PPB April 2018

BRANDABLE Pump It Up Five Self‑Promotion Tips For Strengthening Your Brand Even the most recognizable brands could use a little boost now and then. Duree Ross, president and CEO at South Florida‑based PR firm Duree & Company and a contributor to Forbes Community Voice, shares these five strategies for strengthening your business’s brand in 2018. 1 Seek out speaking engagements What better way to capture an audience on behalf of your brand than to book a speaking engagement? You have a captive audience that is already interested in what you have to say, because you’ve expertly marketed your topic and your expertise ahead of time. Local chambers of commerce, service organizations and even business associations offer opportunities for local professionals to speak, and working with these groups allows you to share pre‑event marketing duties. 2 Target your networking efforts Networking is the lifeblood of organic business growth, but it’s always better to take a targeted approach to building your book of business through this channel. Rather than filling your calendar with every available opportunity, seek out and participate in events or meetings that resonate with you personally and professionally. A setting in which you feel most comfortable is more likely to be one in which you make true connections with prospective clients and partners. Finding common ground and following up promptly will portray your brand in a positive light. 3 Help others make connections Knowing the value of a great introduction should be motivation enough for you to return the favor. Even more important is helping others make connections with no strings attached. Giving to give, not to get, leaves others with a positive impression of your brand. 4 Share your knowledge with clients and contacts Ongoing education is crucial to the long‑term success of any professional endeavor. But why keep your professional development accomplishments to yourself? Gain exposure for yourself and your brand as representative of cutting‑edge knowledge by sending relevant articles to clients, or by writing a blog that summarizes what new skill or practice you’ve learned and how you’re putting it to work for your customers. And, when others feature you or your work in publications, share those as well, because they act as valuable third‑party endorsements. 5 Volunteer Participation in community events puts you in touch with like‑ minded people who share your values and display them in a similar manner. Your presence shows them that you—and by extension, your brand—are committed to doing good and helping others, which may encourage prospects and clients to support your business. Jen Alexander is associate editor of PPB. things will still function in their absence. PPB How many professionals currently participate in PromoKitchen’s mentorship program, and what are the group’s primary goals for participants? Gottlieb Since I came on board last year, we have had about 90 pairings. Our goal is to allow the community to empower one another and to see the full potential in one another. We recognize that others helped us along the way, which is why we feel it’s important to help newcomers as they get their footing in this industry. We strongly believe in paying it forward. PromoKitchen members come from a range of backgrounds—management, sales, marketing and business ownership. We are keen to help and contribute back to an industry that has been good to us throughout the years. PPB Is there a benefit to cross-mentoring? (e.g. suppliers mentoring distributors, and vice versa)? Gottlieb Recently, we have started exploring cross‑ mentoring. We always ask the mentor and mentee if they are comfortable with it first. If someone is interested, for example, in something like improving their social media skills, we feel that they can benefit from anyone on either side of the industry. Not all skill sets are distributor‑to‑ distributor or supplier‑to‑ supplier. We all have a lot to learn from one another. 64 | APRIL 2018 | THINK