My favorite personal brand – Daddy!

We all try to position ourselves as a personal brand. Whether we want to be known as a marketing strategist, a social media expert, a pastor, a though-leader, a writer, a banker, a baker or a candlestick maker. Especially with the hub-bub around social media groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, everyone is constantly trying to make a name for themselves in some area of expertise.

Here’s a charge to all fathers out there. Make your brand, Daddy, your highest priority!

Ever notice when men gather together, especially in a professional environment, they are always sizing each other up? Usually the first question is something such as, “what do you do?”, or “tell me a little about yourself”.

If you want to make the conversation stop immediately try answering this way – “I’m a Daddy. During my week days I am also an online marketing strategist.” Revel in their surprise. Say it with pride. Heck, it might even make their conversation with you more memorable.

I love being a Dad. It’s an awesome responsibility and the most fulfilling role I’ve ever had to serve. It’s not easy. Being the Dad I want to be requires a conscious plan for building the young men I want my boys to become. Yes, they absolutely follow their fathers footsteps. Good and bad. The personal brand Daddy is not going to happen by accident. It requires a lot of effort (like the shaping of any other brand).

Life speaker and pastor Dr. David Foster said, “Anyone can be a father; it takes a manly man to be a daddy!”

Right on Dr. Dave!

Happy Father’s Day to all you Daddy’s!

Fish Where the Fish Are

An old lesson learned again.

I went fishing last weekend for six hours in the middle of the day. I caught nothing. My 5-year-old son joined us late in the day (dinner time) and he immediately caught his first fish (and two others moments later). Lesson learned? Sure, go ahead. I am not a good fisherman. What else? Fish where the fish are. Sounds like an age-old marketing lesson to me.

There are so many bloggers, white papers, analyst, ad agencies and consultants all telling us how to better understand the emerging online marketing world. Each one has a secret for how to balance traditional advertising and the new digital media. Maybe the most fundamental rule of marketing has never changed – fish where the fish are. Today over 66.2% of all US consumers are online and 1 out of 3 is on Facebook. Over 56% of all leisure travelers are now making reservations online. If you are in the travel industry, your web site is more than a brochure of amenities; it’s now your visitor center!

So the basic rule of marketing is alive and well. Fish where the fish are. Don’t be afraid to go there or worry if it’s a trend or not. There once was a time the fish were only watching three TV channels. Tomorrow the fish may be on the moon. If so, we will all be exploring ways to market there too. I’ll settle for the online world today.