Day 14 Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog (revisited – 2013)

So on Day 14 I discovered that LIFE is what happens when you are planning and working. This alone is the beginning of a brand new blog, but for time sake I will write that blog another day. So yes for those of you keeping track I missed yesterday so today we are looking at Day 14.

Yahoo_3Several things have changed since the origination of this original blog. There are now numerous sites that allow you to host blogs and also to say it in video like Vine also Tumblr was just purchased by Yahoo and although thousands of bloggers are leaving Tumblr since the purchase it might be worth revisiting or hopping on board because you know that Cracked-Tumblr-LogoYahoo is going to put some money behind this to promote it. As usual there was no reciprocation or endorsement by Yahoo, or any others platform to mention the above.

So here we go on Blogging. It is important to say that this has been around for quite awhile, blogging that is. But it is never too late to start so what are you waiting for?

Profile PicLes Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB as well

Original Post – Posted on October 19, 2011

So if you are not blogging; why not?

If you have a business you should be blogging about the industry you are in and giving helpful information, that adds value.

What am I talking about? I hear you out there saying, shouldn’t I be selling my company on my blog? Well have you read a blog lately? Most of the good one’s give valuable information without asking for anything, and that is the way it is supposed to be. Yes you can mention your company but only in your bio at the end. Here’s why:

Home Depot was starting to lose sales to Lowe’s. They came up with a great idea. They decided to offer free workshops to the communities where they were and provided these workshops usually on the weekends. Amazingly enough most of the materials that they used in these workshops were also sold by them, but at the end of the workshop there wasn’t a “sales pitch”. They really didn’t care if you went somewhere else to purchase the materials needed. So what do you think happened? Well there sales went up because they became a trusted partner in the community.

That’s the reason. Here’s the how.

You can use a number of different free blogging tools here’s a couple.

WordPress

Blogger

Now there are a number of different free tools out there that tell you how to blog. Click on blog for a great site on “How Blogs Work”.

Your blog should be concise, short (as possible), and informative. But why should you blog and also why should you comment on other blogs.

Influence! When i write this blog it is networked and goes on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I then post it on Google + and a few LinkedIn groups that I participate in.

If you only blog and post but don’t interact then your missing the point. There have been many ‘Blogs’ written about blogging, but you need to understand that as an individual or business you need to engage with your audience and others and a ‘Blog’ is an easy way to do this.

Social media is about interacting. In order for you to grow your online influence you need to make sure you are initiating dialogue with others. Not just for the sake of selling, but to truly provide helpful, insightful, and inspirational information to others.

Happy Blogging!

Day 4 Follow Up – 2013 revisited

So today a couple of crazy things happened. Apparently I published a blank blog that said “Day 4″ Not sure how that happened. I did go to WP to start this blog but I didn’t hit publish so not sure what happened there. I’m blaming it on technology or as I tell my dad it probably was user error. I’ll tell you that story another time.

The second thing happened while I was asleep. I had an epiphany regarding this 30 day journey. I come from  a learning background so I should have realized this earlier. The only true way to accomplish this 30 day journey is to spend a week to 21 days on each task until it becomes a habit. So my recommendation is to take each of these tasks or suggestions and implement them one at a time for a period of time that allows you to add this to your routine. Then and only then will you be able to create the life style of living outside the comfort zone.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALes Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

Below is the original blog and this one is vital to any successful business strategy!

(Original Post)

Follow UpSo what do we mean when say “Follow Up”  The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines “follow-up” as:

1. to follow with something similar, related, or supplementary

2. to maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments

3. to pursue in an effort to take further action

Yesterday we talked about making 10 to 20 new connections per day Monday through Friday. Or at least making sure you are making 50 to 100 new connections per week. One last quote about connections.

Your mother taught you everything you need to know about connecting before you were 10 years old: Make friends, play nice, tell the truth, take a bath, do your homework. –Jeffrey Gitomer “Little Black Book of Connections”

So you’ve made all these new connections and now what do you do? Well the answer is “follow-up”. Here are a few ways you can follow-up.

  • Connect with them on Social Media (LinkedIn is the easiest way for business)
  • Follow up with a phone call to schedule a coffee or lunch
  • Follow up with an email saying how much you enjoyed meeting them.
  • Follow up with a text asking to meet for coffee or lunch
Will Corente has 5  Rules for Building Successful Connections. These are worth repeating here regarding follow-up.
  1. “It’s about each of you. Whether you are connecting with one person or a group of people, it is important to consider the needs and objectives of each person or party involved and to seek win-win solutions. Effective connecting at its core is about is about helping each other seize opportunities, entrepreneurs and business people are more apt to help you reach your goals if they know you will do the same.”
  2. “Follow-up Within 24 Hours - If you enjoyed making a connection or see potential for a relationship to develop, show the connection that meeting them was important to you by reaching out within 24 hours via phone, email or text. I find a simple note saying it was great to meet them, offering next steps of communication and an offer of to be of assistance if they need it is a great relationship builder.”
  3. “Once in Touch, Stay In Touch – Every successful relationship in your life is built over time and through multiple interactions and communications. Once you have made the initial connection it is imperative that you follow up, stay in touch and check-in to keep the lines of communication open. If you live or work close by, a brief coffee meeting is an excellent relationship builder with your connections.”
  4. “Be a Giver – People who excel at connecting give advice or assistance first and ask for assistance second. Offer your advice, counsel or assistance on a matter, offer an introduction to a friend or business associate who can help them as a way to show you care about their future success as much as your own.”
  5. Have a Long Term View – Great connectors know that the next great partnership, introduction or synergy could be just around the corner and that developing relationships with everyone they meet regardless of the immediate benefit is the key to long term success and relationship building. Some of my best connections and synergies have been 20 years in the making.
So it is important to be persistent. I can’t tell you how many times my persistence has paid off in landing a client or developing that business relationship that provides the next big step for my business. Also what do you do if you have not contacted them within 24 hours. Well 2 things:
  1. Start now with every new connection contacting them within 24 hours.
  2. Go ahead and start following up with past connections that you may have lost contact with. Even if it has been over a year. Remember you are starting fresh.
Whatever you do, don’t give up and think that they won’t be interested in hearing from you because it has been too long.  The majority of sales people fail because of poor follow-up. Whether you are building a business, a non-profit or just trying to make connections “Follow Up” is the most important aspect of next steps. (We’ll go into more detail on Next Steps in the following weeks)
Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way! You need to Lead with meeting people, Follow up with them quickly and consistently and Get Out of the Way of your success to live outside of the “Comfort Zone”
New Quote not in the original blog: Wake Up, Show Up, Follow Up or in other words Get off your Ass and Do something!!!
Who We Are

10 Reasons to Use Social Media

smiley face winkSo it’s 2013 and Social Media is everywhere. I have even started a daily tip on Twitter @mysylbert Apologies for the shameless plug but I had a goal of 2000+ followers in 90 days which has turned into a little longer so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for the follow if you are so inclined.

Working with businesses here in the US and Internationally I hear this statement a lot “Well we are using Social Media but we are not seeing the results we would like to see”, which keeps me in business by the way, but I  always ask the question WHY? Why are they using social media and you would be surprised at the number of directors and CEO’s of large well-known companies that can’t answer that question. So below I have decided to state the Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Media (in my humble opinion). For business or for individuals.

3000072-poster-road-map-poster_010. To Get Noticed: Whether you are a business or an individual and you want to get your name out there the best way to do this is through Social Media. Search Engines love Social Media.

9. Marketing: There has been a lot written and said about Social Media Marketing and although you should never look at Social Media as a new Marketing channel (it doesn’t work) you should enhance your marketing through Social Media. “Content is the Fire, Social Media is the Gasoline” Jay Baer

8. Real Time News: Now you have the ability to have real-time news with video from around the world without having a large group of paid journalists and travel expenses. (and I studied journalism-so journalists don’t hate). Anyone with a smart phone can report the news. Look at all the news related items coming out of the Middle East, US and literally every major country in the world. The ability to get news right away has never been more easy than through social media.

7. Relationships: Finding long-lost friends and family. Reconnecting with old school friends or work colleagues. We live in an age where, if they are on social media, you can reconnect with them and develop close ties again or just keep in touch. This is great for sales and also if you are looking for a job. social_connections

6. Innovation: I believe this is one of the biggest breakthroughs that social media has allowed companies, that use it correctly, to accomplish. You can now innovate your products and services by asking the users what they want and adapting to their wants and needs rather than guessing or holding expensive focus groups.

5. Collaboration: Business, Science. News and Education are just a few of the industries who are now using social media to collaborate with others  on projects that normally might have been done in a vacuum. Two minds are greater than one, with social media you can now have dozens, hundreds, thousands or more all working toward a common cause or project.

4. Sales: If your sales team is not using Social Media to gain new leads and find new business then you are missing out on a great opportunity. Social Media allows you to find new business opportunities, who the decision maker is, and what companies are looking for. If you don’t believe me Google Social Media Sales. “You can really get to know his or her needs through social listening. It’s a great way to research a market and initiate conversation leading to a sale.” Janet Fouts

3. Finding the Right Talent: Although there are a lot of people in the job market it is still hard for companies to find the right people that will move their organization forward. With social media you can search in specialty groups and also have a broader reach when you need to fill a position. Finding the right person for the job is right at the tip of your digital fingers.

2. Information: Causes, Companies and people in general have always wanted to get information out to their peers, prospects, and the general public. We always tell anyone we are working with that the information has to add value to their audience. This works for businesses, organizations and everyone who is putting out information. Including my blog. But now with one click you can send out information to millions of people around the world. Just be careful that it is the right information. (Your audience will decide this for you).

And drummmm rollllll please!!!!!

Social Media Connection1. To Stay In Business: Socialnomics and Infographics have stated that 40% of Fortune 500 companies will no longer be in business in 10 years. This is due to their inability to adapt to the new consumer, business or audience. So whether you are a business, church, nonprofit or individual you need to be using social media if you want to still be relevant and viable in the next 10 years.

Profile PicLes Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

My Toughest Challenge Accomplished! Tough Mudder

So this past Saturday I ran a 12 mile, 24 obstacle course called the Tough Mudder. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook or a Social Media Connection you have seen some of the pictures of our event. So I have been traveling non stop for the past three weeks and this was the finale of my 3 week travels. I started in North Carolina facilitating an Elite Consulting Course for NetApp then spoke at a Sales Conference in Vegas to 100 sales people, managers and operations for Peak Campus Companies. Flew back in town, Atlanta, and then woke up and drove to Society Hill, SC to participate in the Tough Mudder with the High Achievers Muddervation team. I tell you all this not to impress you but to show you that you can do anything you put your mind to. I went from NO EXERCISE 20 weeks ago to exercising every week including doing a month of Operation Boot Camp.

The Tough Mudder Pledge:

I UNDERSTAND THAT TOUGH MUDDER IS NOT A RACE BUT A CHALLENGE.

I PUT TEAMWORK AND CAMARADERIE BEFORE MY COURSE TIME.

I DO NOT WHINE, KIDS WHINE.

I HELP MY FELLOW MUDDERS COMPLETE THE COURSE.

I OVERCOME ALL FEARS.

I have been amazed at what I have accomplished in the past 20 weeks. I have done more business, I am in the best shape of my life, and I feel great overall. When I was on the course it was a great experience to see everyone helping each other. It did not matter your age, fitness or lack their of, everyone helped everyone through the challenges, with encouragement, support and even lending a hand through the mud, dirt and water. People who had never met before that day, and didn’t even know each other’s name, all were helping each other get through this challenge. I thought to myself, and then said it aloud to friends and family, that if life worked that way everyone would definitely be better off.

Everyone was working together to complete the same goal. To finish the challenge. If we helped out everyone to finish the challenge of life, life would be better for all.

There wasn’t anyone just asking to be carried to the finish line, and everyone in the challenge was muddy, dirty, and tired with some skinned knees and injuries along the way. Just something to think about the next time you say you can’t or you wish someone would do it for you.

I’ll end with another great quote from the Tough Mudder:

NO QUIT IN HERE!

I don’t know what your “In Here” is; maybe work, maybe circumstance, maybe marriage, maybe LIFE. But the next time you are looking to Quit, remember the Tough Mudder Quote! And remember that you need a team around you to complete the challenge regardless of what that challenge is.

So if you are wondering where I have been and what I have been up to since my last blog from Brazil in September now you know. My company has been invited to  Istanbul, Turkey at the end of November for CeBIT. Life is Good!

Next blog on “Email is Dead”

 

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

Are You Too Busy To Blog?

Are you familiar with the story of the children whose father was a Cobbler and they went without shoes? Well there are several people who own or run businesses that use this story. It’s a great story but at the end of the day it’s just an excuse. I can say this, because I have been using this story myself and realized that it was a Gigantic excuse.

There is some truth in this because business owners are busy and they sometimes neglect their own business working with customers/clients. But it is still an excuse. Doug Grady writes in his book “The Ripple Effect” that one of his statements his dad taught him was “Do It Anyway” even if you don’t think you can or if you don’t have the time.

I realized recently that the last Blog I wrote was on June 20th. For you mathematically challenged that was a little over 2 months ago. This week I was facilitating one of the training’s I do for NetApp in Brazil and a few of them said that the information they were getting may not be relevant for their country. I went into explaining why this is an excuse to do something outside their comfort zone. The course helps technical people move from the technology conversation to the business conversation. Moving from speaking technonese to speaking business strategy. They were trying to use “it may be different in my company” as an excuse as to not use the information they were learning. (It worked itself out when I said just use the information but in your style). But I digress…

I use the example above as a case to show that all of us find reasons and excuses for not doing something new or not doing the things we know to do that will make us successful. My company helps organizations grow their business by providing guidance using social media and how to create a “Social Business Strategy” customized to their organization.

The point or the “So What” for this Blog is simple. I am no longer going to allow myself or anyone in my business to use the story of the Cobbler as a reason for not doing what we need to do, to allow our business to grow. In other words:

So the next time someone tells you the story of the Cobbler and his children with no shoes because he was busy making shoes for other children. Just smile and remember that from this day forth. You and I are living by the motto “No More Excuses”.

Important Note: No one is saying this will not be hard, anything worth doing is.

Be on the look out for more blogs from me on a more consistent basis.

Greetings from Sao Paulo Brazil:

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

5 Tips for Networking On LinkedIn

So how do you Network using LinkedIn. With all the resources and tools that are available out there online how do you use them and what are some key things you need to remember when networking with LinkedIn.

First thing to remember is that you are connecting to real people. Well you are supposed to be connecting to real people. Remember the blog LIAR

Just a few things to keep in mind when connecting with someone on LinkedIn. Remember to make sure that they have a profile pic of themselves. If it is a logo or an avatar shy away from those. Also they should have a history of employment and some recommendations from legitimate people about their character or their work. Then  what do you do?

Here are 5 Tips that you can use when networking online through.

  1.  Don’t try to sell anything to someone you are connecting with for the first, third, fifth or twentieth time. Go back and look at Building Trust. Don’t provide a link to your website. (LinkedIn will not allow you to provide a link or phone # to someone you are not connected to.)
  2. Ask for an introduction from someone you already are connected to. You might be surprised to find out that you have a strong connection with someone who is also connected to the person you are looking to meet. (It is always better to have met the person face 2 face that you are asking to make the introduction. )
  3. Be Yourself! People who are your friends or become your friends usually trust you and it usually ends badly when that trust is lost. So be yourself and check out this old blog on Building Trust to Sell Stuff (In this case it is YOU that you are trying to sell,)
  4. Don’t connect with anyone before you know the value you might be able to bring to them or their organization. Remember it’s about “givers gain” Wikipedia describes “givers gain” as the belief that when (business) people set goals to help others and honestly work to achieve these goals, they usually gained the most out of the experience – through a reciprocal benefit. 
  5. And Last a tactical way to Network on LinkedIn Use the advanced search on LinkedIn when looking for specific people within companies that you might be trying to get into. The advanced search is pretty user-friendly, but just in case you get confused here is a video for you to view.
This blog was specifically designed as a follow-up for the Corporate Connections Circle of Excellence Educational Moment. But my hope is that it helps all who read, Network a little smarter, connect more often, and get more value from Networking on LinkedIn.

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

Social Media – The Big Three???

So lately I have been hearing a lot about the Big Three in Social Media. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. So I started looking around to see who was out there hyping these three and training and teaching companies how to make these work for businesses. There are a lot of companies out there touting their skills on the Big Three.

So I wanted to take a moment to weigh in  and let you know that although these are considered the Big 3 they may not be your Big 3 or 4 or 5 or 2. The number is arbitrary because it depends on your Social Business Strategy.

Let me show you a little guide that is put out by RLTM (Real Time Report) that was posted on April 13, 2012.

Facebook:       over 845 million active users            Facebook
Twitter:            over 500 million users                      Twopcharts
Qzone:            500 million active users                   China Internet Watch
Sina Weibo:    over 300 million users                      Bloomberg Businessweek
Renren:           over 170 million users                      iResearch iUser Tracker
LinkedIn:          150 million members                       LinkedIn
Google Plus:    100 million active users                  Google
Tumblr:             51.5 million blogs                           Tumblr
Instagram:        40 million users                              TechCrunch
Tagged             20 million unique mthly users         Tagged
Foursquare      nearly 20 million users                    Business Insider
Pinterest          11.7 million unique mthly users      TechCrunch
Posterous        3.9 million members                       SF Gate

The last Google Search I did on “Social Media Sites” came up with 147.000.000 results. Just to let you see how different measurements tell us the Top sites here is another site that gives you the Top 15 from ebiz/MBA.

As you can see there are several Social Media sites that have large numbers based on members, unique monthly visitors and their Alexa Global Traffic Ranking.

So as a business, just keep in mind that unless your audience is using these sites and you can engage them you might be wasting time and resources on the Big Three! It’s always better to create a strategy around your social media efforts than to put things out on the Big Three and hope they produce results.

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google + as well.

It’s Been Too Long! How is your New Year Starting Socially?

Life is a wonderful teacher….Unfortunately she has a habit of killing all of her students!

So how is everyone doing? I know it has been awhile since the last time I have blogged. I hope you are following me on Twitter or are connected to me another way; Google +, LinkedIn, FB page. I hope that in some way we are connected. If not what are you waiting for?

Well it’s been a crazy beginning to the new year and a lot has happened. Those of you who went with me on my 30 day journey I hope that it added value to your lives and gave you real help in improving your business and reaching your personal goals.

I have been absent in blogging for way too long. Two months. This is one time that it is worth repeating “Do as I say, not as I do!” In order to keep your branding out there you need to continue reaching out to your audience and continue building up trust.

In the next several months I am going to be completing my book and I am asking for your help in keeping me on the right track. I will be putting exerts of the upcoming book on here and I really would like to hear your comments. I will also be adding some valuable advice on social (media) and where it is going and also sharing some thoughts from colleagues and friends about how things are changing with Social and Mobile Engagement.

So for those of you who only follow my blog, my sincere apologies. Please keep connecting with me in other ways as I am more apt to stay in touch with quick posts on a regular basis.

Here’s to living the Life you Were Born To Live! This is my own personal mantra for 2012.

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn

Join us on FB as well.

Day 27: Getting Back To My Roots – Digital Presence

So I  train others on how to create an online presence. So why do I only have 237 likes on FB, 329 followers on Twitter and  468 Connections on LinkedIn. Well there are several excuses I could give. The best one is; that I believe in engaging your audience and yes, I truly believe that Size Does Not Matter.

But building an online presence takes work and time. So I am not a big fan of excuses so I’ll just admit that I have not put the time and work into building my online presence.

So part of this 30 day journey is realizing where you need work and what you need to work on. So here are 9 quick tips for Branding yourself or company online fromBob Baker.

  1. Define your brand up front.
  2. Lead with what you do, not who you are.
  3. Use a real person as a figure-head.
  4. Develop a fan-club mentality.
  5. Make good use of words.
  6. Make sure visual elements reinforce your identity.
  7. Become a one-stop destination.
  8. Publish an e-mail newsletter.
  9. Be visible through online forums.
Go to 9 Ways to Create a Rock-Solid Brand Identity Online to go into more detail regarding the above tips.
I still believe that engaging your followers or connections is far more important than having a large following. But there is a lot of noise out there claiming that a “Social Media Consultant” should have a large following. Although I completely disagree with this philosophy and believe engagement and strategy out weigh the size of your following I need to be able to silence the voices from a position of strength.
So if you can help me out by doing one of four things:
  1. Like my FB page
  2. Follow me on twitter @mysylbert
  3. Connect with me on LinkedIn
  4. And if you are on Google + add me to your circles.
If you could help me out I would really appreciate it. After my 30 day journey I will be spending more time on building my own online presence.
So whatever industry or field you are in, go back to your roots and see what you need to work on.
Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work.
Watch my website grow and get better as I work  on my digital presence.

Day 18: Branding Yourself and Your Business

So the American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller.

-Wikipedia

Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. -Answers.com

So what is Branding when it comes to yourself or business? There has been lot’s written about this. If you Google “Personal Branding” you will see over 2 million results. If you Google “Brand Your Business” you will receive over 620 million results.  There have been books written on it and entire careers built around helping others “build their brand”.

So Branding Yourself and Your Business is vital with today’s online influence. So the question becomes how? Well the good news is that it is a  lot easier to brand yourself in today’s digital environment than it was 10 to 15 years ago.  Here are some great ideas that I found from a blog titled :

Brand yourself: whether you work for a corporation, run your own business, or freelance, use your name to gain significant power and influence – Career Management by Ann Brown

Step 1: Find your niche.

“Do this by ‘looking at the patterns of your life’, Norma Thompson Hollis” There are certain themes that keep popping up in your life. This might be your brand.  In the last several years I have begun the process of branding my name and business as a leader in Social Strategy, Entrepreneur, Author, Trainer and Speaker. My favorite line that I say when people asked me how I go here is “I survived corporate America”.

Step 2: Is your Brand marketable?

Max D. Ellzey, Ed.D., owner of Culver City, California-based The Ellzey Group and president of the Los Angeles chapter of Professional Coaches and Mentors asks his clients “What need can you satisfy better than anyone else, and how much are they willing to pay you for satisfying that need”. I keep asking myself that question and it is a question that you need to keep asking yourself continuously as you define your identity.

Step 3: Seek professional help.

There are many sources to help you in your search for the right professional help. You can find a coach through (www.coachfederation.com) fee based , your local chamber of commerce or SCORE (www.score.org) free resources and tools.

Step 4: Promotion, Promotion, Promotion.

Speak or hold a seminar for free. “Test your skills and get feedback. It’s also an opportunity to sell your product or services.” Ellzey suggests. Brendon Burchard has a great series on how to become an Expert in Expert’s Academy, author “The Millionaire Messenger”. After you speak for free paid offers of speaking may follow. Also start posting online in groups that are where your audience is or where others are sharing information regarding your particular field of expertise. Join in on the conversation and discussions. Be active, be aware and be persistent.

Step 5: Branching your brand.

To take your brand in other areas partner with other organizations and companies. This is a great way to branch out your brand. But be very specific and picky when creating strategic alliances.  Make sure the alliance can help move your brand forward.

Step 6:  Going beyond the brand.

“Once your brand has become popular, look for ways for it to sell itself”, says Ann Brown. The “4 hour work week” by Timothy Ferriss discusses ways of “Outsourcing Life” and creating Automation. “Be careful, however, not to spread your brand too thin” says Dr. Barbara Walton of KTD Coaching Services, (www.knowthedifference.com), “especially if it isn’t in alignment with your vision”.

So go forth and brand yourself cowboy or cowgirl! Set yourself a part from the crowd.

Les Adkins is the CEO of  Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn

 

Join us on FB as well