What is Personal Branding?

See Katy Goshtasbi, CEO of Puris Image, discuss what is personal branding and their work.

2012 Agenda

Learn more about Katy’s upcoming workshops and events for 2012.

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Speaking Engagements

See Where Katy Is Speaking Next. Have Katy as your next event speaker to address your company, professional association or your networking group.

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Katy's Talks on CD and DVD

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Be In Control

Be In Control Of Your Personal & Business Brands and All First Impressions and Perceptions. Did you know? It takes 2 to 7 seconds to make a first impression of you and your business and build brand perception.

Get Started Today!

Contact us and let us help you refine your personal brand so you can dictate all first impressions and drive up confidence, morale, sales and revenues.

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May 2012: Katy Goshtasbi Nominated For Business Woman of the Year Award by NAWBO San Diego

How Unique Are You? Differentiating Your Personal Brand NOT on Price! 0

I think the hardest part of our work with clients is on the topic of unique selling proposition. Clients have a very difficult time believing they are unique.  Sadly, not many people ever really believe they are truly unique and can stand out and be memorable in the sea of sameness of their profession.  Once we convince them they are unique the problem becomes how we communicate that uniqueness to our target market and how we sell that differentiation.

Most people tend to want to differentiate based on price.  Price differentiation rarely works.   People tend to buy a product or service based on price only when there is nothing else to help them make their buying decision- ie, there is no differentiating factor that grabs them emotionally. At that point, they settle for the cheapest. Is that what you want for your personal and business brand- to be settled on because you are the cheapest, but not necessarily the best?  I hope not.

Here’s a good example of this price differentiation at work.  I know of a regional CPA firm.  One of their employees was telling me one day how the CPA firm keeps losing bids for services when they go into meeting to present their proposal.  He said they often lower their prices to come in cheaper and get the business and guess what- they rarely do.  This person was extremely frustrated and upset.

I explained to him that the prospects shopping for CPA firms were not looking at cheaper to be better.  However the CPA firm was coming across in the proposal meetings was not an optimal personal brand. I told him that the CPA firm needed to find their unique-ness when they go into these proposal meetings and stop making it about price. By coming in so cheap, odds are the prospects are thinking the CPA firm is either: a) desperate or b) not very good at what they claim to do.  None of which are good personal brand builders that lead to long lasting relationships with a strong referral base.

So ask yourself- do you really differentiate on your unique-ness or are you just following the crowd by saying something like, “we are prompt” or “we are reliable” or “we are knowledgeable”.  All I have to say about the latter three statements is that every business better be prompt, reliable and knowledgeable….!

 

Posted on: 02-13-2012
Posted in: Business Brand, differentiation, Fees/Pricing, Personal branding, price

Are You An Authentic Leader? 0

Have you ever taken a good hard look at the way people around you are leading?  Are the male leaders fitting the stereotype of a strong leader you’d want to follow? What about the women leaders? Are the women leaders “owning” their leadership position or are they sending mixed messages?

The problem that often occurs is that men lead like men and women try to lead like men, too. Sadly, when women lead like men, they often forget to use their natural leadership skills.  Each gender has a natural talent that lends itself to authentic leadership.   However, women often ignore this natural talent and try to fit in with the boys and lead like them.

The result:  when women lead like men it is ineffective and harmful to their personal brand.   Going against anything that is your nature and natural talent will come off as fake, disingenuous, dis-jointed and ineffective.  Worse yet, when women lead like men, they often feel exhausted and frustrated.  Imagine, doing something day in and day out that is not in your nature and doesn’t get you positive results.  Who wouldn’t feel exhausted and frustrated?!

The result:  there are not enough quality women leaders and retention rates of of female employees goes down.  The women that do stay in management are often jaded and can’t accept criticism and guidance.

The result: lack of joy and lack of any kind of consistent, positive personal brand.

If you are a woman leader or aspiring woman leader, stop and ask yourself what are your natural gifts?  Odds are you’ll discover that you have a natural ease and grace to bring to relationships- including those in the workplace.  So as a woman, are you leading using your natural abilities?  Does it feel right or does leading feel like a drain and “hard” work?  If so, then you are trying going against your nature and likely trying to blend in with the boys and lead like them.

Men have their own natural gifts to bring to leadership.   Therefore, each sex should be leading based on their own gender and style, and not anyone else’s.  Otherwise, the world is getting robbed of two distinct, authentic and effective styles of leadership.

Solution?  Click HERE to learn about our upcoming leadership series for women in the 21st century.

Posted on: 01-30-2012
Posted in: Leadership, male/female

Are You Trendy? Spring 2012 Fashion Trends & Your Personal Brand 2

In personal branding, your visual brand (attire, clothing, etc) is a part of your personal brand.  Therefore, we do spend time making sure your attire and clothing options reflect the personal brand and business brand you want to project. We do this so you stand out, are memorable and feel good and look like you are “owning” your profession and service/product.  In a world full of sameness, your visual brand and attire are a very easy and effective way of being unique and showing us what value you can bring to us- without ever saying a word.

Last week I had the privilege of being invited to Neiman Marcus for a Spring Trend preview given by their style adviser, Alex.  Twelve of us were treated to a personal fashion show of the Spring trends in a way only Neiman Marcus does- Mimosas, gourmet breakfast and class.

The Spring trends include:

  • Various shades of the color pink- from hot pink to pale pink
  • Colorful clutches
  • Various shades of yellow (my favorite!)
  • Neon!
  • Dramatic earrings
  • Colorful pants, including pajama pants (yikes!)
  • Mixing prints
  • Scuba influences (minus the water)
  • Tribal influences
  • Strong eyebrows

Now, here’s the deal.  The list above is not the “Truth”.  I don’t think any of us should be wearing something just because it is “in” or trendy.  I see so many people clamoring to wear the latest trends or style to fit in.  But what are you fitting into exactly?  Are you losing yourself and who you are to fashion and trends or are you incorporating trends into who you are to accent you and make you memorable and unique?  Believe it or not, it is possible to wear trends AND stay true to who you are.

We should be wearing clothes because: 1) they make us look good and therefore, feel good 2) they reflect who we are as a person and a business brand and 3) they are comfortable.

The most important from my experience with clients  is comfort.  As part of our personal branding process, we dress clients.  The first question I always ask is “does this outfit/attire make you feel comfortable?”  If the answer is anything less than, “yes!”, we go back to the drawing board.  If you feel uncomfortable in your clothing, then you come across that way to others- stiff, uptight, fidgety and unsure of who you are. In other words, it does nothing for your personal brand.

So go ahead and wear neon and scuba-influences attire.  Wear hot pink and tribal influenced clothing.  Go crazy with hot prints!  However, only do so if these trends lend to your personal brand, enhancing who you are and how unique you are while making you look good and being comfortable.

What trends do you love?  Email us and let us know.

Posted on: 01-23-2012
Posted in: attire, Personal branding, self-confidence, Self-image, Uncategorized, visual
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