Networking 101 - Brand Yourself

Networking 101 - Brand Yourself

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Dr. Renate Volpe, in her nugget cards entitled “Networking Tips” says:

“Brand yourself.  Find a way of making yourself memorable.”

I know that this is a subject that I have touched on many times before, but perhaps it is time to re-visit it.

You see, I have been going through my database, it’s something that I do on a regular basis, when I send mails out.  This time though it has also been a clean up.  So as I sent the mails out, and they bounced back, I made a concerted effort of deciding whether I should contact the person and ascertain why it is that their mails are bouncing or if it was time to remove that particular person’s information from my database. 

It’s a good thing you know, to ‘clean’ out your database from time to time, to ensure that it is current and up to date.

Now here’s the thing, you see about 70% of the bounced mails belong to people who I have no recollection of.  Looking at the information that I have on them, I can tell you where I met them and even the name of their business or who introduced them to me, but I cannot remember what they look like or even what they do. 

That’s a problem – I know that I have a really bad memory for names and faces, which is why I always add in the additional information about them (where I met them, or who introduced them to me and so on), but not to remember what they do – well that for me is not good.  I usually have even a vague idea what it is that people do, particularly if they have made a really great impression on my mind – which obviously in terms of the people who I cannot remember have not done.

To make a good impression on my mind (or anyone else for that matter) means that the branding has to be particularly strong, especially in the instances where the name of the Company does not give out any kind of clues as to what the person does.  I mean if the name of the Company is ABC Plumbing, it’s pretty certain that the person is a plumber, but if the name of the Company is ABC Consulting, then I have a problem.

So make sure that your branding is very strong, that the way that you present yourself or what it is that you do, makes you stand out in the crowd and not just for a moment, but also for time to come.  So that even people like me, who have a bad memory for names and faces, will not forget what it is that you do.

If I don’t remember what you do, then I cannot refer you or your services and having your name and contact details in my database actually serves no purpose what-so-ever.

For more information on Renate, please visit her website at http://www.drrenatevolpe.co.za

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za