"The holy grail of personal branding is having your own book," says Julie Guest.
Did you know that one of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs still lives in the same grey stucco house he bought in 1958 for $31,500? Indeed, Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska home has appreciated but is probably worth less than $750,000 today.
“If you’ve ever doubted the power of personal branding to convince large numbers of people to give you thousands of dollars, look no further than Warren Buffett,” says personal branding expert Julie Guest.
Guest is a bestselling author and popular speaker. She is the CEO of Bolder&Louder, a full-service marketing agency, author of the book The Client Stampede, and is host of the popular podcast, The Client Stampede.
So, what if your business is not a multinational holding company that manages $900 billion in assets like Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway does? (For full disclosure, I am a Buffett fan who owns a few shares of Berkshire Hathaway B stock and have coauthored a book on Buffett published by McGraw-Hill.)
If you want to attract high-paying clients, Guest says building your personal brand is just as important as the Oracle of Omaha.
“Whether you're a consultant, a CEO, or a serial entrepreneur, your business is just as dependent on building trust and staying out front as a thought leader,” says Guest. “In today’s ultracompetitive environment, business building has become personal. To scale, it’s time to step out into the spotlight and become known independently of the companies you help build. No more hiding behind a big corporate brand.”
Which used to be enough, back when consumers trusted big, corporate brands. So how does Guest advise building your own personal brand, quickly and easily?
“The holy grail of personal branding is having your own book, and ghost-authored is an excellent choice to get it off your to-do list,” says Guest. “The next best expert positioning tool is a downloadable case study, audio, or video that helps your buyers solve one of their problems.”
Here are seven other steps from Guest:
Know your buyers (almost) as well as yourself. “By identifying who has the urgent need for what you sell—and who holds the checkbook—you'll be able to craft a personal brand that speaks to them deeply. Then, when a client says about your marketing, ‘I felt like you were talking directly to me,’ you know you've hit the right note. Ironically, building a personal brand isn't so much about you, it's really about how you help others solve their problems. Which is why they’ll be happy to pay you the big bucks.”
Use irresistible messaging in creating your personal brand. “In other words, what issue can you help them solve that's keeping them up at night? What is the special process that you’re known for? What innovations have you made happen? Avoid technical jargon and take a leaf out of Buffett's playbook by crafting your messages in simple-to-understand plain English. The more your buyers can relate to you, the more they will trust you and the easier it will be to win their business.”
Now it's time to craft your brand personality. “In much the same way that a Hollywood screenwriter creates characters for the storyline, you next need to create a brand character for your own personal brand. Warren Buffett chose his brand to be a folksy, funny, no-frills kind of guy from the Midwest. Consistency here is critical. He uses letters, essays, op-eds, and TV appearances to build on this communication style, reinforced by his simple lifestyle. He drives a modest car, a $69,000 Cadillac XTS—he doesn’t own a Lamborghini. He still lives in the same house he bought sixty-four years ago, and doesn’t own a McMansion in Malibu.”
If you're selling directly, the next step is to design your sales packages. “Ideally, you're going to want to bundle products and services that address your buyer's biggest pain points and present them in a way that makes price comparison near impossible. For example, most plastic surgeons position their services as commodities without realizing it: a facelift is $10,000 to $50,000, breast implants are $3,000 to $7,000, and so on. Price comparisons between surgeons are inevitable and easy.”
Next, price your packages simply, but at different price points. The hardest dollar to get is a customer’s first, so create a simple, smaller package that would give them a taste of what you offer, and then, once they’ve had a great experience, upgrade them to a higher level. Or take a bolder approach by selling them a higher-priced package, but give them a guarantee that reverses their risk. Finally, don't overcomplicate your product or service offerings. You don't need to show them everything at once and risk overwhelm.”
Create your website and expert positioning tools. “Unless you’re an army of one, in which case you are your business, then you’re also going to need your own separate personal website from your business website. This will help you be found more easily in Google, and it enables you to control everything about your brand—your story, expertise, values, track record, media appearances, etc. This new website will link back to your business website(s).”
Deliver greatness. “The final step in attracting and retaining high-paying clients is, of course, the experience itself. Strive for it to be superior in every way. I recently stayed at an Airbnb beach house that was more than $500 a night. To make all linens Covid compliant, they had eliminated all blankets and comforters, instead ‘triple sheeting,’ which would have worked fine in the heat of summer. But as this was the middle of winter, we froze. I texted the property concierge to request blankets. They sent someone who arrived promptly enough, but with a dollar-store plastic bag containing thin, $5 blankets. We ended up running out to buy our own.”
Bottom line: In the words of another billionaire, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos: “We don’t make money when we sell things. We make money when we help customers make purchasing decisions.”
If you're selling high-end services, everything has to be high-end, including your personal brand. This includes the execution of your personal marketing. “Don't hire cheap and expect Ritz-Carlton results,” says Guest.
