Buy Curious? How to Make Your Personal Brand a Conversation Starter

30x30x30 Blogathon Post #2:  June 2  - Tea Silvestre

Day 2 of the Blogathon is here and I am so pleased to have Tea Silvestre as our thought leader for today.  Tea has a really cool approach to her business.  She is known as ‘The Word Chef’ and her mission is to help people discover and use their ‘secret sauce’ - how to communicate WHO you are and WHO you serve!

Make sure to check out Tea’s special offer below and enjoy her post!

The 30x30x30 Blogathon is happening every day in June! Click here to add to your feed, and you won’t miss a day!

 

Buy Curious? How to Make Your Personal Brand a Conversation Starter

We’ve all been there.You take a deep breath. Button up your jacket. And walk into a room filled with strangers.

Maybe you’re hopeful. Maybe you’re nervous. Either way, when that first person stretches out their hand and asks, “So…what do YOU do?” Is your go-to response something fascinating?

Be honest.

Do you skip over the opportunity to pique someone’s curiosity and just go with, “I’m a [fill in the blank].” (e.g. “I’m a bookkeeper, life coach, etc.”)? Hey, I’ve had to corral my share of butterflies. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Yes, walking into a room full of strangers with the goal of making a lasting impression on even just one person can feel terribly daunting. But your opening line doesn’t need to hit people over the head in order to be effective. After all, the first step to gaining a new customer is turning someone into a prospect. And in order for that to happen, they’ve got to know, like and trust you.

Let’s start that ball rolling, shall we?

Prepare a Teaser Opening

One of the things we know to be true about humans: we’re a curious bunch. And nothing gets our curiosity bone tickled more than something strange, weird or off-the-wall.

So here’s what I want you to do:

1. Find an active verb that speaks to the benefit you provide your customers. Here are some choice examples to get you started: help * encourage * stimulate * nourish * pamper * create * explore * serve * push * pull * save * find * instigate 

2. Find a word or very short phrase to describe your ideal customers. See if any of these fit: Moms * Writers * Baby-boomers * Nerds * Crafty-folks * Foodies * Tweens * Tech-Geeks * Solopreneurs

3. Find a word or two to describe the result your ideal customers are looking for. Note: Do NOT be specific here. Choose something a little bit vague and mysterious. So for example, Feel 20 years younger is better than just Lose weight; or Attract the right attention vs. find a husband. 

4. Now string them all together and see how they work. Here’s an example for someone who might call themselves a book agent: I help new authors navigate treacherous waters. Me? My response is I help small biz owners find and share their Secret Sauce with the world.

Sounds a tad more interesting than a pat answer like, “I’m a marketing consultant,” right?

You want to start a conversation when you’re out networking. Not kill them dead with a meat cleaver. Tweet This!

You know what happens when I use this kind of opening? The person I’m talking with usually responds with some form of “Really?! And how do you do that?” They actually ask me to share myself (my personal brand and what that means) with them in a way that I would otherwise not have the opportunity to do.

I have a perfect opening to take the conversation deeper and find out more about the prospect (don’t forget: the conversation really needs to be about her). Which is the whole point.

Now you try it. 

Put together something short, fun and a little mysterious. And then share it with us in a comment below. Peter and I would love to hear how you’ll wow ‘em at your next networking event.

 

Special Offer:

Mark your calendar! Get a free copy of Tea’s book, “Attract and Feed a Hungry Crowd: How thinking like a Chef can help you build a solid business“ on Kindle on Wednesday June 6, or buy the paperback version through June 8 and score some sweet biz-building bonuses.

 

 

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