Y’all are listening to the Maverick of Marketing Radio Show. And now here’s your host, Shannon Maverick.
All right, everybody, welcome back. This is your host, Shannon Maverick of the Maverick of Marketing podcast. And today, I’d like to say we have the queen of branding herself. We’re going to be talking about all things personal branding and why it’s so critical for marketers and just professionals in general. And the branding queen I’m referring to is Ms. Jamie Kernohan. She is the founder of GVC Marketing and she’s also a part-time content marketing consultant and alumni career coach for McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. So Jamie, thanks so much for being with me today.
Hi Shannon. This is great. I’m so excited to be here.
Perfect. Well, let’s kind of start simple.
If you wouldn’t mind, could you share a little bit about your background so the guests could get to know you a little bit?
Sure. I love the title queen of branding. I love that. Perfect. So I’ll get started. Just to give you a little background about me. I come from all facets of marketing. I have an undergrad in communications from the University of Texas at Arlington, and I started agency side. I’ve been around Dallas in many agencies, Tracy Locke, Bozell, some that I don’t think exists anymore, RP Alpha, True North. I’ve worked on clients from Dillard’s to Pepsi, Subway, Chevrolet, Honda, Acura. I had a lot of great exposure to all kinds of different products and how they were sold. My primary role at the agencies was as a media buyer.
Cool. Wow. So talk about some big-name brands there. I mean Acura, all of those good things. Gosh, well, I referred to you as the branding queen yourself. I see it all over your LinkedIn page where your famous quote is,
“A brand is what you’re known for, and marketing is what you do to sell it.”
Anonymous
How did you come up with that, and how does that ring true for your personal brand?”
Well, I really can’t take credit for that. I would love to, but I read it somewhere. It just really resonated with me as I find it so important that that’s just the key. The brand is what you’re known for, but marketing is what you do to sell it and what are all the executions we can do to sell it?
That’s what I am always talking about, marketing because whether I am career coaching, helping someone looking for a role, or whether I’m trying to launch a product. Either way, the marketing principles still apply.
Talking about how great something is, that value proposition, whether it’s the person and the skills or the product and what it does for your consumers, either way. Yeah, the saying is just so poignant to me.
I love that. And I like how you tie it back to it’s not only for our company but also for yourself. Because that’s really what I want you to put your perspective into today is why personal brands for professionals are so, so critical. So let’s just dive right into that.
Why is building a personal brand directly tied to your career, and why should professionals invest in their personal brand?
Well, Shannon, I have a funny little story about that. I have been a marketing professor. I was an adjunct professor at Collin County Community College here in the Dallas area. I was also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, where I got my MBA. I love teaching. It is one of my passions. So it falls in line with career coaching as well. But I did have this lovely biology major come up to me in my marketing class. He just pretty much told me that he did not need marketing and wanted a whole different curriculum.
Interesting. Did he say what his reasonings were?
Yes, it was fascinating. He had decided because he was going to be a doctor that he did not need marketing. And I very calmly said, “Well, I think you have an interesting perspective. I would like to challenge you to consider how you will get a job at different hospitals? How will they know what you bring to their hospital is unique and different from all the other graduating doctors?”
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more because we’re more than just our resumes now. I mean, that’s the great thing and sometimes the downside of social media and the internet where you can just Google anybody and find out anything about anyone, but it’s a great, great tool for career projections for sure. Did he end up investing in his brand, or how’s he doing now? Is he a famous doctor somewhere?
I would like to think he’s a famous doctor for the personality he brought with him, but he did stick with the class, and he did do the assignments that were provided to him. So I’m hoping that he did learn some value in what we offered, but honestly, no matter what kind of career industry you’re in, marketing is critical.
“You don’t have to be in marketing to do marketing.“
Jamie Kernohan, GVC Marketing
I have coached computer scientists to market themselves with a value proposition for a role they wanted. And they certainly did not see themselves as a marketing person at all, yet it’s very crucial.
And again, back to the products.
What is your value proposition? What do you offer? How do you solve a problem? It’s very crucial.
And if you can have that message in your branding, then that’s half the battle right there, and people already know by following you, following your company, seeing what you do in your community, that kind of thing. And have your personal brand indeed speaks for you when you leave the room within your own company.
Yeah. I couldn’t agree more. Well, first of all, I hope that doctor is doing well. I love that he did his assignments, and hopefully, he took something out of that.
But when you talk about building a brand, what are some tactful ways that people can start establishing and creating a brand for themselves?
Well, I think that’s a great question because how is the crux of it, right? How do I go about doing this? So I have about three tips real quick that I can offer your audience.
The three C’s.
1. Let’s start with the three C’s. Super easy, right? There’s a community. Make sure that you add to the community that you’re speaking to. So what information do you want them to know? How do you communicate that? What is the value you’re going to add to that community?
2. And then secondly, consistency. This is the killer. Maybe killer should be spelled with a C because it should be one of the C’s. But consistency is crucial, crucial, crucial. Every day posting, talking, communicating, talking with other people, social media, blogs, whatever your favorite platform is, whatever you feel is the most authentic to you, you should share.
3. And then, of course, the third C is the content. Everyone can add something to their community so that they can help other people. The biggest problem I find when I offer this is people say, “Oh, I don’t have anything to add.” Oh yes, you do. You do have something to add. What is your passion? What is your passion story? And within that community, and it’s not always marketing, right? That’s my thing.
But your thing, it could be crocheting. It could be hunting and fishing and all these things that people love to do. It could be any of those things, and you can add to that community.
Three C’s real quick: community, consistency, and content;
All three are crucial to help to build your brand.
Jamie Kernohan, GVC Marketing
I love that. Consistency is the killer. I mean, you’re speaking my language because I am trying my best to invest in my personal brand with Maverick of Marketing. And it is hard on the days where you want to be able to do your regular job, or you’re working towards getting that job. And then it is a job in and of itself to run your own personal brand. Consistency, I can personally speak to how tough it can be at times, but how rewarding it can be. And to touch on your point about content.
What are the types of content that you’re seeing being engaging, and what would you recommend if people are starting out trying to invent themselves, create their personal brands?
What are the types of content that you would suggest they invest in? Well, I am a huge Gary V fan. And if you don’t know who Gary V is, you need to look him up. He is the king of content. He is the ruler for sure. And what he offers. And this is how I started too. This was just his $1.80 value that he provides. So for $1.80, and that’s offering your two cents to nine posts a day, I mean, on average, we spend over two hours on social media a day. So when people say to me, “Oh, I can’t do that. I don’t have time for that,” those kinds of things.
We are already on our phones and social media for over two hours a day.
To connect on social do these 6 things:
Wow, that’s easy. Yeah, you’re so right. I mean, I find myself when I have a spare minute checking my Instagram, or I mean from my professional world, checking LinkedIn. So it’s super simple to give a like and give a quick comment. That’s a great tip. And I love that you shattered out Gary V. He totally is the King of Content. He’s a little controversial at times, but I love his messaging. And how long have you been following him?
Oh my gosh. A couple of years now. I did meet him at the ANA Conference before COVID. The year before, I went to the Association of National Advertisers. I got to go there. I have a good friend within the association, and I did some videos for her too. I got to meet Gary V. He came out into the hallway, and oh my gosh, there he was, and I turned into like a 12-year-old girl seeing my favorite rock star. Anyway, I took pictures with him. It was great fun. And again, he is controversial, but he does have excellent points.
I mean, that’s his shtick, though. So that’s how he cuts through all the static out there. But once you get past that, he’s just, “Hey, you just need to connect, and you need to give back, and you need to talk.” So instead of just watching everybody go by, add a comment, tell them, it’s great. Tell them you love the color or whatever it is. I mean, anything to get you started.
I love that.
This is the first half of the Maverick of Marketing podcast. Look for more of the podcast next week.
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