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If You Want to be a Top Producer, You MUST Develop and
Promote YOUR Image and Reputation, Not Your Company’s
What are you promoting? Are you promoting yourself or your company? If
you’re promoting your company’s image and reputation instead of your own,
you’re hurting yourself.
A Few Facts about Marketing
1. No matter how big the name you work for--whether it’s IBM, Merrill Lynch,
Century 21, Microsoft or any other company, your company’s name sells
very little. Selling is done by salespeople, not company names.
2. No matter the size of your company, you are not competing against big
name companies. Your competition are other salespeople, not
companies.
3. The more complex and sophisticated the product or service you sell, the
more prospects want to work with a perceived expert.
4. Experts are made by their image and reputation, not their skill and
knowledge.
5. Expert reputation comes from a planned, coordinated, and implemented
plan to get and maintain exposure as an expert, not as a salesperson
How to Generate a Public Image and Reputation as an EXPERT
Developing an image and reputation as an expert in your field, no matter
what you sell takes time and takes a skillful use of several media to get the
word out about yourself and to establish your credentials.
Fortunately, most of the methods used to establish your image and
reputation are available to any determined salesperson:
Press Releases: Well written and placed press releases will enhance your
image and reputation quickly. Press releases are reported in news media as
news, not advertising. News has a far greater impact on prospects than
advertising. A consistent flow of quality “news” over just a few months can
have major impact. Quality “news” is NOT news about a new office location,
a new hire, or the opening of a new business. It must be “news” that has a
substantial basis in your business, your industry, or your contribution to
society.
In addition, the press release must be well written and correctly distributed.
Articles: Writing and publishing articles can also help to quickly establish
your credentials as an expert. Several well written and published articles
that are copied and placed in each package you present to prospects and
clients and that are linked to on your website demonstrate in black and
white that you are not the average salesperson, but an expert in your field.
Speeches: Giving quality speeches to local business and civic groups puts
you in front of influential individuals in a position of power and authority.
You are the expert who
has important information for your audience. Your message and your name
are remembered--and your status in your profession and your community
rises.
Expert Source for News Media: Reporters and freelance writers are always
in need of expert sources for quotes, interviews, and as a source for data.
Becoming an expert source for your local media is an immediate image and
reputation builder. Being quoted as an expert in a well recognized and
respected publication or radio or TV news cast immediately puts you in the
position of power, authority, and demonstrates your expertise and broad
reputation.
Unfortunately, few salespeople can perform the above tasks. Not only do
most not have the skill to write a quality press release, article or speech,
most don’t what to do with them once they have been written.
Paul McCord can help you with these tasks, either as an individual task,
writing an individual press release, article, or speech, or as coordinated
campaign.
For individual or small batch tasks, you can find pricing and
ordering information here. If you are interested in a full-fledged image and
reputation campaign of anywhere from 3 months to a year, contact Paul
directly at pmccord@mccordandassociates.com or call him at 281-216-6845.
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