The Consulting Bible, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5Presence: How to Be an Authority and Expert

Creating and Nurturing a Brand

A brand is a uniform expression of quality. It may be a work, a phrase, a logo, or a name. Your ultimate brand is your name, as in “Get me Jason Wilson.”

However, a more useful and important definition of a brand is that it's how people think about you when you're not around.

The three requirements for a powerful brand are:

1. You identify a market need that:
   • Already exists and is vibrant (strategy formulation).
   • You can create and make vibrant (remote coaching).
   • You anticipate will be vibrant (the African market).
2. You have the competency to:
   • Create intellectual property and provocative ideas.
   • Trademark and protect proprietary models and techniques.
   • Stand apart from competitors.

   

   FIGURE 5.1 Requirements for a Powerful Brand

3. You are passionate enough to:
   • Accept the inevitable sniping of others.
   • Constantly evolve and improve your approaches.
   • Become THE thought leader and, perhaps, icon.

Figure 5.1 shows the three pitfalls when even a single one of these three elements is missing. But if you have (or can develop) all three, then you can virally build your brand.

The Gospel

If you are a sole practitioner, the brand has to be about you. If you intend to build a company to sell someday, the brand has to be about the company.

Branding is best accomplished through repetition ...