Crossposting

by BusinessEditor's Pick

Exposure

Crossposting is when a piece of content from one person appears on another person’s platform. This kind of posting can be really valuable for both the audiences and platforms involved.

The most seemingly obvious reason for the importance of cross posting is “exposure.” If you post on someone else’s platform you’re exposing your work to another person’s audience and you can get some of your audience to become your audience. The same is true for someone posting on your wall.

A group of people viewed from behind all with their arms around each other sitting on a ledge

Bringing audiences together can benefit everyone.

Bringing Value

Although exposure to a new audience can be valuable, I think the most important part of crossposting is bringing value to each audience.

So, if you’re cross posting on someone else’s platform and you bring value to that audience, you’ve brought a benefit to not only that audience, but also the platform you’re posting on.

The same is true when someone posts on your platform. If they’re bringing value to your audience, you both you and your audience benefit.

Crossposting And Providing Value In Practice

Recently, I’ve posted content from Deaftone Digital on my website, and had my own content featured on the Leave Law Behind blog. In both cases, there was value provided and received in a reciprocal manner, which is a win-win-win. The audience of all three platforms received value, and so did the platforms themselves.

 

Leave Law Behind Crosspost - Giving And Gaining Value

For Leave Law Behind, I wrote an article about why lawyers want to leave law. Often lawyers know that they are unhappy practicing law, but have a difficult time identifying why this is so. Once they have identified why being a lawyer is making them miserable, they can take the steps to leave law, which is exactly the service that Leave Law Behind provides.

My post provides value to the LLB audience by helping them identify why they are unhappy practicing law, and it provides value to the platform it is posted on by helping guide people toward retaining that platform’s services. Finally, Stand Out Professional Branding is benefited by exposure to Leave Law Behind’s audience.

DeafTone Digital Crosspost - Giving and Gaining Value

Deaftone Digital recently shared what their process of applying business values looked like on this platform. And they used a framework provided on Stand Out Professional Branding’s website to do so. It was hugely beneficial to Stand Out to have a real brand be willing demonstrate, in their own words, what it looks like to implement branding methodology that Stand Out sells.

Testimonials like this help drive business as much as anything else. And finally, DeafTone Digital benefited by gaining exposure to Stand Out’s audience. Another win-win-win.

Conclusion

Crossposting can be very beneficial for brands. But, instead of focusing on the exposure to be gained, focus on the value to be given when you’re providing content.

If you do that, you put your foot forward in the best way possible to a new audience, establish long lasting relationships with other businesses, and you will benefit from these things the most in the long term.

I Know What I’m Talking About So You Should Hire Me To Build Your Brand

by BusinessBusiness and Job SeekerHow To Build A BrandJob Seeker

My Prediction Came True, Quickly. It Shows Why You Need A Personal Brand

In April 2020, I saw a video of an app developer called Kilo Loco I follow on YouTube saying he’d been laid off. And I wrote an article here saying that I was sure he’d get a job soon because his personal brand and large following means he has career security. 

It turns out I was right and I know what I’m talking about when I say building a personal brand results in career security (so, you should probably get started building a your personal or business brand with Stand Out Professional Branding today, eh?)

Here’s a timeline of those events:

March 27, 2020: Kilo Loco posts on YouTube about his firing.

April 10th, 2020: I post about how his personal brand would help him get another job.

May 11th, 2020: Kilo Loco posts on YouTube about getting another job.

Proof That I Know What I'm Talking About

I Know What I'm Talking About And Can Help You Build A Personal Brand

Stand Out Professional Branding exists to help people and businesses build their brands to develop career security.

Here’s how that looks in practice:

  1. Develop a personal brand by providing value consistently over social media and in real life, over a long period of time to make connections with large groups of people. I’ve got lots of free guidance for how to do this in the articles on this website.
  2. There is no step 2.

Developing A Brand On Your Own Is Difficult, But Career Security Is Worth It.

I started Stand Out Professional Branding because I know what it’s like to have career insecurity and don’t want anyone else to go through that nightmare. I graduated from college into the financial crisis of 2008, which was no picnic. Since then I’ve spent the last decade+ learning how business, digital marketing, and branding work and how to leverage them effectively.

When the job market started tanking again recently because of the Covid crisis, I knew I had to do something so that job seekers wouldn’t go through what I did in 2008. 

To get started building your personal brand and and gaining career security with Stand Out Professional Branding, email us at: [email protected] or fill out our contact form here and we will get back to you ASAP.

DeafTone Digital: Connecting Values In Practice

by BusinessHow To Build A Brand

Making Connections

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to connect with lots of different people in the digital space. And for me, the important part of connecting professionally is providing value. Recently I connected with the founder of DeafTone Digital over the idea of connecting your values to your messaging. He looked through some of the articles on this site about the subject and then wrote a piece for his blog on his process connecting his values to his messaging. I think this is a terrific example of why connecting your values to your messaging can be good for your business. I present to you that piece in its entirety:

Connecting My Values

By DeafTone Digital

Figuring This Out Was Enlightening And Fun. 

When Stand Out Professional Branding first approached me about doing some contributions for the website specifically on the subject of connecting my values to my brand, I wasn’t entirely sure of what my values were to begin with. The irony is that I have helped several businesses define this very question and create their own set of values and mission statements. I have even helped my local fraternity chapter with the same.

To be honest, I didn’t really know where to start when it came to my own brand. Even though I have done this for several other businesses, I have never done it for my own brand, and in a way I felt like I had come too far. Then I followed West Kramer’s guide on the Stand Out website and voila, a set of values and a mission statement. 

As West puts it, 

“to figure out your values, mission statement, and slogan, start with the question: why do I want to help people? Once you have an answer to that, the mission statement and slogan will flow from the values you decide on naturally.”

So I did that, and here is what I came up with.

Why? 

I love Hip Hop and music in general, but the more music I come across outside the mainstream, the more I am disappointed with the marketing efforts. I really think most artists need some kind of guidance. A lot of good talent goes to waste because it is not properly promoted. 

DeafTone Digital Marketing seeks to improve the quality of marketing in hip hop, music in general, sole proprietorships and small corporations. 

See, I’m a big fan of corporate marketing. I love coming across big, national ad campaigns or social media campaigns. It feels like “the pros” to me… kind of like the NFL of Marketing, in a way. So I want to bring that corporate feel to the smaller businesses. 

For some reason, it seems like the smaller the business, the worse the marketing quality is (except for some obvious marketing experts, and creative businesses). And I can totally understand since small business owners are usually swamped with enormous piles of workload and rarely have time to sit down and think of marketing strategies. 

The same is probably true for musicians and artists. They might be so busy with their own craft that they pay little to no attention to learning to promote. 

That’s Why Went Into Marketing. 

When I first started in marketing, I was just lucky to land a pretty cool, fun job. I graduated high school with the idea that I was going to be a writer and a rap artist. It’s a weird combination, I know, but it made sense in my head. 

A friend of mine suggested I became an expert in a subject an write about that instead of pursuing a degree in English to be a “writer.”

I had always had a knack for sales and working in an advertising agency immediately after high school introduced me to a world I would soon fall in love with. I decided to become an expert at sales and marketing and write about that. 

But My Passion For Hip Hop And Music In General Never Ceased. 

As I climbed through the ranks in marketing, I always kept well in touch with my artist friends, and when a really close friend of mine, Dcplina, released his own album and joined a small independent label, I wasted no time in helping him and giving him advice. 

That lead to Dc introducing me to Matt M (Junkroom Music), and I suddenly became an authority locally in South Texas Hip Hop Marketing. Since then I’ve worked with other artists including Jay Barr (noimnotwhite), and Midnight Militia. 

When COVID-19 hit, I was laid off from a director position I held at a dentist firm. Luckily I was prepared mentally for this. I quickly sprang into action and started my blog for covid entrepreneurs and hip hop artists. 

This pandemic was a silent blessing in disguise for me. It pushed me to go all-in and pursue what I’ve always thought I’d be great at… being a writer but like my friend suggested as an expert in a field. 

Slogan: 
“Seriously Fun Marketing.”

The slogan I came up with, I already had for quite a while actually. When I first started my rap career, I wanted to stand out and be different. I pushed every button I could just to get attention. I became more of a troll than a serious artist, and somehow that fueled me. 

So I went more, and more ridiculous every time just to see what I could get away with. Then I realized the more ridiculous, the better… so I went “8 Mile” and started making fun of myself, and that’s when things started to really pop. 

In the movie 8 Mile, Eminem’s character wins a rap battle by dissing himself leaving his opponent with nothing to say, and that is kind of what I was going for when I came up with my rap slogan, “I’m serious about being a joke”

It was a ridiculously fun coincidence when I worked at Vector Marketing for a couple years and THEIR slogan is “Work should be fun, seriously.” 

It seemed like a no-brainer to use “Seriously Fun Marketing” as my slogan.

In Conclusion.

I came up with my first set of values, mission statement, and slogan. This is a process I have helped many businesses do, but had never done for myself. Now that I have this, it will narrow down all my targets and I will be able to get more of that sniper action I’m focusing on lately.

Click the image below to listen to my podcast:

DeafTone Podcast

Branding Analysis: Magic Spoon

by Branding AnalysisBusiness

Today I challenged myself to reverse engineer the values of the first company that advertised to me on Instagram. I did this because I wanted to show how using values in advertising and branding makes both so much more effective.

 

Magic Spoon was the first company to advertise on my Instagram feed (@standoutprofessionalbranding). So, hello, Magic Spoon!

Magic Spoon's Branding

Clicking their video took me to the landing page I screen-shot below. Essentially all of their branding revolves around the notion of communicating “we’re the best” to the consumer. Best taste. Best ingredients. Etc…

Problems With Magic Spoon's Branding

The problem with this kind of advertising is that it doesn’t give you an actual reason to purchase this product. Listing the reasons a product is the best isn’t a message that resonates with consumers very well, because it doesn’t connect buying their product with any kind of a feeling.

How To Brand Food So That It Resonates With Consumers

When it comes to taste, “the best” is entirely subjective. Fine restaurants don’t advertise themselves as being “the best” or giving you a list of all their good ingredients. They advertise by showing you why going there is essentially a flex. It’s a status symbol. People go because they want people around them to know that they can spend that kind of money, or because they want to commemorate a special occasion.

 

The marketing of kids’ breakfast cereals is actually another a good example of how to resonate with your consumers in action. Commercial cereals generally don’t advertise the ingredients of their cereal; except as maybe a footnote to placate the parents. They advertise by showing a big cartoon and hoping that the cartoon they show resonates with the target audience.

I remember asking my parents to buy Frosted Flakes because their cartoon mascot had that big booming voice, so he sounded trust-worthy, and other kids in the commercials seemed to be enjoying eating that cereal. Connecting with me and millions of other children doesn’t take much more than giving us a feeling that resonates with us.

 

Going to a nice restaurant gives you the feeling that you’re showing off how much money you have. Getting cereal with a cartoon mascot gives you the feeling that you’re trusting a mascot and the experience of other kids. Communicating these messages to their customers is how these food providers connect with their customers in a meaningful way.

Conclusion and Take-Aways For Magic Spoon

Conclusion

The problem with Magic Spoon advertising by saying “we’ve got the best ingredients,” is that there is nothing for the audience to identify with in an advertisement like that. To resonate with consumers you need to give them something to connect with. Some adults want to show off their money. Children want to be accepted by the group. The ingredients in those foods are irrelevant in both cases; the message that you can show off your money or be accepted by a group does is what resonates with branding for food.

 

Elegant restaurants often don’t have the best food. And children’s cereals all sell what is essentially the same repackaged high-fructose corn syrup. But both thrive because they tie the purchase of their product to a value in the mind of the consumer.

How To Fix Magic Spoon's Branding

What I think Magic Spoon should be doing is focusing their branding on why you’d want these terrific, healthy ingredients. They should talk about how, if you buy their cereal, you’ll be helping your kids live healthier, happier lives. Everyone wants their kids to live healthy, happy lives, so that’s a concept that will be easy for the cereal buying audience to identify with and connect to meaningfully.

 

They should replace their lists of ingredients with pictures of kids doing healthy kid stuff, like playing sports, graduating elementary school, and passing sight exams at the doctor’s office enthusiastically. This way the notion of happy, healthy kids is tied to eating the cereal in the mind of the parent buying the cereal.

Reverse Engineering Values

by Business

Reverse Engineering Values In Real Life

When a company communicates its values to the customer or client successfully, or when the job seeker communicates their values to the company they’re applying to successfully, the act of doing business becomes an expression of values rather than a transaction. You’re buying a Mac computer to show that you’re an original thinker. A company is hiring you because you’ve established yourself as someone who aligns with their corporate values and has a reputation for doing so.

So, what does it look like when a company expresses its values in real life? Let’s do some reverse engineering of the values of the American football team, The Oakland Raiders. Let’s start with the logo, because this embodies the team and is present across all of their communications to their fans.

The logo has weapons in the background, it has a guy with an eyepatch, and the helmet he’s wearing is old-school NFL. This team is known for being rough and rumble and aggressive. When you buy Raiders gear, or a ticket to a Raiders game, you’re buying an aggressive, passionate image, with cultural associations to gang culture. By buying Raiders gear, you’re being rebellious, and that’s the value that the organization embodies.

Reverse Engineering Values

This football team has successfully managed to make buying their gear into an expression of values, not a transaction. And that carries benefits of loyalty and appreciation that simply do not result from transactions.

"You never hear someone say, 'I'm kinda a Raider fan.' It's either all the way, with great passion being a fan, or it's nothing. That's what being a Raider fan is." .
Reverse Engineering Values
-John Madden
Coached the Raiders to their win in Super Bowl XI

Reverse Engineering Values Put To Use

People get passionate about their values. It drive people to feel loyalty to a football team, and toward brands. Use your values to connect with people and build that loyalty within your network while you’re providing value for them. 

Reverse engineering values can show you how successful brands have communicated their message effectively. If you want to drive more customer loyalty, you can do so through reverse engineering the values of a competitor and trying some of what makes them successful on your brand.

How Does A Company Express Its Values Effectively?

by BusinessTrending

Values-based marketing drives successful businesses because it results in relationships with customers that are based on purchases being driven by an expression of values, not soulless transactions. This strategy is so potent that it can drive the success of an inferior product. So, how does a company express its values effectively? What does this look like in practice?

How Does A Company Express Its Values Effectively?

Apple

Many Apple phones are objectively worse machines than Android phones (Apple phones have worse cameras, are slower, and are inferior machines based on many other technical measures). 

So, why is Apple one of, if not the biggest company in the world? It’s because through its marketing, Apple has successfully tied the purchase of their product to the exercise of a value in the mind of their consumers.

The “Think different” campaign from Apple featured different celebrities from history that did something remarkable. These celebrities had to “think different” in order to achieve what they did. Albert Einstein had to invent a whole bunch of Physics. Amelia Earhart had to be daring enough to attempt a dangerous journey. And, according to Apple’s marketing, by purchasing an Apple computer you would be thinking differently in the same way that Einstein and Earhart did. 

Purchasing an Apple computer was not an exchange of money for a product, purchasing an Apple computer was a statement of values. By creating this connection in their customer’s minds with this advertising campaign, Apple showed how a company can express its values effectively.

How Does A Company Express Its Values Effectively?How Does A Company Express Its Values Effectively?

Corona Beer

Objectively, Corona is a terrible beer. It has no taste, it goes flat quickly, and it needs a lime to have any flavor whatsoever.

That being said, their marketing is nearly perfect. Corona is one of the most popular brands in the United States. So, how did this objectively sub-par product become so popular? It’s because they connect the purchase of their product to the expression of a value in the mind of the consumer through their marketing.

You buy a Corona beer because their marketing has successfully connected the value of relaxation with buying their beer through their slogan “Find your beach” and beach-themed visual imagery.  Wherever you are, buying a Corona makes you feel like you’re relaxing.

Conclusion

You do not need to be a massive corporation with dedicated teams of marketing professionals to use values-based marketing to develop values-based relationships with your clients or customers.

You just need to identify what values drive you and then put those values into your advertising effectively. If done successfully, you’ll develop the same kind of brand loyalty you see between large companies and their customers.

I put together some prompts for beginning that thought process here.

Business Relationships Are Similar To Romantic Relationships

by BusinessBusiness and Job SeekerJob Seeker

How Business Relationships Are Similar To Romantic Relationships

Business relationships are similar to romantic relationships. When either are established based on shared values, they are more durable, inspire greater loyalty, and last longer.

…express your values and provide the other party with value…

If you’re seeking to establish a relationship in either business or romance, you need to both express your values and provide the other party with value to initiate that process successfully.

Communicated Values

When I used to do online dating, I communicated my values in my profile through a funny re-imagining of the lyrics to “Baby Got Back.” The values I expressed with that were that I wanted intelligence in my partner.

Sharing My Value

The value I provided was humor; because I made up a funny remix of a song, I would probably be a fun person to go on a date with (another value I provided was in my profile picture above; I’ve got an adorable dog that you might get to see if you went on a date with me).

Because I expressed my values and communicated value, I was constantly getting reactions like the one you see below.

  • My bumble online dating profile
  • A nice message I got because of that profile.
Thanks, Sarah!

By putting my values out there, I was able to establish human connections IRL easily and frequently. I stood out from the crowd, and was able to create the relationships I wanted to create.

Business relationships are similar to romantic relationships. Both are stronger when established based on values. So, establishing your business relationships through the sharing of values and the providing of value like the above example in online dating should be the goal of your marketing. Each post you make from now on should be focused on both expressing your value, and communicating your values.

How Do You Define Your Business Values?

by BusinessEditor's Pick

Your business’s values are the umbrella under which you base all of your communications. As such, you have to define your business values before you start using them. A good example of how umbrella concept works in action is Nike. Their “Just Do It” slogan informs all of their communications. If “Just Do It” isn’t actually in one of their ads, it’s influencing the content.

So, the first thing you need to do when you’re trying to use values in your business communications is identify your values. I’ve prepared some questions below to help you start with that process.

Define Your Business Values

Questions For Defining Your Business Values

  • What values currently drive your business?
  • Why did you start your business?
  • What values do you want to be driving your business?
  • What values are your customers currently expressing by buying your product? 
  • Who is the intended recipient of your business’s services?
  • Identify a successful rival or competitor providing the same or similar good/service that you do. What value is a person expressing by purchasing that rival’s good/service? How has that rival successfully communicated that value to their customers?
  • How are you connecting those values and the purchase of your product in the mind of the customer with your marketing? Are you doing this at all?
  • When your customer purchases your product/service, what do you want them to be thinking?
Define Your Business Values

Next Steps

Once you’ve taken the time to define your business values, you need to synthesize a mission statement and a slogan from them. These will be what you use in your communications. But the first step in this process is defining your values so that you can use them.

I can help you develop and then implement that process effectively if you hire me to do so here.

Communicating Your Values Is The Foundation Of Career Security

by BusinessBusiness and Job SeekerFeaturedJob Seeker

Values Are The Single Most Important Part Of Gaining Career Security.

Communicating your Values is the foundation of career security. And expressing your values consistently over time is one part of how you build your network and how you create secure business relationships. If someone is spending money with or on you because they feel it is an expression of their values, rather than a transaction, you will have created a relationship that is based on those shared values.

If someone is spending money with or on you because they feel it is an expression of their values, rather than a transaction, you will have created a relationship that is based on those shared values.

That will result in more business in the long term and loyalty within the relationship. Ultimately, when you base your business relationships on values, you’ll have better, more fitting outcomes for both the buyer and seller.

Communicating Your Values

Values Are More Important To Communicate Than Quality

If someone is just paying you for your labor, they can go across the street tomorrow and find someone just out of school who is going to work harder than you. If someone is paying you for your expertise in tax law, well, unless you’re the Michael Jordan of tax law, there’s always someone better (and even if you are the Michael Jordan, there’s always someone cheaper). So, if you’re looking to build career security, money can’t be why people are hiring you or retaining your services. However, when a customer or client views doing business with you as an expression of values, rather than a transaction, you’ve successfully built a relationship that is more secure than one solely based on end results.

Communicating Your Values

Communicating Your Values

Your professional values should impact every single piece of communication you put out. Focusing your communications on these values will result in business relationships and connections that will be sustainable through thick and thin. That will lead to security in the long term because you won’t be as reliant one any individual job or client and your relationships will last longer.

Communicating Your Values

Forget Transactions, Build Relationships

Every time a person spends money with your business or hires you as an employee, they need to think of that transaction as being an expression of values. Somewhat paradoxically, you don’t want them to feel like spending money with you is a a transaction involving money.

Communicating Your Values

What That Looks Like In Practice

When major brands communicate their values effectively, purchasing their products no longer feels like a transaction.

  • When I buy a Corona beer, I’m not purchasing a beer, I’m purchasing the feeling of being on a beach.
  • When I’m buying an Apple Computer, I feel like I’m purchasing cultural cachet.
  • And if I bought something from a religious organization, I’d feel like I was expressing my religious values through that purchase.

None of those transactions feel like they involve money to the purchaser. And it is in transactions like that that you build long lasting business relationships and career security.

Communicating Your Values

Conclusion: Communicating Your Values Should Be The Point Of Your Messaging

Messaging based on values creates more secure relationships. It leads to customers or clients feeling like they are expressing values when they are doing business with you, rather than engaging in a meaningless transaction. This meaning brings loyalty and long lasting relationships. Major brands practice this and you should be doing so too.