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Building Your Personal Brand for Success in 40 Characters
1. Making a statement:
Building your personal brand
IIA (SA) – Internal Audit Conference
Adelaide Convention Centre
22 October 2014
www.thebrsblog.com
www.brsresults.com
2.
3. Focus of Today’s Session
Understanding the power of your
personal brand
The power of social media and building
trust on-line
Why brand applies to you and your role
Tips on how to build your personal
brand and leverage it for your success
Determining the success of your brand –
Engagements, advocacy and reputation
4. GOVERNMENT LEADER
2003
CITY OF CHARLES
STURT
Where did I start
my brand journey?
AUDITOR
Pre-2002
AUDITOR GENERALS
AND ANDERSONS
(BIG FOUR
ACCOUNTING)
2002
ADELAIDE CITY
COUNCIL
GOVERNANCE &
RISK PRACTITIONER
2005
PARSONS
BRINCKERHOFF (PB)
SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
2009
BRS, EASYCONSULT,
EASYGOVERNMENT
AND BEYOND!
CONSULTANT &
ENTREPRENEUR
5. You don’t have to see the whole
staircase, just take the first step
8. Why personal branding
applies to you and your role
Part of a global, reputable profession
(180,000+ IIA members, 165+ countries)
Globalisation and the modern client
Education and Engagement:
Powerful communicator of your value
Establishing and maintaining long-term relationships
built on trust
11. LinkedIn
The most widely used platform for consultants and service
providers
Keep it up to date & post often
Some important facts:
The average user on LinkedIn earns more than $100k
Most are decision makers
You only have .2 of a second to convey your value and get
someone to read more about you
12. Build your brand & establish
yourself as a thought leader
Status updates (which LinkedIn favors more than anything else)
Thought leadership such as regular blogs or other insights
Educate, don’t sell
Connect with people you know and grow your connections online
Join groups
Add value to others
This takes time, your LinkedIn profile is another one of those 1%
activities you do that together will make a big difference
13. What to communicate?
Company videos
Interesting articles
Industry insights
A piece of knowledge or thought leadership
News that relates to our businesses or industry
Content to keep audience engaged and to start conversation
Ask questions – questions get people talking
17. Stages of evolution
My wife & I built a $1 million consulting
practice in less than twelve months – BRS
easyconsult and easygovernment are a culmination
of this knowledge and experience but it would not
have happened without the past experience.
18. Knowledge and expertise - non-technical areas of consulting
Online coaching program
Market leading, tailored content
Online modules in key areas
Live events (webinars, conferences, networking)
Online Forum
Practice management tools and templates
Support
Coaching, consulting, facilitation
19. Knowledge and expertise - being a great government leader
Online coaching program
Market leading, tailored content
Online modules in key areas
Live events (webinars, conferences, networking)
Online Forum
Support
Coaching, consulting, facilitation
22. Websites Blogs Community Followers
Building our “tribe” - enhancing
& leveraging our personal brand
23. Balanced Scorecard Approach
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Indicates a good result – On Track Indicates a satisfactory result – Monitor Indicates a less than satisfactory result – Needs correcting
BD & Efficiency Indicator - as % of Net Fee
Revenue (NFR)
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
BD Actual
Efficiency
BD
Target
Efficiency
Target
Marketing & Brand
$1,400,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$0
Weighted Pipeline $ (Unsecured)
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Top 10
Clients &
Prospects
All Other
Target
Marketing & Brand
$1,800,000
$1,600,000
$1,400,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$-
Backlog
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Long
Term
Short
Term
Target
Systems & Processes
40
20
0
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
Combined WIP & DSO (Days)
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
WIP
DSO
Combined
Target
Financial / Operational Sustainability
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$-
-$50,000
Free Cash Flow from Operations
Minimum
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Actual
Target
FCF (YTD)
Financial / Operational Sustainability
5.00
4.75
4.50
4.25
4.00
3.75
Hub, Associate & Client Engagement
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Associates
Client
Hub
Target
Client Satisfaction and Culture
14.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Training Expenditure - as % of NFR
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Actual
Target
YTD Avge
People / Capability
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
BRS RevenueMix
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Associates
%
Core
Team %
Target
People / Capability
Optimal
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Online Engagement
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Blog
Comments
& Shares
Bounce
Rate %
LinkedIn
Followers
Blog
Followers
Marketing & Brand
25. Four questions to reflect upon
What makes you memorable,
unique, and relevant?
What is at your core and your heart?
What is your personal brand strategy
and link to your personal strategic
plan?
What is your marketing strategy?
How do you work to enhance your
brand?
26. My Top 5 Takeaways
Authenticity
Being bold and taking a risk
The right environment and
associations are critical
Your offline and online brand
need to be in sync
Learning and improving mindset
is critical
27. Some key actions
Update your linked in profile
Set targets around networking events
Get clear on your elevator pitch
Know your story
Look for opportunities to speak at
conferences and events
Have a personal marketing plan
Be bold and meet with people who
have a great reputation in your industry
First, Kym outlines how he transitioned his personal brand into a harmonious and complimentary professional brand.
Second, how his personal brand has changed and matured over his career and across the many and diverse roles shown above.
This is what I believe holds a lot of people back – to start on their own personal brand journey – it is not about having all the answers but really focussing on a bias for action.
Use all tools we outline in “Optimising Social Media for Consultants” – update each platform in a small way on a regular basis. This is much better than just putting social media etc. in the “too hard basket!”
Part of a global, reputable profession (180,000+ IIA members)
Being part of the reputable and long established IIA global brand is fantastic, but clients can’t engage all 180,000 of you! At the end of they day one of you will be chosen. So how do you convey to potential clients that they should engage YOU…your personal brand!
Globalisation and the modern client
Before the internet became ergonomic, especially in recent times with smart device applications allowing easy and efficient access to relevant information for decision making, there was much less competition for clients and consumers. It was very much a business driven environment. For example, historically insurance companies could demand higher and more fixed prices because there was less choice for consumers. Even if there was more choice those competitors were either less visible or less economically feasible to access.
However, due to globalisation and the advances in modern technology, we live in a user (or client) driven environment. As such, there is much more competition in all industries and internal auditing is no different. I am sure there are clients that substitute your services (for example, with either systems or processes driven by advances in technology or with other service providers). So how do you stand out?
Personal connection with clients facilitated by fully utilising your personal brand.
Education and Engagement – Powerful communicator of your value
Most potential clients will have two fundamental questions for you – What does an Internal Auditor do and why do I need one?
The best way to answer these questions is using your personal brand!
Your personal brand provides an engaging narrative framework to assist you with educating your clients and to truly enable them to see just how you can add value to their organisation and why they should utilise your services.
This also forms part of your point of difference/unique selling proposition (USP)
Establishing and maintaining long-term relationships built on trust
Even if you do all of the above a client will still be wondering:
“Do you truly understand and care about my organisation and the people in it?”
“Do you understand how your knowledge is best applied to THIS ORGANSATION?”
“Can I trust you and work with you in this important role?”
Your personal brand is the key to answering these concerns.
It helps you relate to clients as people and adopt a truly empathetic viewpoint.
It shows that you are a person that understands that organisations are simply collections of people and it is these people that will be the primary factor in determining whether or not your recommendations are accepted, implemented and, ultimately, put into practice.
Leveraging your personal brand effectively in these core area will, in turn, raise the profile of the internal auditing profession / departments (hopefully and ideally through client advocacy which is much more powerful than self promotion).
There a many different tools you can use to build your personal brand. But the key to success is focus. What will work for you as an internal auditor?
Social Media: We have a strong online presence and enjoy connecting with clients through online discussion and providing cross pollination and relevant connections where appropriate.
LinkedIn is the most widely used platform for social media for consultants and service providers. Even if you don’t have the time to post comments regularly, then at least take the time to ensure that your profile is up to date and is inviting and engaging when someone searches you. Remember that the average user on LinkedIn earns more than $100k, and most decision makers are also on there and you only have .2 of a second to convey your value and get someone to read more about you.
The BRS Blog: The team at BRS are avid consumers of information and we share that along with our lessons learnt through our weekly blog. We encourage clients to follow the blog and tap into a wealth of additional information and ideas for free. www.thebrsblog.com
Knowledge: On our website you will find a ‘Knowledge’ page that has a range of tools, templates, presentations, papers, tips and tricks. Our knowledge bank is updated regularly to provide clients with practical and relevant solutions to common challenges.
Resources: Our IP belongs to our clients and we are able to provide ongoing support through access to a range of pre developed learning and development content such as activities, handouts and webinar presentations.
Thought Leadership: We have a significant library of relevant articles, papers, and blogs on leadership, team work, organisational culture, productivity, high performance and many more. We are positioned to respond quickly and provide resources to clients searching for specific content.
Best Practice One Page Guides: BRS will provide examples and templates around other key management, leadership, personal development topics and other guides to assist clients.
E-Newsletters: Our clients and their employees can receive monthly e-newsletters, which provide service line and industry updates.
Networking: Where relevant, invitations to networking opportunities and industry events such as functions and conferences of interest are provided to clients.
Human Synergistics Events: Throughout the year Human Synergistics host a range of high quality educational seminars and conferences. As accredited practitioners we are able to extend invitations to these events out to our clients at no charge.
Industry Awards Nights: When and where appropriate we participate in yearly industry ranking. My, and the team’s personal brand, are set us apart from the many other candidates and is “hook” which draws the judging panel in to then take a closer look at our experience and achievements. This greatly increases our chance of placing highly in these processes. The exposure from placing highly in these processes is great profile for our businesses and an important lead generator, especially as a disruptive start-up.
Speaking engagements: Over the last five years we have built a product, which our clients and members greatly value. A significant part of the value is that our content is constant updating and market leading. As such, attending speaking engages allows us to deliver on that, but importantly shows our clients and members that we are delivering on this. In addition, it is a powerful lead generator! We have been able to reach a tipping point (especially with easygovernment being trialled with 10 senior government leaders – with a view to rolling it out across all of their departments) due, in no small part, to participating in this engagements and leveraging our personal brand to profile our products and services.
Right Start Breakfast Events: Throughout the year BRS host a variety of educational and informative breakfast events that are offered at no cost to our clients. These events deliver high quality content in an interactive and lively manor and provide the space for our clients to network with each and share insights and experiences.Speaking engagements: Same comments as previous slide.
Discuss how easyconsult and easygovernment were created out of BRS and their respective success.
Topics
Strategic Planning
Leadership & Culture
Business Planning & 90 Day Plans
Commercial Acumen
Project Management
Virtual Assistants & Outsourcing
Time Management
Marketing & Brand
Business Development
People & Team Management
Finances & Systems
Collaboration & Partnering
MORE TO COME!
One Stop Shop
Webinars
Videos
Blogs
Access to over 100 fully editable and downloadable tools and templates
How to training videos
Links to books, articles, blogs, websites
Forum to interact with other like-minded consultants
Monthly newsletter
Invitation to live conference
Coaching, consulting and facilitation – important sales point – BRS now supporting the easybrand through discounted workshops
Enhance you or your teams learning experience with focused face to face workshops (from BRS)
easyconsult members benefit from access to a team of world class consultants and facilitators at affordable, discounted rates
Discuss how easyconsult and easygovernment were created out of BRS and their respective success.
Topics
Strategic Planning
usiness Planning & 90
Day Plans
Leadership Development
People & Team
Management
Collaboration &
Partnering
Governance
Change Management
Innovation &
Improvement
isk & Opportunity
Management
Cost Management &
Value for Money
Time Management
Project ManagementMORE TO COME!
One Stop Shop
Webinars
Videos
Blogs
Access to over 100 fully editable and downloadable tools and templates
How to training videos
Links to books, articles, blogs, websites
Forum to interact with other like-minded consultants
Monthly newsletter
Invitation to live conference
Coaching, consulting and facilitation – important sales point – BRS now supporting the easybrand through discounted workshops
Enhance you or your teams learning experience with focused face to face workshops (from BRS)
easyconsult members benefit from access to a team of world class consultants and facilitators at affordable, discounted rates
Assocations we work with
Building our “tribe” whilst enhancing and leveraging our personal brand
Kym – This is a way I have leveraged my personal brand to build BRS and the easybrand, and vice versa. The data analytics behind this (e.g. leads generated, website hits, blog views and Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter followers) is how we track and determine the success of our brand.
Offline – “physical manifestation of the success of online personal branding”– success online translates offline into positive feedback from, and conversation starters with, potential clients; building a “tribe” of client advocates; and being seen by the market as trusted thought leader and educator who, importantly and uniquely, is in constant contact with the market. We are not a “visionary” who just appears once a year at a Conference and this disappears – out of sight, out of mind.!We are always “present” with clients and they are able to access our market leading advice and content at any time, any place and how they like it.
Measure, respond & report – Client and Online Engagement
Regularly measure how you are tracking
Respond and provide timely corrective actions
Regularly review your strategy and update if required
Communicate progress to the team – regular dashboard reporting
Investing in our culture has enabled us to win these awards and encourage the innovation of the organisation.
Four questions to reflect upon in building a strong and authentic personal brand
Jan Johnston Osburn
Blog - August 12, 2014
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140812031447-16410391-what-makes-you-memorable-personal-branding-is-not-bragging?trk=object-title
1. What makes you memorable, unique, and relevant?
What do you offer? Look at your total package. Understand your personality attributes, your work style, your play style, and the interests, hobbies, and preferences you carry with you.
What is it that sets you apart from everyone else? In what ways do you lead instead of follow from behind?
That’s your authentic brand.
A cautionary tale, however. Bear in mind that how you may see yourself may vary from how others view you. So ask people how they see you. What do people say about you when you leave the room? If it’s not the story you want to have told, you’ll have to figure out how to change it.
2. What is at your core and your heart?
What are your personal guiding principles and core values? What set of standards have you adopted that help you carry out initiatives? Core values are the traits you have that represent your driving force.
These guiding principles give us a solid foundation from which we can make decisions and take actions. In effect, they become your compass for living your life by the standards and ideals that you have established.
3. What is your winning strategy?What do you do differently? What habits have you adopted that spell success? What comes easy for you?
In essence, where’s your sweet spot? Your sweet spot is found at the crossroads of your strength and your passion. Your sweet spot is what you leverage for success.
4. What is your marketing strategy? How do you work to maintain your brand?
A successful brand creates a consistent and targeted impression. Coke’s brand developed over time and so will your personal brand. It will take continual work and evaluation. A brand doesn't just materialize. Time and effort goes into a branding strategy that works.
And, maintaining a personal brand isn't really that complicated. In the end, it's about consistency.
Have a picture of 5 big rocks for going forward with your personal branding
Have a picture of 5 big rocks for going forward with your personal branding
For those that are interested we are happy to provide a free, editable copy of a Personal Marketing Plan for you, that we have developed through easyconsult, to start building your personal brand in a strategic and impactful way today!
Please contact us for a copy.
It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen