TLP058: Your Brand - Protect it Before You Have to Repair It!

Summary & Ideas for Action Lida Citroën, international reputation management and branding specialist, and CEO of LIDA360, shares her expertise on repairing reputations, and what to include and exclude from your personal brand. Your personal brand is the public extension of you. It represents the expectation of the experience people will get from you. She talks about the importance of protecting your reputation before you need to repair it. Key Takeaways The key question for personal branding is how do you want to live this life, what type of person do you want people to believe you are? What do you want to solve? Do you want to solve issues, do you want to solve things for your family? What problem or issue or concern are you passionate about solving? [9:12] In some cases, people don't need a new image, but they want awareness of how they got to their image, and how they can maintain it. [10:53] Personal branding is very simple, but not easy. Simple things matter — your LinkedIn profile, how you dress for meetings, and your body language and eye contact. [14:00] Reputation repair is a complex process. How much of the damage is emotional, and how much is financial and professional? In ten years will it have any effect on your business? Does it affect your core audience, or an external audience? Different circumstances require different approaches. You have to accept accountability. [19:20] Posting affects your reputation. When you share something, the person who shared it before you is irrelevant. If it is wrong, or insensitive, the offense attaches to you for sharing it. Social media is part of your reputation management strategy. [21:09] What do you want people to find about you on social media? Who do you want to find you? Social media is not about being flawless. It is about being consistent. Be relatable, human, and compelling to your target audience. Stay real. Your profile should be authentic, vulnerability and all. [23:17] Social media is for collaboration and networking. We form relationships, and create content, ideas, movements, and thoughts. Across all platforms, be consistent with who you are. [29:22] You set your own rules on social media. Social media is a marketing channel, not a place to unwind. [35:37] It can be healthy to observe what your competition is doing on social media. Sometimes you can identify opportunity. It can help identify your unique value proposition, and it can also lead to collaboration. [27:39] It does matter what others think of you. Reputation, or brand, is about an expectation of experience. If the expectation is shattered, the reputation is no longer trusted. Ensure expectations are met. Website: LIDA360.com Website: Reputation360Book.com Website: YourNextMissionBook.com Website: LIDA360.com/EngagingVeterans Facebook: LIDAthreesixty Twitter: @LIDA360 LinkedIn: Lida Citroën YouTube: Youtube.com/LIDA360