Building Your Personal Communications Plan, Part 1

Building Your Personal Communications Plan, Part 1Building Your Personal Communications Plan, Part 1A step-by-step guide to creating your unique value and expressing it consistently.Every company has one. Every not-for-profit. Every professional organization. Every celebrity. Every city. And you should too.Your personal communications plan If you want to reach your goals and increase your success, youll need to get your message out. But before you start spreadin the news, there are two important questions you must answerWhat am I going to say?To whom am I going to say it?What to say? You must develop a message that clearly describes your unique promise of value - what you have built your reputation on. Strong executive brands are known for one thing, not 10 things, so you must do some soul-searching and determine your area of thought leadership. What makes you successful and differentiated from all those other people with the same job title?Your message must beAuthentic - Let it co me from the heart. You need to be able to demonstrate what you talk about, otherwise it is just hot air.Differentiated - You wont get very far if you are sending a me-too message.Consistent - Strong brands dont change. Be consistent and stay the course.Compelling - Dont sell ice to Eskimos. Think about what you can authentically express that will get the attention of your audience.Aspirational - Connect your message to your goals. Keep them top of mind when you are expressing your message.To whom? Theres no sense spouting off about something if its not going to help you reach your goals. Just as Volvo doesnt waste time or money communicating their message of safety and security to 16-year-old boys, you must target your message to those people who will help you reach your goals. Your target audience - or brand - includes everyone who needs to know about you so you can be wildly successful your peers inside and outside your company, senior executives in your industry and related industries, headhunters, hiring managers, influential thought leaders in your field, your networking contacts, etc.You must apply what you have learned by answering the two questions above to all of your communications tools. Your communications tools fall into three categoriesStandard Career Marketing MaterialsOn-Line CommunicationsExecutive Brand CommunicationsStay tuned next week for an exploration of ansicht three communications tools. In the meantime, get to work figuring out what you want to say, and to whom youll say it