Sell Yourself at the Emotional Level

Those of you who read my blogs (on a regular basis will know that I equate corporate brands with personal brands. We all have to market ourselves, in our own smaller arenas, very similarly to the way that massive global brands market themselves in order to be 'bought' by our own arena. People 'buy' people on a daily basis, and in order to be bought we need to be trusted and respected -- it therefore makes sense to market ourselves in an empathetic way to be perceived, authentically, as having a promise of value.

So it is interesting to see that huge global business such as Nike, Apple, MacDonalds and Disney are breaking through the recession by offering personal, tangible experiences to promote themselves through a two way emotional connection that links them to their customers' feelings instead of a more direct one-way approach.

Nike have increased their brand value by 4%, as seen in Interbrands 'Best Global Brands 09' award, through teaming up with Apple to deliver the Human Race an event where everyone entering will run locally but will be linked globally through the Nike+ Running System.

14,000 people arrived in Trafalgar Square to sing 'Hey Jude' through T Mobiles' flash event, and Disney are developing their Disney Fairies enabling fans of Tinkerbell to become fairies themselves. McDonalds also are retro-fitting their McCafe coffee shops to make them connect on a more emotional level with their customers. All these huge companies are well aware of the emotional connection they must achieve with their clients in order to build business and brand awareness.

So how can you make an emotional connection with your marketplace, your peers or your employers?

• Know exactly why people 'buy' you. What is it they say to you that they like about you? Is it that you're always willing to help, willing to meet them half-way, enjoyable to work with and is it on that basis that they are more than willing to recommend you to their associates?
• Do you make it virtually impossible for someone to deny you work after they have met you? Do you leave them curious about your service and how it could help them or their business to progress? Maybe they want to set up another meeting or see some examples of your work, whatever, make them feel their interest on a personal level.
• Show your marketplace that you are passionate about your service and honestly believe, that it will help them to achieve more than they had hoped. Negativity or blandness about your service will only block your opportunities.
• Deliver your reputation of doing consistently 'what it says on the tin', gain a reputation for being relevant and invaluable to your clients.
• Show examples of how you have helped others to raise their game through your intervention. Here's an example of how that input has impacted one of my own clients: I worked with an IT company Owner/Manager who had no connection whatsoever with his company's clients, he worked continually in the back office on software development and had no idea of how to lead from the front, leaving 'all that' to his team â€"- we worked on his more 'business-ready' wardrobe, started to build his reputation with the media as being an expert in his field, developed his professional network, and, subsequently, his improved overall reputation as being likeable, proactive and at the cutting edge, tand tripled his income within just a few months.
• Make sure that people are very aware of all that you bring with you. You may be comfortable in what you deliver, but others may not be aware of the extra value you are adding that they hadn't considered. People love to get more than they expected.
• Make sure that everything you do, write, deliver, and action has at its base your core beliefs and is always a reflection of how you want to be known â€"- as the person to go to. If people believe they will buy.

So, it's simple â€"- build an emotional connection, be memorable, be liked, give added value and make friends with your marketplace.

(Pic: Ferdinand Reus cc2.0)