Marketing: How Well Branded Are “YOU”?
How well branded are “YOU”? When I say “you” I am talking about your name.
Once upon a time, I used to think I was unique. That was until I found out just how many guys were named “Robert Goodman” in this world. It’s even true here in relatively small Clearwater Beach, Florida. Come to find out that there are THREE of us named “Robert Goodman” that go to my same doctor!
So, when you look at the world wide reach of the world wide web, you quickly find how difficult it can be to create a brand around your own name – especially when the best popularity metric here in the new millennium is Google.
They are very few of us who have not “googled” ourselves to see what’s out there. Sometimes, it can be a little disturbing and embarrassing – since Internet photos, videos, blog postings, instant messages, tweets, pokes, flames, complaints, rants and raves, etc. live on forever.
So how DO you create a brand around your name?
For many of us with “common” names like mine, there is a special ingredient that improves on our individuality. It’s called our middle name.
In my case, my middle name is Lee. Even though that helps tremendously, trust me when I say there may be a near-infinite number of other folks with the same name – even counting the middle name. (Would you believe, one of the other two “Robert Goodmans” in the small universe of my doctor’s office has my same middle name?)
My recommendation is that you start branding your name, with your middle name, as aggressively as you can to establish your Google presence before someone else does. This is what I call “G-Branding.”
To see how this can work for you, I invite you to check out my new online business card at: www.RobertLeeGoodman.com.
As of this writing, you’ll notice that I currently have 9 out of the top 10 first page positions for my full name (the obituary is not me). On both page two and page three of Google, I have 5 of the 10 entries on each of those pages.
As you can see, there is room for significant improvement on my part to tweak these numbers. Note that there is almost NO hits for me if you type “Robert Goodman” since all my “G-Branding” is focused with my middle name. As a consequence, everything you do, say, publish and distribute needs to include your full name – so your prospects and customers know you by your full name.
Just so you know, this “G-Branding” is not ego-driven (okay, maybe just a little.) In my case, I have several different companies and several different products and services that I offer to startup and emerging companies – along with products and services to a completely different audience for my relationship book, Efficient Love.
What gets difficult is trying to describe ALL of those companies and services on one small business card – even front and back.
At a recent seminar I attended in San Francisco, our host, Alex Mandossian, handed out his new business card which is similar to what you see at my website www.RobertLeeGoodman.com. If you google “Alex Mandossian“, you’ll see he has even MORE products and services to sell than I do! Alex is probably THE best expert on promotion that I have met in three decades in business. As you can see, he completely dominates the first 10 pages on Google and is an excellent example of how to create your own “G-Branding.”
I thought that his Google Business Card was such a great idea that I decided to produce an online version of Alex’s idea with www.RobertLeeGoodman.com.
Like it or not, it really is the World According to Google when you’re in business – especially if your predominant market is found on the Internet. If you take that statement as axiomatic – and your market is the Internet – then you have GOT to take action to improve your own “G-Branding” before someone else with your same name beats you to it.
