PR Guru, Drew Gerber

As part of my interview series with “Thought Leaders,” PR guru and  author, Drew Gerber from “Pitchrate.com” shares his wisdom with us. I’ve been following Drew online for some time, so I was pleased as punch that he agreed to this important interview.

Ed Roach: How much does personal branding matter in Public Relations?

Drew Gerber: Personal branding is as important in the world of business survival as food, shelter, and water are to personal survival. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition you have to make a name for your products and services. Chances are someone else is doing the same thing you are, so you really have to find what’s unique about you. The goal of branding is to make it so your target market remembers you. When you’re giving an interview you have to make sure you deliver your message in way that forces people to take notice of your brand. You have to make it like a song they can’t get out of their heads.

Ed Roach: Whenever I speak of corporate branding, I believe a company is smarter to lead than follow. Taking their PR efforts into consideration, how important is “being the leader”?

Drew Gerber: Being a leader is definitely important, but you also have to know what others are doing. I would never advocate following or “riding the coat tails”, but with the Internet and social networking, ideas and thoughts are being exchanged at a very rapid pace. It really comes down to progression these days. How far you can take an idea and how you can leverage it to really make a difference in you company.

Ed Roach: Drew, I’ve heard you say, “When it comes to small businesses, PR is in everything you do.” Since your PR is a part of your brand would you agree that the tone of your brand should be reflected in your PR initiatives?

Drew Gerber: Definitely! The tone of your brand should be reflected in all your PR initiatives. Your brand is who you are. It’s counterproductive to deliver a message in an interview that doesn’t align with your branding. You have to be memorable, not confusing.

Ed Roach: Let’s say a company is in crisis, how can PR play a role in re-establishing brand reputation?

Drew Gerber: PR can be a company’s most effective tool– as long as they are willing to take responsibility and be vulnerable. Crying on camera seldom hurts either. We all watched as Toyota launched a huge PR campaign after all the recalls. They had to reestablish trust with its current and potential customers. They went hard after their long history and track record, and even brought emotion into the campaign, which we don’t see too often from large corporations. When a company’s relationship with the public is tarnished for whatever reason, PR is the most effective way to get the shine back on.

Ed Roach: As a Public Relations expert, how do you believe the Drew Gerber brand is perceived?

Drew Gerber: Well, I always think it’s hard to be objective about yourself, even if you a branding expert. Ever try cutting your own hair? I hope I’m perceived as approachable, passionate, and, above all else, committed to making a difference.

L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc. (www.PublicityResults.com) and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists, publicists, and experts. Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact L. Drew Gerber at: AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.

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All I can advise is that it is extremely important that you do your research and see what “appears” to be a good fit for you. By that I mean, how much effort you have to put forth to get the results you hope to achieve. You can’t do them all and be effective. As long as you realize that social media marketing is unlike any other traditional channel, you will appreciate what it takes to build audience. That difference of course is that social marketing is not about selling but is about the conversation. Branding loves social marketing because that conversation leads to relationships.

Social media also can be powerful in the right hands. Would you enjoy knowing when a key person in a business you have been aching to do business with leaves, opening the door for a new relationship, quite possibly with you? Trolling social sites can harvest this type of information. Developing a social media guide for your employees, can establish points of reference and alert them as to how the company wants them to identify themselves when ever they comment on the company online.

How ever you use the medium, finding that great fit, reduces unrealistic expectations and allows you to connect with your audience in more meaningful ways.

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Referrals. These are by far the most desirable. These come from people who generally have a great deal of respect for you, and they feel that they can trust you with their contacts.

Advocates. Advocates are people who follow you. Once you discover who they are, it is amazing what the cross-section of talent is.

Colleagues. I consider this group part of my peer group. They are in many ways my competition, but they bring certain specialties to the table that I can draw from. You could call them “strategic competition.”

Friends. We associate generally with people who share our values and interests.

To develop more of these contacts you have to be proactive in your efforts to locate them. You can do this effectively by doing the following few examples. There are infact any number of ways to mine talent, these should get you thinking in the right direction:

Live networking

Getting out into your community and meeting people allows you the luxury of sizing up people by how they handle themselves. You’d be surprised at the amount of talent that exists with an hours drive of you. When you’re networking, don’t just mine this resource for new business, BUT talent as well. You know the market you operate in, look for people who could make your services more compelling.

Online networking

Sites like Linkedin are terrific networks to find talent with which to expand your service network. As you start to see individuals with talents that appeal to you, start the conversation. Look for ways that you can reach out to them. Give first. This is true for any situation, online or off. Showing your willingness to help them, makes you a trusted contact to them.

Blogging

Whether it is my blog and several other blogs that I frequent, you would be surprised at the number of followers you eventually become acquainted to. Over the years respect for one another grows and because you are all essentially in the same community, certain expertise is realized and the opportunity to share in it rises. In several cases I have built a pitch for new business, from the unique expertise that I have acquired from blogging associates. They in return have brought opportunities my way.

I am always on the look out for opportunities that will help grow my circle of influence. So if networking for new business doesn’t appeal to you, then maybe the fit is discovering new resources that you can add to you roster that will enable you to go after business, previously out of reach.

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Book Shelf Brand

1: You have no idea what your brand values are, let alone understand whether management’s values compliment them or not.

2: You’ve actually gone through a branding process and the report is gathering dust on that bookshelf. You’re a planner not a doer.

3: You’re not actively marketing yourself whether that is online or off line. You allow your competition to define who you are.

4: You’re not controlling your brand image. No consistency in your image is costly and confusing.

5: You have no compelling story to tell. Your brand stands for nothing and just follows the lead of the competition. Lost in a sea of sameness.

The answer – Take those books off the shelf and get your brand happening. Tell a compelling story that will resonate with customers and get them to consider you beyond price. Stop thinking about branding and start doing something about it.

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Does your brand speak to your customers? Is the relationship you share with them go much further than service delivery? We should all be striving to build cache with our audiences.

To many in our society, it is extremely important that their individuality be identified with their favored brands. The clothes they wear, the cars they drive and the smart devices they carry. These are the world brands they identify with. What about the brands closer to home? What financial institutions they engage, or which consultants they embrace? In every purchase decision there is brand decisions. Consumers identify with success. Nobody wants to hitch their wagon to a brand that doesn’t resonate with their self-image. This is the case at every level.

Look in the mirror and see if your favored world brands don’t match your local brand choices. Society views you by which brands you wear in every facet of your life. It is one way that their perception of you is built. Perception is their reality of your brand.

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But as an attendee, I can tell you that it is not the quantity that appeals to me but the quality. Every time I discuss Branding and sales online, I am repeatedly asked for tips as to how a business can achieve fame online. How can they benefit from a sort of Oprah effect. My response is always quality over quantity.

Realistically, what are the chances of being the next Google? Even Google didn’t know they’d be the next Google. I stress looking for your niche. Even if you were to capture just .000001% of the web audience you’d still be fabulously wealthy. Quality over quantity.

In a crowded networking event, competition for attention is exasperated by the shear numbers. In all those bodies, how to narrow the focus is the new challenge. Sometimes a poorly attended networking event works out much better for me. You see, I have to have a conversation with someone before they see my value to them. More times than not, low attendance puts me in front of people who are less distracted and more apt to find out who this guy, ‘Ed Roach’ is. I’ve landed several opportunities from modest audiences that large. Quality over quantity.

Successful sales people can tell you that they would prefer a few good qualified leads than hordes of prospects. Narrow your focus and go for the gold. Doing the other is akin to beating your head against a wall. Quality over quantity.

You could go to a list broker and purchase an immense number of emails to market to. But chances are good that none of these are opt-in and possibly outside of your targeted audience. Isn’t it preferable to speak to an audience of several thousand interested in what you have to say businesses? Building your own niche audience is a desirable goal here.

Quality over quantity.

When you purchase services do look for the best solution, or are you impressed by the size of the competing business? If size impresses you, be aware that chances are only a small contingent of that firm will actually work on your account. You join other fish in that big pond. The smaller firm, appreciates your business more and chances are you will deal directly with the leadership of the company. If you do your due diligence and check who is vying for your business, the little fish reality will ring a bell with you. Quality over quantity.

What ever your goals, don’t underestimate quality over quantity. I’d much rather work for a small number of lucrative accounts that several low paying ones. I don’t work nearly as hard for the same income. It also gives me latitude to growing my business in a positive environment. Paying attention to your audience will pay dividends and allow you to benefit from the quality your brand will attract.

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Ed Roach: Considering the fact that a brand is essentially your reputation and adherence to brand values is critical in maintaining a brand that resonates with customers, what have you found in your consultation with businesses are the biggest barriers to living up to these established brand values?

Jaimy Weiler: Because new business comes to me predominantly through referral, I do strive to keep my brand values consistent as I deliver my services by focusing on “bringing simplicity, integrity and clarity of purpose to business, finance and life”. This is the tag line of One Heart Waking, and living to these values is the very essence of what I deliver.

Ed Roach: I have always believed that a very positive attitude coupled with a desire to lead instead of following is a strategy that will lead to realizing your goals. How much of a role does “attitude” play in reaching goals?

Jaimy Weiler: I believe that attitude is both fundamental and essential. It is the foundation from which our actions spring. My experience, with both myself and my clients, shows me that results follow attitude and action. A positive attitude creates more positive action, which then leads to more positive results. By the same mechanism, negative attitudes most often result in negative results, or, results that come with un-desired side-effects!

Ed Roach: You have a very unique approach in guiding businesses. What would you say is the one thing that makes your clients love you?

Jaimy Weiler: I would say that my clients sense at a deep level that I am truly ‘for’ them and the highest vision of themselves and their business. And, my confidence in what I do engenders mutual trust and respect. In coming to me for traditional business consulting, which they receive, we also find the underlying and often hidden issues which may have for so long held them and/or the business back from its fullest success.

Ed Roach: When you evaluate a prospective client, what things do you watch for that would point to a good fit with your company – “One Heart Waking?”

Jaimy Weiler: The predominant characteristic that I watch for in determining whether I am a good fit for a prospective client, is their sincere and authentic desire for change. Along with this desire must be the openness and energy to implement changes which may go against the grain of past habits.

Ed Roach: What’s the nicest thing a client has ever said about you?

Jaimy Weiler: The nicest thing that a client ever said to me was that I helped them to clear away the obstacles and structural problems that had kept their highest business vision in a dream state in the future. And in experiencing the newness of their increased success, were inspired to take themselves and their business colleagues to an even more fulfilling level of service and achievement.

Ed Roach: Finally Jaimy, how would you define success? (For you personally)

Jaimy Weiler: I define success as bringing the best of me forward into my life, more and more every day. Success to me is showing up, present and ready to go, adjusting and growing as life unfolds before me.

Thank you Jaimy.

For more information on Jaimy Weiler visit her website OneHeartWaking.com, and pick up her book, “Light Through The Heart.” or email her at Jaimy@OneHeartWaking.com

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Ed Roach: Laura, what impact on their customers do you think a company’s CEO would have if they blogged and allowed comments?

Laura Ries: It depends on the CEO, the company and the category. What might work for some will not work for others. There is no rule that works for everybody. The CEO of Amazon or Zappos is quite different from the CEO of Procter & Gamble or General Mills. CEO blogs work best for a brand with a narrow focus, in a fast moving category with enthusiastic customers. The CEO also needs to be well-known or willing to become so.

Ed Roach: Professionals who wish to establish their expert profile are often frustrated by the fact that blogging doesn’t harvest immediate results. Do you have any words of encouragement that if they embrace blogging it will deliver?

Laura Ries: Almost nothing gets immediate results. And compared to writing a book, a blog feels pretty immediate to me. What works best for a blog, a marketing strategy or almost anything is life is consistence and patience. Both of those are hard to come by in corporations.

Ed Roach: Does consistency in the tone of a company’s brand message have any relevancy in their corporate blogging efforts? By tone I am referring to the way a company speaks to its stake holders in their on-going marketing vehicles. Apple’s tone for instance is creativity, youthful and a difference.

Laura Ries: You said it. Consistency is key. But in order to be consistent a company must first decide what to focus on. What do they want to stand for? For BMW its driving. Volvo its safety. For category leaders they stand for the category. Google stands for search. eBay stands for internet auctions.

The real problem isn’t consistency. The real problem is that too many companies don’t even know what their brand stands for. Most companies hate to focus for example. They want to sell a wide variety of products and/or services with high quality and good prices to everybody.

Ed Roach: Should a corporate blog be consistent with the brand image or stand alone and look completely different?

Laura Ries: Again, it depends on the company and the CEO. But in general there should be a consistent look between the brand and the blog.

Ed Roach: In your opinion Laura, what is more powerful for the brand – one dedicated author of posts or numerous authors? Same goes for addressing comments.

Laura Ries: It is definitely more powerful to have one dedicated author which assures one dedicated voice. The same holds true for addressing comments. If possible one person should handle it.

Thank you Laura.

If you’d like to learn more about Laura Ries visit her blog or pick up her new book, “War In The Boardroom.”

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Use of Colours in Branding

Your brand image is the face of your brand. It is the first thing your target audience sees when first introduced to you. What do you suppose goes through their mind when they see your brand image? Are the colors and imagery resonating by correctly representing your brand values and personality? How about consistency, are you showing one message?

At the first introduction everything is riding on your brand image. If a business’s image is amateur, then they are doing immediate damage to their sales goals. Their efforts to save money and get an image on the cheap, only shows their lack of understanding as to how the buying public formulates buying decisions. Their perceptions are the reality in the world of a brand. If a business looks like a small player, a person will have a more difficult time building a belief that the business can deliver for them. These perceptions and reactions happen in seconds. Building trust is huge in the sales cycle and so any distraction from that effort is critical.

Your brand image should also differentiate your company. Choose colors that not only represent your personality, fit psychologically but also are different than competing companies. Every aspect of your brand must be compelling to a prospect. Your brand image mustn’t be simply window dressing either. You have to walk the walk. There are so many things you have to remember in order to succeed, your image should be the wonderful wrapping to a tremendous gift inside.

Make this New Year an opportunity to look objectively at your brand image. Ask friends and customers for their opinions in a short survey. Use the results to address any deficiencies and make your job a little bit easier.

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What tone does your brand send out? Are you even consciously doing this in your marketing? Just like every company has a brand whether they want one or not, brands are also exhibiting a personality/tone whether they are aware or not. The tone many companies sent out is a that of a selfish person where the message is all about them. A big picture of their location and flashy offices, how successful they are, that you should be dealing with someone so influential. NOTHING about how they will address your company’s pain points and deliver on a solutions based promise.

This is how many advertising messages go down – and let’s not forget the flashy graphic to round out the creativity by rubbing the ego of the person who signs the cheque.

Your tone should epitomize your brand promise and compliment your customer’s brand experience. Like Apple, I know I will not have to deal with viruses and it’s going to be very easy to use AND look pretty darn cool as well!

Think about your brand’s tone. It will make your marketing resonate more powerfully with your target customers.

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