Let’s talk about personal profile raising. ‘What is it? And why is it important?’ we hear you ask! Well, ok, maybe not. But it is important. And here’s why.
In a complete nutshell: you are your business.
Think about that for a second. It doesn’t matter what sector or industry you operate in. As the business owner or the perceived ‘person in charge’, your personal profile and that of the business are intrinsically linked. Whether you like it or not.
Why does that matter?
Because it means that you have the opportunity to position yourself as a knowledgeable, experienced and credible leader. Someone to be trusted, the go-to name and/or face in your field. When prospects are looking for the differentiator between you and your competitor, be that a franchise opportunity, a product or service, they are more likely to feel comfortable with someone that they know, like and trust. And to recommend you to others too.
Obviously, there’s the flip side to this particular benefit as well, which you have to be wary of. Any negative attention around an individual who ‘heads up’ a brand can be bad for business. But that’s actually even more reason to be proactively managing this from the get-go. As with most things, when you leave it to chance, you have very little say in the outcome. Take control and you get to shape the end result.
For larger businesses and especially franchisors, this is not something that happens overnight. It takes time and effort to effectively position your brand spokesperson. For franchisees, especially owner-operator, it’s slightly easier as you have direct access to your prospects and customers on a daily basis. Utilising PR and media relations along with some strategic content creation is by far the most effective strategy when it comes to personal profile raising – it’s why we have a whole suite of services dedicated to this very thing!
How to go about it
There are lots of ways. Lots and lots of ways. But we’re not down with bombarding you and instead prefer to give you something tangible to actually take away and use!
Sharing some of your IP and helping others to do a little of what you do puts you well and truly in the leadership camp. It may seem counter-intuitive and lots of business owners are averse to it at first but it’s a proven and effective way to build trust with your audience. If you regularly put out content that covers a wide range of specialist topics in your field, when the time comes that people want and need to engage the services of an expert, guess who they are most likely to come to. This is an example of give a little, get a lot.
Expert guides, ‘how to…’, ‘hints and tips’ and thought leadership articles are all designed to raise personal profile.
- What are the most common questions you get from customers or prospects – you can write guides to answer those.
- Think about snippets of advice and guidance that you can give to your audience which will genuinely add value to them – you can write articles about those things too.
- Check your calendar for key dates in your industry and just life in general. What can you say about those things?
Before you know it, you’ll have six to 12 ideas. Which, if you’re aiming for one item month just so happens to be a year’s worth of potential content.
The takeaway point here is that, whether you’re a franchisor or a franchisee, what the public think of the people in your business really matters. Don’t leave it to chance.
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