“The Power of Personal PR”

 A colleague of mine asked me, ‘Why is the PR dude, The Spindoctor, writing and talking about networking and building relationships? It’s all good stuff, but I don’t get the connection to a book called “The 3-Minute Networker”.’ That was a very good question, and at the time, I didn’t have a solid answer.

 So I looked at “networking” events. What are they? I mean, break them down to their core elements, and what are we doing? We are creating a message (elevator speech) and conveying it to our intended audience (event attendees) to generate awareness, a buzz, (word-of-mouth) about our product or service. Ladies and gentleman, in its most elementary form, this is PR. So with that bridge now constructed, I introduce you to my concept, “The Power of Personal PR.”

We want to create a buzz via word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is considered one of the most desirable forms of promotion and sometimes can be the most difficult to come by. It raises our credibility by leveraging that of a third-party; a real game changer depending upon who that third-party is. But, where does word-of-mouth start? That’s right, with YOU.

You can sit behind your new desk staring at your new computer and waiting for your new phone to ring, but if you don’t get out there, engage people, and make a point to help other people grown their business…there will be no buzz. I’ve written and spoken about how helping others grow their business helps us grow ours. That’s because people would rather do business with someone who sincerely wants to help them as opposed to someone who simply is trying to sell them something. Help a dozen professionals, be the solution to their problem, and what kind of word-of-mouth do you think you’ll generate about your business and personal brand?

But, “The Power of Personal PR” can work the other way as well. You see, every message you send is received, even if you don’t know it. The message you send will dictate the perception people have of you as a professional, and impact your personal brand accordingly.

Case in point is, Clint McCance, the Midland School District (Arkansas) board member under fire for his anti-gay comments on his Facebook page. I’m not looking to debate his First Amendment rights, but it’s perfectly clear that he’s facing a PR crisis based upon the message he chose to convey to his audience. His personal brand is going to take a huge hit, and there are discussions on whether he should lose his position. What about his other professional interests or his status in the community? The full impact of this situation has yet to be seen.

“The Power of Personal PR” can be the mechanism to catapult your business and personal brand to a new level, but failure to realize how the process works could cause irreparable damage just the same. This may be the first time you’ve heard of the concept, but it’s at the core of everything you do. Be aware of the message you communicate at networking events, office or client meetings, via social media applications (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), as well as phone calls and email. Word-of-mouth is awesome, as long as the words coming out of the mouths of others can help build your business. And that, friends, all starts with the choices YOU make.

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