Last week on my Jason Alba blog I wrote a post titled Branding and Understanding.
The idea behind the post is that many people don’t understand what my (or your) brand is, or represents, and includes.
Colena used JibberJobber for seven months during her job search, and then thought she wouldn’t need it after her job search. Then she attended a presentation I did and wrote this:
“I appreciated your presentation, your tips and your enthusiasm. I used Jibber Jobber during my 7 month job search. It is an excellent tool and I enjoyed using it. I started a new job on October 3. Having attended your presentation, I now have a reason to continue using the tool even though my job search has ended.”
People still say “I’ll get on JibberJobber when I lose my job.”
That’s fine… I can’t force anyone to get on it, or to use it. But I do hope that people can understand that part of the service is to help with networking, whether you are in a job search or not. Colena understood that, but only after my presentation.
In the post on the Jason Alba blog I wrote:
But there are others who use JibberJobber as a relationship management tool:
- happily employed professionals who know they need to be ready for a transition, even if the writing isn’t on the wall
- unhappily employed professionals who are worried about a pending transition
- freelancers and contractors who might have a day job, but also have outside clients they need to keep organized
- Authors who are interested in self-marketing (since the publishing companies don’t do it for them), and recognize the value of a relationship management tool
- Small business owners, like myself, as well as professional speakers (like myself!)
- Songwriters, who recognize that getting a hit song depends on your ability to network, as well as your talent,
- and many others…
I have a branding issue. JibberJobber is, many times, defined as a tool for job seekers, even though business owners, entrepreneurs, speakers, sales professionals, etc. are using it as a relationship management tool, because that is what it is.
Do you have a similar branding problem?
Without knowing you, or your situation, I can virtually guarantee that 100% of the people reading this post have a branding problem. Your brand is misconstrued. What you think you are communicating is different than what others are hearing.
One more thought. When I first started marketing JibberJobber I was frustrated that people didn’t get it. These were people who should have gotten it… I whined about it to my coach, Kent Blumberg, and he said something that stuck with me since then. Kent said that if they didn’t understand, it was MY FAULT for not communicating it right.
I agree.
If our audience doesn’t get “it,” or “us,” they are not to blame… we are to blame. We need to rework our communication, or branding, or messaging.