of beingvery sick I value strength: physical, emotional, and spiritual strength.What people see and hear about isn’t the illness They see that I lift

weights, I pray, I eat right, I surround myself with emotionally healthypeople The way I take care of my body and soul from the inside shows

on the outside That’s how I reveal my true story about my illness.When people see me they feel confident because I appear strong

on many levels The world responds differently to people who appearweak and frail—not necessarily disrespectfully, but differently I don’thave to share all the details of being sick But people connect with mebased on vitality and strength It comes through in my personalbrand and connects with my diverse audience’s needs and desires Itlives on in the way I run a business, which in turn creates part of theDalmatian Press brand

Another secret I’ve kept is the secret that I was a poor reader inelementary school I, a publisher of children’s books, was a poorreader! Now that’s a story I didn’t share much! But this experiencecreated for me a world in which literacy became extremely important

I didn’t even realize the path I was on until 40 years later Through

my business I began helping the world to read and to value reading

My true experiences created beliefs on which I have based my sonal and corporate brands throughout my life

per-My personal branding extends into my professional brand withthe same valuing of dynamic power and strength I can relate to ahuge portion of our society’s demographics because I don’t hide from

my personal experiences I use them to reach people by anticipatingwhat they want in life I’ve been there and I use those experiencesand values to connect with people in ways other people cannot.When people ask me where my strength comes from, I canthen share the details of my experiences with life-threateningdisease if I so choose It doesn’t make me special—in fact I’mreminded every day that everyone has something equally significant that enables them to connect with their clients,customers, and everyone they deal with

Rudy Giuliani, Bill Cosby, and Jack Welch have all had changing moments that we’ve read about and talked about Oprah isanother huge brand who has had amazing experiences from heryoung life, including struggles with money, struggles with her weight,and sexual assault Have these people’s experiences shaped their val-ues? Absolutely They all value control, success, and strength of character And all of their values are beautifully and brilliantly

life-incorporated into their personal and professional brands No one hashad the same experiences that they have had Their experiences havemade them unique and no one will ever be able to copy them, as long

as they continue to be authentic and not someone else And whywould they want to? They are successful beyond compare

Oprah was struggling to make a living and connect with her ence just like the rest of us How did she do it? By building her identity

audi-on her true experiences and being herself She didn’t wait until she wassuccessful to start sharing her personal stories She became successful

because she first shared her true self with the world And we listened

be-cause we related to her and made the emotional connection with her

The Emotional Connection

We need to reveal our truths in order to make an emotional tion The environment of truth provides the opportunity to make this

connec-connection Get it straight: You can never really get connected with

peo-ple as long as you are concealing your authentic self from them.

Telling your true story is risky When you tell your true storysome people will reject you But these are the relationships, clients,customers, or others that have been requiring extraordinary energyfrom you to keep up to this point You will replace them with 10times the number of relationships that are naturally drawn to youand all that you offer The sense of connection will be so satisfyingand bring results you didn’t think were possible By sharing your au-thentic self, everyone will benefit

And here is the miracle of truth Truth can change the world,unlike any well-hidden secret, because it becomes the lighthouse ofhope to others When people know that you are telling your truestory they will come to you, and come back to you, because they trustthat you have gone where they want to go and have made it backagain When others hear your personal stories it will change the waythey think of themselves—and vice versa

Whether we hide our true stories or create stories that are nottrue, the result is the same: Both keep us from reaching our highestpotential Denying our true stories in our personal life and within ourprofessional company will keep us from moving forward with thegreatest speed and will rob us of every kind of wealth

In January 2003, Inc magazine featured Barbara Corcoran as one

of New York’s most successful real estate professionals She started her

business with $1,000 that she borrowed from her boyfriend Ten yearslater she sold her business for $76 million She started it for $1,000;she sold it for $76 million Not a bad return on her investment Sheattributes her success to several key principles, but the one thatcaught my eye was this one: Share your secrets She said, “When youshare your secrets with people, the most amazing thing happens.They share their secrets right back.”3I believe this is yet another cru-cial competitive advantage in business that comes from buildingbrands on true stories: You know their secrets.

Telling your true story is an act of trust It is the utmost you can

do to be all that you are

In 2003, award-winning country music superstar Tim McGrawhad a new number one hit called “She’s My Kind of Rain.” The partic-ular lyric that caught my attention is this line: “I confess like achild.”4 I was reminded how children share themselves so easily andhonestly with anyone and everyone They can’t keep secrets, canthey? Whether it is the Mother’s Day present that Dad is trying tokeep hidden or the fact that they took the cookie that they shouldn’thave, their secrets come falling out of them The kind of honesty thatchildren have is typically met with a smile of appreciation for theirsimplicity and purity

As you define your personal and professional selves, you’ll come more committed to your newly defined brand identity Theproof of your commitment is seen in the results As George Wash-ington said, “Anything will give up its secrets if you love itenough.”5 If you really love yourself and what you’re doing, youwill give up your secret identities and become a successful, lovedbrand identity

be-This chapter opened with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“There is confession in the glances of our eyes; in our smiles; in tations; and the grasp of hands.” Ralph knew branding

salu-Wherever You Go, There You Are

If you are building a brand or choosing a brand, you are an evangelist.Everything you do makes an impression on somebody that tells oth-ers about who you are, what you like, what you stand for You tellothers what to wear, where to vacation, what books to read Some-times you do this with words, sometimes by example Often we insist

on what people should do, shouldn’t do, where they must go, and

what they can’t live without If we are sincere we do it with passion,and the way we live our own life is the basis for persuasion.

Some of us don’t see ourselves as a type of evangelist Others ognize that they are either experts or some kind of authority and like

rec-to be asked for their opinions But whoever we are, no matter whatour age and level of experience, we are all being watched, even when

we don’t know it, by others who want to know the answer to thequestion, “What should I do?!”

Every time your company or organization tells its employees to

fly a particular airline or stay at a certain hotel when they travel, theyare spreading the word (actually they are spreading the brand) of thatchosen and endorsed company You are being more than loyal Youare being an evangelist

A client or customer who is loyal to your brand is more thansomeone who just frequents your store, buys your product, or usesyour services Some frequent shoppers are repeat customers just be-cause you are convenient or have the best price in town You don’twant frequent shoppers, you want loyal shoppers You don’t wantconvenient friends, you want loyal friends

You are an evangelist from the day you become aware that there

is a world around you, and that you are not the center of the verse For most of us that is around age two (Some people never be-come aware of this and continue to operate as if the world revolvesaround them.) From early on, we repeat our behaviors that we be-come known for and impose our own beliefs on others as a function

uni-of everyday life We promote our own beliefs by the way we live

As people see and recognize the repeated behavior, they makethe connection between that behavior and us They say things like,

“That is vintage Cindy,” or, “Theresa always does that.” Our repetitivebehaviors are largely habit, a little bit choice, and a lot of innate ex-pression of who we really are And as we repeat ourselves over andover, it often converts people to our way of thinking We are self-created evangelists for others and for ourselves We tell our story overand over again

Brand Conversion

A business traveler noticed as he boarded his Southwest Airlines flightthat he had his parking garage ticket in his coat pocket This pre-sented a problem, because his wife would be picking the car up when

she returned home on a different flight If she didn’t have the parkingticket, she would have to pay a very high fee to exit the garage or becharged with car theft As soon as her husband landed at his destina-tion, he began working with the airline to contact the city, terminal,and gate at which his wife might be waiting Gate changes, late depar-tures, and the long distance made it a complicated series of calls Anyone of the Southwest employees could have just said no to the re-quest to track down the woman who didn’t know she had a problem

on her hands Eventually contact was made, the information was changed from one city to another, and from husband to gate atten-dant to courtesy phone to several other gate attendants, to the wife.This businessman, Rich Lindner, is a sales and marketing train-ing coach, and he tells this story of excellent customer service at thebeginning of many instructional speeches His loyalty to SouthwestAirlines has created more business for the airline than can be mea-sured To him and others, the brand is shorthand for making traveleasier when you have had a really hard day and nothing seems to begoing right

ex-I have a similar story about Northwest Airlines ex-I never felt anyloyalty to the company because my experience with them was late ar-rivals and the most expensive flights from my hubs But one of theiremployees found a notebook of mine filled with important handwrit-ten information and telephone numbers that I would miss dearly Ididn’t even know it was missing until I received a phone call sayingthat she had found it and would be mailing it to me I don’t knowhow she found my name or phone number because it wasn’t in thenotebook I don’t know how she tracked me down, because I had re-cently moved But I know she carried the book home with her, pack-aged it, and put it in the mail on her own Even though this wassimply the act of an individual, I will be more loyal to Northwest be-cause of it I guess I believe that in addition to this woman’s character

of caring, there is something in the company that encourages her toperform with excellence and rewards her for her superior customerservice skills I will tell this story often when speaking about brands Iwill fly Northwest and encourage others to do so, too

Two different airlines with the same foundation for success It’snot their prices, frequent flier system, or food Those are just fea-tures that any other airline can copy Their success and the success

of any airline competing today will come from brand loyalty Whenairlines can all compete with prices and schedules, the only thing

that is going to set them apart is personality And personality comesfrom people.

Most branding is a kind of conversion process

Based on how the audience thinks and feels when they see ourbrand, we inform, persuade, share, comfort, and teach And themore we believe in the message of our brand, the better our chance

is of converting others What about your brand? What could we lieve in more than ourselves?

be-Unfortunately, too many people don’t believe in themselves or

in their company Therefore their chances of getting the right kind ofattention and creating loyalty are limited Build your brand on your-self and your authenticity You should have such a strong emotionalconnection to yourself that you believe in yourself passionately Thestronger the belief, the more we are compelled to tell others And that

is why we are, or should be, evangelists, spreading the good newsabout our brand Truth creates beliefs, which inspire evangelism,gaining converts, and this translates to success

This reinforces our own brand image to ourselves as well as toothers And this creates a certain kind of buzz about who we are It iscalled having charisma; it is called making an impression It lets youmake an entrance before you even enter a room It perpetuates yourself brand and builds a reputation that will support your company ororganization through good times and bad times Contrary to popularbelief, charisma isn’t something you are born with Charisma is defi-nitely something that is developed

As this continues, others become evangelists for you And ever you go, you are already there! What does that mean? It means thatthe people who have asked for you already believe in you and hencebelieve in your product or service Their turnout for your appearanceaffirms that they have made the right choice in joining you They rec-ommend you to their friends They purchase your products not just fortheir use but as gifts for others They enjoy not only the substance ofyou and your company but the symbolism as well They provide youwith unsolicited praise And, most important, they feel that being inyour presence makes them a part of something bigger than themselves.Most people miss branding success by about 18 inches That’sthe distance between your head and your heart When you put yourheart into your brand you’ll be a successful evangelist