039 Your Logo Is Not Your Personal Brand
In this episode, we explore the true essence of personal branding beyond just a logo.
Topics Discussed This Episode:
00:00 Introduction to the concept of personal branding beyond logos.
04:00 Exploring the role of logos in corporate and personal branding.
08:00 Alternative elements to represent personal brands (colours, tone, imagery).
12:00 Adapting brand elements for different audiences and purposes.
16:00 How to maintain brand consistency across various platforms.
20:00 Practical tips for building a brand identity that resonates with your audience.
24:00 Wrapping up: Building trust through personal branding and using your logo effectively.
Personal branding is more than a simple logo – it’s a collection of visual and emotional elements that make your brand recognisable and relatable. Tune in to understand how a consistent brand identity, from colours to messaging, can connect with your audience and support your growth.
This episode delves into the importance of developing a personal brand that extends beyond a simple logo. While logos play a role, a complete brand identity encompasses elements like colours, images, and messaging style that represent who you are and appeal to your audience. Personal branding involves creating a consistent look and feel that allows people to connect with you or your business on a deeper level, building recognition and trust over time.
Listeners are encouraged to think about their branding from a holistic perspective – it’s not only about choosing colours or creating graphics but also about aligning those visuals with their values and goals. By doing this, they can better serve and communicate with their audience. If you’re ready to build or refine your personal brand, remember to put yourself at the centre, using elements that reflect who you truly are. Take a first step today by thinking about what your audience needs to see to connect with you!
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Your logo is not your personal brand. What do I mean by this? And what else is there in a brand other than your logo? Welcome to Video, confidence coach, cast with your host, me, Zoi, the video confidence coach, we are going to discuss some a question that I do get a lot in the personal branding space that I am in, when for people who are not necessarily new to business and branding, but for people who are new to the personal branding space, they may have run a business or been in careers for a very long time where they have been, I don't want to say shadowed, but for example, maybe you've worked in corporate for a very long time, and you've always been behind a logo like you and everyone else in your company has always just been behind a usually dull, no offense logo, and that has been the face of your brand, maybe some colors, maybe some flares, but that's essentially it. And moving to a personal brand, especially your own personal brand. It can feel comfortable to rely on a logo to be able to represent your brand entirely. And I'm going to say, and I'm going to caution you against that, not necessarily as a be all and end all, but I'm just saying, when it comes to representing your brand, standing behind a faceless logo can do more detriment than good for your personal brand. So what I mean by that? So when it comes to your personal brand, there is more than just a logo. There is your face, your colors, the words that you use to describe yourself and your brand, and the words that you use to describe your customers, the colors that you use, the additional images that are not just you and your face, but the images of your customers, of your products, of your services, the air and feel, or the graphic design that supports your brand, those are just some of the things that Your Branding is wholly inclusive of rather than just your logo, and also your logo can also just be something that you've hired a graphic designer to put together, usually with very minimal direction, because, of course, you're starting this out for yourself, and you're not entirely sure what you need to do. All you know that is just like, hi, I like these colors, and this is the target market that I'm working with, and that's usually it, and that is okay. Having a logo to start with. It's great. It gives you something to start off with, so then you can work your way up, because you may not have any experience with graphic design, with branding yourself, or with choosing what options to go with. When it comes to, for example, creating a social media post, do I go with the square, the triangle, the circle, like it, can become quite overwhelming if you don't have a direction in mind. But when it comes to your logo, where exactly do you see the logo? So in recommendations? Now, of course, I come from experience with working with corporates and working with corporations where logos are kind of necessary, in the sense that I need to have it on, like any documentation that I give them, I need to have that in any like booklets or any work pages, sometimes on my website or corporate pages of my website, where most of my branding is fairly light and fairly carefree, usually has my face in it somewhere, just so you know that you're talking to the video confidence coach, and lot of bright colors. When it comes to corporates, most of the time they just need the information up front. And I'm like, that is fine. Here is my logo. Here's the information that you need. Boom, boom, boom, done. When I'm working with corporates, I try and streamline that process for them, for other people who maybe are coming to learn about their own personal brand or what options they have say, for example, when it comes to mentoring or coaching for their business or podcasting or live streaming or other things that I do with clients, I like to be able to white to ease them into the process, while also giving them the opportunity to take what information that is best beneficial to them as they go along, reading through or watching the videos or podcasts that we create here. So when it comes to your brand, it's not just a logo. Everything that I've described so far, you can visually see that in your mind. Or if you're the type of people that aren't able to see that visually in your mind, you can kind of get the idea, though, that a brand is not just a logo. You can base your personal brand around a logo, but that's not necessarily going to make it easier to connect with the type of audience that you want to bring on board, because if everything is behind that logo, yes, after a while of communicating with people and reaching out to people, they might be able to see your logo and go. I know who that is, I can put a face to the name. Would it be easier just to show your face and provide your face? Now, of course, when working with a couple of clients that I work with who are faceless in their branding, that is okay. Like I want to stress, you don't have to put your face out there. And of course, with the rising security issues and threats, I totally get it. You do not need to show your face. When it comes to personal branding, everything else can support it, including your logo, but not just your logo. So say, for example, I'm working with a client at the moment who loves to Yap, very much like myself, very much likes to talk, but is not a fan of putting their face out online. So we're looking into virtual avatar options so they actually have some sort of visual representation of their brand when they're communicating via podcasting or video or live streams. And they can also use that as an opportunity to then base their the visual part of their brand on that light, fun, go, Happy, lucky, as we like to call it side of their brand, because that can work cohesively. To say, for example, they like to use a lot of bright colors. They're very much the work that they do is bringing out the inner child within mothers or people who have been very much been catering to their own child's sense of wonder and whimsy, as opposed to their own, and they're feeling a bit burnt out, as you could probably imagine, having that color and liveliness and but also with that adult twang of you know, being able to swear is something that gives people the giddiness and the feeling, and also gives them a chance to then mentor or coach those People with that in mind, because looking at their website, looking at the videos, looking at the fun that they have together, they can see like I want to be a part of that. And even though she may be not showing her face, you can still hear her voice. You can still regularly consume her podcasts. You can see the virtual avatar that she's having a lot of fun with, even though it keeps breaking, and we're currently working on that at the moment, that at the moment. But again, you don't have to show your face to build your personal brand. But again, back to the topic at hand, Zoe, when it comes to logos,
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having a logo for like I mentioned before, corporate situations, or situations where maybe it may be not appropriate to show your face, say, for example, something like a letterhead, or something like an email signature, where you got to make it as small as possible to make sure that you fit within guidelines within either a corporation that you're working with or that you're working alongside, making sure that you give yourself that opportunity of different options. For example, with my branding, I have my logo, the video confidence coach logo with a play button in the middle of the logo. And for example, I get a lot of people who see my logo for the first time and go, Oh, I don't know you had a logo. Zoie, like, yeah, and that's okay, because my logo is clear enough for you to be able to say, oh, what's it for? Video, confidence Coach, I know who that is. So that that look, that ease of recognition is fairly easy. People are able to see the play button, and slowly, over time, they're able to recognize that that play button is, oh, that's that's zo that's Zoe's play button. You can see that that branding is working together again with the everything else around it, the colors, the use of language, the use of facial expressions, the use of effects that are either on the visuals or on any of the graphic design elements, maybe some certain shapes or flares or maybe some particular animations. Again, everything can work cohesively to create a brand. And if you are unfamiliar with that, I would recommend looking at some of your competition collaborators, as I like to say, or some people who are in parallel fields to you. So what I mean by this, for example, you may be a makeup artist, but you, for example, wouldn't exactly be a fashion designer, but the type of clients who come to you think of you in the same sort of field. So look at the work that they're doing. See how every post that they put together has the same fonts, has the same colors, has the same image, uses, even though they're different images, they're definitely part of a whole theme. And ultimately, these decisions make it easier to make decisions when it comes to branding, graphic design or anything like that. For example, I have a business associate of mine who was recently doing some photos, and we were chatting a little bit about how, or what positions do I use? How do I Where do I put my hands when trying to take these professional photos that she is going to use across a whole plethora of things to do with her own personal brand and the brands that she works with. So I said, Okay, again, thinking of the customer in mind. What do the customer needs? The customer wants to be able to see your face cleanly, possibly see a smile, to know that they're welcoming and you are welcoming them into the work that you're doing. And to have both a fun possibly have photos of you laughing, as well as photos of you like showcasing presentations and other things like that, as well as being able to sit there calmly and cool, pretty, but like with a straight back and presenting and leaning forward a little bit again, these type of photos are being used across all of their branding, website, emails, social media, everything that be used for at least the next two years, arguably, so they want to make sure that they've got all of the options covered for their needs. And eventually, when they go through and find and go through those images, they might find that like, hey, the part where I'm sitting there at a desk leaning forward doesn't really look like me, Zo, it doesn't really feel like me, then don't use it. That's okay. Photographers are there to work with you. They have the audience in mind. They have the idea of who you're working with in mind. So they're going to work the photos to to work with that. And of course, they're going to do best to keep you happy as their customers. So again, when it comes to the work that you do and the branding that you have, being able to showcase this not just in your logo, and again, Your logo can be quite boring, can be quite plain. Arguably, I get a lot of people saying, Zo, your logo is quite plain. I'm like, that's fine, because it's there to do a job, and it's there to be able to clearly read video confidence coach, maybe with my little logo of that play button in the corner. So then I can use that in other areas of my website, again, my face and my branding and the energy that I want to bring to my graphical elements most of the time, you know, does the job? I do use the the logo as a way of just making sure that everything is consistent. But again, I don't always use it, and that is okay, because people usually find video confidence coach and where that is useful for them, but again, making sure that your customer is what's in mind. Do you work with a lot of corporates? Do you work with a lot of C suite or a lot of no nonsense? Hey, I'm just here to get the information I need and get the hell out. So utilizing a letterhead logo information on one a four page so you can either print it, email it to them, send it to them, whatever. And if that's what you need, then have a logo. Do not neglect other aspects of your personal brand, but when it comes to the first steps, yep, getting that logo done is something that you can do relatively easily, relatively straightforwardly, and if necessary, create it in Canva for free. I don't usually recommend it, mainly because a graphic designer brings a lot of wealth and knowledge to a project. And if a logo, like I said, if you are working with corporates, and people are going to see the logo a lot more before they see you, then investing in your logo makes sense. Again, it's not the be all and end all. Want to stress that just because you've done one thing does not mean you don't have to do everything else. But the logo is not necessarily going to represent your whole personal brand. It's just going to be the first step for you, especially when working with corporates, when working with, say, other small business owners, or working with the public, then utilizing your face and utilizing, for example, a set of colors, or maybe a couple of shapes, something simple and easy for you to do, then that's going to be a lot easier. I'm going to stress that now it's going to be a lot easier for you to be able to do that, because you don't have to think about, okay, I have to think about what like images I'm using, and I have to think about exactly like, what like Photoshop files or filters I'm using, like, Don't over complicate it for yourself. Being able to have that vision in mind of, okay, this is how I want myself to come across to an audience. Then, yeah, use the same photo of you. Oh, people, sometimes I have had people mention that they can get bored of their own photos, and that's okay. It's not for you. It's for your customer, and especially new ones that come across you. Another element that I come across with branding that a lot of people usually forget is the use of music, music that you have access to now I do recommend using royalty free libraries. Royalty Free is essentially music that is available for you to use in a commercial capacity. So for your business or your personal brand that will not incur a copyright strike will not you know, you know you won't put up a video that you worked really hard on, and it's got two seconds of a Bruno Mars song, and your entire video is put or they run ads to it like way too many ads, arguably, to the point where your video is almost unwatchable. So of course, a lot of these people who own the rest of these songs will not let you use it. Will. Nilly. So in those moments, being able to use something like so the YouTube Audio Library that is royalty free, I highly recommend using that, just because it's already pre vetted stuff. Obviously, it's not going to be your Taylor Swifts, but it is going to get the point across. And say, for example, with the work that I've used, I have my motif of trumpets. They are loud, they are attention grabbing, and they are fun. And I just enjoy listening to trumpet music. So I'm inherently going to use that a lot in the branding and the work that I do. I like electronic So as you've been able to see or listen to in the podcast, in those intros and outros, you would have heard some of that music that I like to use, and I have licensed that, and paid a lot of money for that license, despite what YouTube thinks. But in those ops, in those opportunities, I like to use brass and the visual aspects of trumpets, as well as actually showcasing the music itself, to be able to provide another layer of my personal brand that's not again, not just me and my voice, or the way that I present myself, or the makeup that I put on my face, clown makeup, as some old, sad white men have commented, I like to do that. I like to have fun. I like people to be able to wash my face and go, Wow, there's a lot there. Uh huh. Welcome to my life. So when it comes to your branding, as I mentioned, and as I wrap this podcast episode up for you, your logo should not be the end of your personal brand. It should be the one of many steps regarding a personal brand.
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You should use it as an opportunity in you should use a logo in opportunities, for example, when maybe it's not appropriate to show your face, but I'm going to tell you now, as your business grows, you're going to be more likely to use your face if you're using your face, or you're going to use your avatar or some other visual representation of you and the work that you do, or over your logo. And again, your logo is still going to be there, still going to be useful, but you're going to start using it less and less. And I'm not saying that just because of my own personal experience. I've seen this a lot with other clients that I've worked with on their personal branding journeys, that they start off very much holding on to their logos for dear life, mainly because they paid a lot of money for them, but also it's that feeling of just like, This is me, Zo this entire thing that I've spent a lot of money on is also the thing that is representing me. And as we work to build up their personal brand, the graphical elements, everything coming together, the sound, the look and feel of their brand. And again, the the way that a personal brand works is because it makes it easier for you to make decisions when it comes to putting together a template, putting together a page on your website, or putting together something else, like a social media or an email, you don't have to think about, oh, what images do I use? You've already got a library of images that you've already approved, approved to use, that have the same filter, that had the same styles and work well with your brand, so that the customers, again, customers at the end of the day, are the ones that you're doing this for, know exactly who they're talking to, because it's the same type of colors, same energy, same faces, same emotions being used throughout your brand. And of course, this all happens consistently. You have to consistently use this. Of course, like very much like myself and with customers that I work with, we like to experiment. We like to try things out. And that is okay, just be prepared that you may not get full support from your audience, especially one that you've been growing with for a long time, because they're like, Oh, this is new. This is interesting. I'm scared. Don't worry. It's okay. We're trialing and testing things out. It's not the end of the world. So back yourself up in that respect, but it's okay to keep a consistent look and feel when it comes to the work that you do. And this use of your logo, or branching out beyond your logo, is also very useful in old methods of advertising as well. Is my last note. Here is, I worked with a client a couple of years ago who was doing a lot of billboards and a lot of really big, your big honking billboards that are on the sides of the roads, and people were able to consistently notice that it was him, not because of the logo that was in the bottom left hand corner, despite the fact that everyone could see the logo, people were remembering his face. People remembering the colors that he used. People were remembering he also had, like, wacky facial expressions as well. That's what people remembered and all and especially on billboards when you only have like, I think some sort of statistics said you only had like less than a second to be able to get people to recognize what's going on. That is very useful to build up your personal brand. You brought more people into this. Or because people were able to recognize his consistent personal brand, and people were able to clearly see, so say, for example, one that states, off the top my head is he had a very bright, I think it was either an orange or not a yellow. That's another Australian thing you don't need to worry about. It was very bright background. You would have him. He was dressed up in a butler suit, and he had a cloche that he had above his head, and he had a platter that had the words, had some sort of word that he was pushing at the time that people automatically saw. And people then googled that word, and then he his face showed up like he was one of the first, like top five results. People clicked his face, and then immediately he got a lot more tangible people coming to his business, because he could actually track that and see that. Now, of course, billboards are definitely growing up again in popularity. A lot of old forms of advertising are definitely making a comeback, and that is awesome and good to see. I'm going to say that there's, there's a reason why it worked. Then the only problem is now is that obviously we are very much overrun with advertising. Because, of course we are, and when it comes to your personal branding, it's not necessarily all on all the time. You are allowed to take your feet off the accelerator for a second, but when people find you, if they're able to see it, consistency in the visuals that you use, in the sound that you use, in the words that you say, they are more likely to trust you and inherently buy from you. Okay, that's all that we're doing here, is to build up trust so people can buy from you. And hopefully I thank you so much for listening to me and building trust with me. Hopefully, as I've been ranting throughout this podcast episode today, if you are interested in having a chat with me or picking my brain, you can also book in those sessions with me, either mentoring or coaching at Vcc dot training. You can find more information on the home page as I'm building it right now, I look forward to seeing, hopefully you there and building a personal brand with me. So the video, confidence coach, enjoy The rest of Your Week. You
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G'day, welcome to video, confidence coach, cast, and Today, we're going to discuss professionalism in your networking. That may seem like an obvious question. Zoe, well, not even a question, more of a statement, but I'm going to tell you now there are so many people who run very large companies who aren't professional, and we're going to follow a story that I had the interesting time to witness late last year, not necessarily in your networking opportunities, but this story should hopefully enlighten you on how other people may view some of your behaviors. Welcome to the video, confidence coach, cast with me. Your host, Zoe the video, confidence coach. I help with personal branding, growing it through the power of video for women and non binary folk throughout Australia, I need to work on my elevator pitch of it. So today I wanted to delve into a topic that I very much enjoy, that is not necessarily a topic that I host. Is, for example, I run, you know, maybe some events once or twice a year regarding the networking topic. It's a topic that I hold very dear to my heart, because I network realistically once a week on average, and previous to the start of the pandemic, I did this realistically. About two to three times a week. I do not recommend that you burn out rather quick, but I've networked a lot in my business career so far, and I intend to do that throughout the rest of my business career, because networking is very important, as the saying goes. It's not what you know, it's who you know, and especially in localized or regional communities, kind of like Geelong, I say kind of like because we're not very regional, but we still have that mentality. It's always good to network, and it's always the best thing to network with other people, especially like minded people. I always found myself growing up that I was able to go into a networking event with a lot of confidence and a lot of stress off my shoulders, because I know we were here to talk about business, to talk about your business, to talk about my business, and all the things that come into in clutch with that. When attending family events, I didn't exactly know what to talk about, because life, I guess. But at a networking event, we can talk about business, and I can definitely do that. Definitely do that. Got a lot of practice with it. So I wanted to start off with a story today about a grumpy comedian from Melbourne. And this may seem a bit strange, Zo, but bear with me. So last year, I attended a local comedy festival, the Geelong Comedy Festival. It was its first year running, and I attended an event late on a Saturday night with a partner of mine, and we were enjoying this, I think, not a burlesque show, per se, but it was a show of very many, many, many different acts. And the event was already running 40 minutes past due, which was a bit of a worry, but it was also a case of, like, showbiz stuff happens. It's okay. We're here for a laugh. We're here to be entertained. And we were instructed at the start of the event that, hey, just so you know, there has been some major train delays from Melbourne. Today, we're doing our best to get all the acts that we're going to come and perform tonight. Most of them are from Melbourne, and they're going to come as they trickle down. But there may be an opportunity that we may not have. Everyone that we want on board. Please stick with us as we, you know, continue the show on regardless. The show must go on and all that. And of course, this small crowd that I was in was like, Yeah, sure. Like, you know, we're here to be entertained. We understand that things happen. And yeah, we totally get it. So we're there again, being supportive as we can to win during this event. So we saw great magical acts, great burlesque acts, some really fun, enjoyable opportunities of just laughter. And, you know, really had a good night, essentially. And there was, like, you know, fire twirling without the fire, because it was indoors, so it was like baton twirling. And it was really enjoyable to watch and to see the last comedian, however, was interesting. So this gentleman came on, rocked on, like, there was a lot of like, you know, drum rolls and a lot of excitement, and he started talking. And his type of comedy is not exactly my cup of tea. He is very much, he was very much a grumbly, angry comedian, which for some people, sure works for them. Go ahead, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. So I'm like, okay, you know, hopefully this 10 minutes moves quickly. That's fine. He proceeded to talk, so he had a 10 minute set. So I think he had a five minute set, but it ended up being 10 minutes, and he spent the entire time talking about the Melbourne trains. And it was like, okay, that's, you know that's unfortunate for you, mate, but understanding that, like, you know, we're in Geelong, like you've, you've come down to us, and is this your material like to talk about the, you know, state of the public transport sector that we all use in some capacity? And, okay, and then he quickly turned from talking about the trains for about three to four minutes to the audience, he mentioned a few things about, you know, different suburbs around Geelong, which was, you know, haha, kind of funny. You know, there were some, you know, stereotypes around the type of people in Geelong, sure. Haha, sure. Why not mate? It's fine. But then he started getting angry and aggressive, more angry and aggressive that he already was when he first came into the set that he had, and he started making some pretty offensive comments. And it's like, okay, sure, if that's what you do. Fine. Cool. Again. Now, of course, most there was a fair few people in the audience who just started booing and hissing, because it's like, are you supposed to be the villain in this scenario where you're entertaining us, hopefully, supposedly? And then he started getting quite agitated and quite angry at the audience for having a reaction. That wasn't just laughter. And then proceeded to point people out and comment on their attire, and again, not in a positive way, but a very aggressive way, and started blaming the audience on his poor performance, about how hungry he was, how flustered he was, and blaming us for that, and we're all sitting here being like, not mate, you you came in, you came onto the stage like this. This was all you mate. And during the end of that, you know, at the during the end of his set, he then pointed to me at the back. And at the time, I was wearing a mask, because even though I was vaccinated, I was still on and off fairly sick due to long COVID And a couple of other situations, and I was instructed for a very long time to continue wearing mask. I do not wear a mask anymore because I am just honestly sick and tired, and it just impacts what I need to do. There's a whole other story about that, but ultimately, I was there with a mask in this room, and me and about three other people, I think, were wearing masks. He pointed at me and commented about the mask. And because this was around Halloween time and there were some people having Halloween parties, I thought, Oh, the bar at the back, there must be people wearing Halloween masks at the bar at the back of the venue. Okay, I will turn around and have a look. And then he proceeded to double down, saying, I thought, you know, I thought you were a man, okay. Haha. Is that funny? So again, the whole diatribe that I making of this. And of course, by the end of it, the atmosphere in the room became incredibly tense, incredibly agitated people, a couple of people even left at that point. And because me and my partner knew that the show wasn't going to be over yet, we were like, okay, he's gonna stop eventually, right? All in all, this was a fairly negative experience, and it was quite overwhelming. And despite the event that this same event, the same festival. I mean, I attended a really inspiring, you know, story about a trans individual and the comedy around that, and it was so nice to hear their story and this again from the same Festival, and then attending this event, like, two or three days later, and getting this. So now, of course, this entire story, as you can probably imagine, I left that event quite overwhelmed, but also just quite frustrated. Of why did I invest my time into this? Why did I invest my money into this? And, you know, so there were some of the acts that were really good, but then that was an incredibly negative and also, you know, terrifying experience. I'm in a room full of strangers, and him being here, him the one again, man with a microphone, the one being silenced is the one that has the floor interesting. The
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reason that I bring that up and how this story even connects with networking, Zoe, and apologize if I brought your mood down a tad. I'm going to tell you now that this type of mentality I have seen so often at networking events, it is ridiculous. I have seen this type of mentality of I'm angry, therefore I'm going to make you angry so much in professional networking spaces, and not just at networking events, be them in personal virtual but at Coffee meetups, at connections where you're supposed to be there to talk about your business, about your Clients, about referrals you can possibly give each other, and you come in with the negativity of 1000 sons. For what benefit you are there to serve? You are there at this networking event, at this one on one, what have you? You are there to serve. And you can't do that if you are just angry, if you are just aggressive, if you are blaming everyone around you for a problem that you are facing. Now, of course, at networking events, especially with people that you know very well, it is okay to bitch and moan. It is okay to gossip a bit. That is okay. You're there with people that you know, but don't do that with new people. Don't do that with people that you haven't met before and don't entirely know their vibe. It's like you know going on a first date with someone, I would not expect a first date with someone to go through someone's life traumas. Sure you can talk about their past, about things that they've experienced, sure, that's normal human interaction, but when you start using that as the opportunity to vent about everything in your life with someone you've only just met, that can be a bit worrisome. Now, of course, there are always exceptions. To the rule, as there always are. But at networking events, you are there to serve the people around you. You are there to get referrals of other business owners, and you are there to learn and grow yourself and your community and your network. That is what you are there for. You are not there to be angry and aggressive. And I say that to the white men in the room when it comes to networking, leaving your personal problems at the door and doing your best to network with focus and intention, or representing your business positively should be your goal at networking events. And as I said, there is always exceptions to the rule, but do your best to grow your community in a positive way. Yes, things may not be positive right here in this moment, but you're attending a networking event, so hopefully you're doing it with intention, and not just there because you have to or, for example, if, say, for example, if something has happened to you or to your family or to your staff or to your business at all, maybe attending a networking event shouldn't be high on your priority list. Maybe focusing on what you need to focus on may be the priority, and that is okay if you need to do that, sure, but do not blame other people. In the room for your business not succeeding the way you want it to, and that's okay. Not everything is going to be your fault, but it's not the fault of the people in the room who have come there to network with you. Apologies if that sounds a little bit dig at you. I'm not saying that to you, dear listener or Dear watcher. I'm not saying that directly to you. I'm just saying that to if you ever come across people like this in your business journey, in your networking journey, there are going to be people like this. They don't leave their troubles at the doors and they're just going to be angry and aggressive or bring down the entire mood of a conversation, and that's okay. You know, to avoid those people in future, you know to be like, Okay, I'm not going to get in a conversation with you there. For example, there was one person who I am actually good connections with. Now, we regularly speak on a regular basis, but when I first met them, they not doing well in their personal life, and they every conversation they had with me would just bring down the mood so drastically and so aggressively, to the point where it was like this second or third time that we talked, and they would see me at an event and go straight for me. And of course I would be like, hey, welcoming, glad to chat, happy to chat with you. I'm going to go this way now. But of course they would still want my attention and still want to talk about things. And I had to say, point black to them, mate. This is a business event. Let's talk business. And like I pointed to a couple of other people in the room, saying, hey, they your reputation has got out rather quickly about being negative, about being, you know, not being positive. If it's not a good space for you to network right now, do not network. And of course, again, I'm saying this to a full grown man in front of me at a busy networking event, and he got a bit dejected. He took it head to heart. He walked out into his car, and honestly, I didn't expect him to see him again. And then he came back about 1020, minutes later, during the speeches or presentation part of the event, and he apologized to me. He said sorry, and endeavor to do better. And he did his actions actually reflected what he said he would do, and now we are good business associates. I refer to him. He refers to me like we're on good terms. Now, yes, there was a little bit of a hard conversation that we had to have about, not necessarily energy levels or being positive or toxic positivity. It was more just your personal life is your personal life. You're here to discuss business and network with other business individuals do that. So one thing that I have is a nice rule of thumb for a lot of the events that I happen, and if you are listening to the podcast, there was a podcast that we ran that may come out soon or has already come out of called Lessons Learned from places you are not supposed to be. And I discussed about my rule of thumb when it comes to training events, that if it's halfway through and I haven't gotten anything out of it, then this isn't for me, and I'm going to head out, or I'm going to make my excuses and leave, or just, you know, if it's a virtual event, just peace out, and that is okay. Your time is your your time is precious, and that is okay. And that's the same with networking events. That, for example, halfway through the networking event, if you have not reached, and I want to say, a goal, but if you haven't spoken to anyone who could be actively be a lead, or anyone that you know you're going to follow up with. Pathway through the event. Maybe this event is not for you. Maybe you know if you're not enjoying yourself, if you're finding that you're being like left out of conversations, or if it's getting to the point where, okay, halfway through the event, the people that I've spoken to are, you know, not the right people for me. And there's no one in this room that I could realistically, you know, communicate with. Okay, then I'm just going to leave them, say my goodbyes and head out. And then, you know, not to attend the networking group or event or type of event in the future. Now, of course, do not, you know, completely cast off. For example, if you had a bad experience during networking. Do not cast off networking entirely, because there is so many businesses, so many in, you know, times in my business where I haven't had a good networking experience. So I just gave a break for a week, for a month, however long, however long time I needed. And then I got back on the horse, and I got three clients off the bat. And of course, that's not necessarily going to happen for you, because, of course, I can't replicate my own experiences with you. But networking is a very important. Building your network, as a business owner, is so important to be able to rely on other professionals inside your space, outside your space to be able to get things done, to be able to, for example, I have so many clients coming to me, being like, hey, Zo, I need this. And I go, Cool, go to my little online Rolodex. Cool. This is the person for you. Here. Is the contact details. Boom, done. This is business, baby. So when you are as a networking professional, or as a professional in as a business owner or building a personal brand, do your best to be flexible and to be calm and do your best to put them forward, to put you know the person that you're talking to forward, doing your best to listening and listen to them, and, you know, help in any way that you can serve them like you would a client, because the people that you serve at these networking events are going to be the ones to give you leads and referrals and potentially and be your clients in the future. I know that's something that I have definitely run into a lot. There's, I want to say good 50% of my clients at the moment are people that I networked with in the past. I helped them, I served them, I provided them some useful next steps, whatever we did at the conversations or networking events that we had, and then boom. You know, two, three years later, five years later, think, seven years later, in one case, they become my clients, and they become my consistent retainer clients as well, because I am what I say, I put my best foot forward, and my personal brand is fairly consistent when it comes to networking events and doing my best to help the people that I am there to network with,
1:17:59
and having that confidence and professionalism is key when you're trying to be a thought leader in your industry, if you are trying to build your personal brand, if you are trying to be the person who knows what you're talking about in your particular niche or value sector, or like, whatever you're trying to do with the work that you're trying to do in your business or your personal brand, show up, be there, help people who are in front of you, and network as efficiently as you can by helping the people in front of you. So thank you so much for listening to today's episode of the video confidence coach cast. I understand that it was probably a bit of a rambly one, but I thank you all the same. Hopefully you will not be like an angry white male comedian, and you can do your best to feel better about the situation. If you are interested in networking, or if you're interested in attending any of my trainings or receiving any mentorship regarding networking in a small town, feel free to reach out to me at Vcc dot training, where you could find out all my updates and information about mentoring, because that's one of the services I provide. Or we can just book a 15 minute chat and have a good chat about networking and next things that we can do to better work ourselves in zo or in the small regional town that you are located in. I look forward to hearing more from you.
The above episode description and transcript were generated with ai.
Who is your host?
Zoë Wood, your Video Confidence Coach connects the dots between personal branding and video marketing. Helping women and non-binary folk in small business, find their way in the world of marketing their passion without the energy drain.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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