When I first started in sales I was very new to the whole professional brand thing. I was young, barely out of college, and all I knew was that I went to work, did my job, and got paid for it.
Developing my professional brand wasn’t a concept I had ever paid much attention to. I didn’t think I needed to stick out from the crowd anymore than I already did.
Well if nothing else, my experience has since taught me that the crowd is a lot larger than I originally thought.
Even so, I was lucky to understand the importance of developing a professional brand earlier on. During my first corporate job, and in my early twenties. I didn’t get good at it until the last couple of years though.
So what I’ll be going over for the next couple of weeks is how you can develop your own professional brand so that people see what YOU want them to see. Whether that is offline or online.
What Is A Professional Brand?
Although it may differ for each person, a professional brand is your reputation among those who can influence your professional success.
Preferable your professional brand will focus on a specific industry, one in which you want to be known as the go to person.
My Road To Success
My first attempt at developing my brand was with my old site, The Poly Bag Pro Blog. I developed this while I worked at PolyPak America as an Account Executive. And it worked really well. I actually still get leads from the site.
The problem? It was so focused on the polybag industry that when I left the company, it was no longer a brand that was applicable to me. And although I tried to keep the site going. It was simply too hard to keep up with an industry I was no longer a part of.
So what then…?
Well I took a step back and thought long and hard what where I wanted to go with my own professional brand. Did I want to go the same route and develop my brand around software sales, property management software, or real estate software?
This is after all the industry I am in now. But they just seemed clumsy to me. One of the reasons I thought The Poly Bag Pro worked so well is because it was kind of catchy.
Software sales could have worked but its too broad because there are many types of software out there, and again I’d be lost in the crowd. And consider that a majority of them having nothing to do with property management or real estate investment.
So I decided to go high level and simply do sales. Sales is where my true expertise and experience lies. And unlike before, The Sales Pro Blog is something that I can keep with me forever. I truly believe I will be in sales in some fashion for the rest of my career.
And as I progress in my career I will be able to share even more of my experiences.
Baby Steps
One thing I want to make clear. This did not happen over night. Developing a professional brand takes time. Sometimes a long time.
But it is worth it and is essential if you want to be a sales pro.
This may be a new concept for you. It once was for me too. And that’s ok because over the next couple of weeks we’ll discuss not only why a professional brand is important, but the different aspects of your brand and how to develop it so that you are known as an expert in your field.
Be sure to check back constantly as I post twice a day for the entire month of April.
~ Johnny Bravo
Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net