Employee Branding ignites top referrals and Company success 2014

Employee Branding ignites top referrals and Company success 2014

Employee Personal Brand Names and profiles provides a company with excellent company Brand ambassadors who in turn create, via their connections, first-rate personal referrals, the ultimate business lead, resulting in business success.

The Landscape for business leads: what does it look like? where do we get them from?….

We all seem to agree that the best type of business lead is a personal referral – how does your company set about getting more of these valuable leads? It’s easy – your people, your employees, and your brand ambassadors have to become personal and learn to connect and make a difference via their personal brand names. Their Personal Brand Name websites act as the hub of their marketing channels; it is the head office of their world and connects to the main company site as their global leader.

We agree that personal referrals are just that – personal. They are acquired via a personal connection.

Let’s take a look at the old fashioned village. It’s comprised of a group of people set together, and limited via their geographic location. Due to the lack of communications and connectivity, the village demanded that these people work together, live together, and care for one another. This worked well and produced, as all teams do, specialists and leaders; some became the butcher, the baker and candlestick maker, others the doctor, the priest and lawyer and still more, the mayor and town crier. Each and every person had a place and was known for their skill and reputation; these villagers knew about connectivity. Today we move away from our villages and routes and yet we feel we are more connected; we certainly are physically to our phones, laptops and pads, yet are we really connected, do we really belong?

Today we have to create our own villages even though they maybe online, these are still communities. There are rules to communities, in order to belong you need to prove that you will be a worthwhile community member. Prove your value via your personal brand and get involved in conversations, discussions, provide interesting content and connect.

Village business was all about doing business with people you knew, liked, and trusted; today’s business is no different. However, for many of us we are no longer part of a village and we have derided the village mentality, viewing it as small minded and non-innovative…

Today we need to understand that while we do not like inhibiting mind-sets we still yearn for the sense of belonging that a village can provide. It is to that end that we seek to connect on social media. However we will only discover and create our own village if we connect share and experience with others, in so doing creating your own village set around a village square of experiences, opinions, information and engagement, this is our new village and our new community.

Your Personal Brand name is your storefront in the village and this is how people get to know you; therein lays its value. Your www.yourname.com is the sign above your door and the gateway to you and your business, it is here that people will read your blog, connect to your social profiles, follow your on twitter and see you on Youtube, this is your high street window. How you get to know members of your village is via their personal brand name, their social profiles, their comments, blog posts and you tube channel; all of these connectors allow an emotional tie to the person and provide a wonderful foundation for connectivity and interaction. It is similar to joining a sports team for the first time. You are being tested, questioned, even judged, before you are accepted, and once accepted you become a part of something far larger and stronger than yourself.

The acceptance into a forum, group, or being invited to write for an online publication, provides you with further credibility and clout; you start to climb the village ladder, becoming a member of the community that is referred to. Your authority within your niche is becoming recognised, this is important for your business, for your brand, and your company’s brand. A company that is privileged to have working for it, people who have strong Personal Brands, is indeed in a fortunate position, as these people are not simply individuals without influence these are credible authorities within their own niche.

Your personally branded employees bring to your organisation their own villages; these villages are major assets as they offer the company new audiences and wonderful opportunities for further business.