| As a linguist, my mind shifts into analysis gear when I hear misspoken words and phrases. With decades of expertise and service in the image and brand industries, these two disciplines are my oxygen, and my blood curdles when I hear them misused.
Brand and Image principles are an integral part of the strategy work I do with my elite level clients. The image and brand tutorial below is detailed, so buckle up and enjoy!
EVERYONE HAS AN IMAGE
Because you are alive, you have an image — for better or for worse. You must first define and then refine your image to achieve influence and success. If you are struggling in your personal, family, and/or social relationship, odds are there’s something wrong with your image management. If you are not achieving the professional success you deserve, there’s a good chance that problems with your image are at play. These are just two of the reasons why it’s important in the influence game that you engage in the ongoing process of evaluating and then controlling your image. Your image is your physical presentation–in short how you “seem” to others. Your image is composed of the following five universal elements.
Dress
You want to be able to influence others to do what you want and need them to do, to perform at their best, and to treat you with respect. Research in the effect of clothing is ample enough that none of us should say, “How I dress doesn’t matter.” Your wardrobe sends a steady stream of meta-messages about your level of success, your self-confidence, and even your competence. The way you dress, whether at home, at the office, or in social situations, in large measure defines the level of influence you have with those you most want to influence. Clothes might not make the man or woman, but they go a long way toward revealing the man or woman beneath them. This is not a question of whether it’s fair or not to judge someone by their dress. Has anyone ever succeeded in an interview at J. P. Morgan Investment Banking wearing ripped-up baggy jeans, flip-flops, and a backwards baseball hat? Or do interviewees at a gym wear three-piece suits. My image and wardrobe expertise guides people to the most effective, influential, and appropriate dress for them and their circumstances.
Grooming
Grooming tends to be a polarizing topic, but one undeniable is that you can choose how you groom, but you can’t choose how others feel about your grooming choices. Grooming encompasses hairstyle and care, skin care, facial hair, makeup, body art and piercings, and all other ways you treat your body. Your grooming has a profound effect–-positive or negative–-on others. They will judge you and treat you based on the effect your presence has on them. Grooming speaks volumes about your sensitivity to others, your attention to detail, and your cultural values. My guidance concerning grooming is based on extensive research into the numerous studies conducted on the effects grooming has on those around us.
Verbal Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Written Communication, and Message Management
Your influence over others is shaped in large measure by words, written and spoken. Influential and successful communication is not garbled, misunderstood, or offensive. My message development and linguistic expertise helps people deliver their messages in ways that foster trust, confidence, and influence.
The nonverbal symbols and cues that you convey must represent who you are or want to be in order for you to be influential and engender trust. Dress, grooming, body language, use of color and texture, physical office space, landscaping, and many other elements communicate to your associates, customers, and the public nonverbally. My communication expertise helps people send the right messages in order to create harmony between their presentation and who they truly are.
Behavior
The ways you move, sound, and interact with others are some of the most powerful elements of your image. Knowledge and display of proper etiquette and protocol principles–-the established societal, professional, and diplomatic codes of behavior and conduct–-ensure that those with whom you do business and socialize feel respected and comfortable in your presence. Mastering behavioral strengths in all of your interpersonal interactions will allow you and those around you to be at ease and successful in any business or social setting and culture.
Integrity
Image is in large measure a product of integrity’s two-fold meaning: First, personal and professional integrity means doing the right thing, even when the wrong thing may be more profitable or advantageous, because you know that the trust of your associates, customers, and the public has a huge impact on your bottom line. Second, image integrity means that the visual package is an accurate representation of who you are, what you do, and how you do it. A lack of image integrity creates insecurity with your constituents, eroding that most important asset–-trust. True integrity helps you gain the loyalty and trust of your constituents.
NOT EVERYONE HAS A BRAND
Your brand is your identity in the marketplace. This is why not everyone has a brand because not everyone is involved in a marketplace.
Entrepreneurial markets are CROWDED and NOISY. With very little effort almost ANYONE can become a photographer, a coach, a real estate agent, a trainer, etc. So how do you stand out in an over-saturated marketplace? You need a visible and strategic brand identity. You need a distinct brand identity that will position you for growth and sustainability by making you one of the most recognizable entities in your industry. Brand management is centered in Appearance, Behavior, and Communication.
Appearance
Your appearance, the appearance of your employees, the appearance of your products, the appearance of all collaterals, and the appearance of your physical space must send a cohesive message to make you immediately recognizable and identifiable in the marketplace. The visual identity of your brand comprises the Five Universal Elements of Design®: Line, Shape, Color, Texture, and Pattern. Every physical entity has these five elements–even people. These elements must be understood and employed correctly so that you present and are perceived in the marketplace the way you need to be. One of my clients, who was in the human services industry, had a logo that looked like a claw. We helped him soften his logo so that it felt more approachable for his already vulnerable clients.
Behavior
Whether it’s you, your team members, your practices, or your products, your brand is defined by behaviors. You must define, develop, and refine behaviors that accurately reflect your brand’s values, mission, product, customers, and culture. All those polite, smiling teens at Chick-fil-A have helped make this restaurant one of the hottest franchises in America. When I walk into a clothing store and an associate who is 40 feet away from me yells in a loud, impersonal voice, “How ya doin’ today? Let me know if I can help ya,” I always want to go over and say, “Aw, thank you for caring about my shopping experience.” The behaviors of your brand presenters must create effective first impressions, a visibly congruent public presence, and a social outreach that brings positive publicity to you and your company. And, I just have to throw a shout out to those front desk people who wait a good while to acknowledge me while they’re glued to a computer screen. Really? Could you be a little less interested in me as a customer?
Communication
The words you use and how and where you use them are key components of your brand’s effective communication. You must master influential and clear message management, collateral materials development, graphic design, and website development so that your communication is distinct, memorable, and reflective of your professional or corporate brand identity. I helped a well-established and dignified firm whose offices were in a stately, old building to remodel their space with appropriate pewter-blue and gold colors, with dark leather furniture in a Williamsburg style. The refined presentation of the office spoke of dignity and trustworthiness. The owner was ecstatic with the results. A few weeks after we finished the space project, he showed me his new black, red, and white ultra-modern business cards obtained elsewhere. The two messages could not have been more incongruent. His collateral designer had never even seen his office space. We, of course, redesigned his print collaterals!
Image and brand are not the same thing, but they are both imperative in sending the messages that you want to send. You have an image, but you may not have a brand. If you are in business, you will have both an image and a brand. Keeping them strategically aligned and appropriate will make all the difference in creating personal and professional abundance.
NOW TO EXPLAIN THE YACHT PHOTO: Qualified Elite Level Strategy clients will be joining me for a 4-Day ELITE LEVEL INTENSIVE aboard a luxury yacht in the Florida Keys. You DO NOT want to miss this! Message me for details.
To Your Abundance,
Beth Strange
www.BethStrange.com
 
P.S. When you’re ready, here are two ways you can work with me to achieve ever higher levels of abundance:
One-on-One Elite Performance Strategy: For service based entrepreneurs. For elite performers. Are you ready for your next level? Then you are ready to work with an expert Strategist to make the kind of exponential progress that would satisfy you and bring abundance into your life. LET’S STRATEGIZE. I assist extraordinary entrepreneurs and elite performers like you to think and plan even bigger and overcome roadblocks to abundantly idyllic lives and businesses. I bring the experience, the training, the credentials and certifications, the scientific and strategic processes, and the expertise. You bring your ready willingness to try, to plan, to work, to change, to do, and to dream big, exciting, and fulfilling dreams. You will develop insights, breakthroughs, discoveries, and STRATEGIES. You will experience RESULTS. Together we will powerfully face and tackle your plateaus, your stress, your roadblocks, your overwhelm, your inferiority, your fears, your fatigue, your excuses. Abundance Strategy is NOT for the faint of heart. We will dive DEEP. We will work INTENSELY. We will strategize POWERFULLY.
Elite Level Branding Package: This is an exclusive opportunity for global brand expert, Beth Strange, and her team to assist you with the initial definition of your Brand Identity. Define your brand, develop your logo, design your business cards and letterhead, build your website. All done for you! We make it easy and fast to Red-Carpet-Roll-Out your brand to the world. |
