The Big CLOSE.

Ever wonder how you got to where you are?

Today I was thinking about that…

When I was a kid, every year we’d visit my cousins’ house in Chicago. My family would drive out from Longmont, Colorado and stay there for a couple of weeks, during which time my (indulgent) teenage cousins and I would plan and execute our annual Talent Show in their basement.

The Talent Show featured your standard musical, dance and gymnastic lineup… mostly on roller skates. My mom still has a picture of me at 8 years old in pom-pom pigtails and overalls roller skating in circles around the “audience” (our parents), singing “Tomorrow” from Annie. At right is a picture of me posing before a gymnastic performance.

My talent show duties included: talent recruitment, ordering the numbers, hand-crafting invitations, designing costumes, spreading the word, and getting the parents to attend.

Ah, the glory days…

So no surprise, I guess, that nowadays my favorite time of the year (twice a year, actually) is Summit Season. The Women’s Success Summit (May 17th & 18th) is my grown-up version of the talent show. The Summit brings together South Florida’s most ambitious, talented and successful women (and men!) to inspire, educate and ELEVATE the business community.

The theme? The Big CLOSE – all focused around the principles of selling – selling yourself, your ideas, your products, your services. (And by the way, we are ALL selling SOMETHING.)

Clear your calendar, friends, this is one event you must attend. Personally, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. And yes, men ARE welcome to attend, and in fact, several often do!

Aside from the phenomenal content and national powerhouse speakers (check out the lineup here: www.WomensSuccessSummit.com), we have new and exciting sponsorship initiatives for businesses that want to engage 800 upscale, professional and highly influential women over 2 whole days. Check out the sponsorship deck here. Or contact Jessica Lurie for details (888) 531-3830, jessica@mivistainc.com.

By the way, I’m SO excited to announce our new venue, The Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, (YAY!!!) and our partner, Chispa Marketing, that is producing this Summit.

This Summit will deliver game-changing strategies, foster powerful relationships and inspire those oh-so-important “a-ha” moments to help women like me elevate themselves beyond where they are today. Take a look at some of the amazing speakers and sessions we have lined up, and prepare to be blown away…

My New Professional Speaker – “Sizzle Reel” is Out!!

Forget Brand Loyalty… Try Brand LOVE

In business, the most profitable brands are those that people with money to spend LOVE (and love to HATE). Think about it: Apple (definitely has its fair share of lovers and haters), Christian Louboutin, Porsche, Whole Foods, and the list goes on and on…

By honing in on the real lovers of your brand, you can start to develop the most compelling messaging for them… which is the direct path into their hearts. And being in people’s hearts breeds loyalty.

On a related note, it also helps to “unload” those clients, prospects and audiences with whom you do NOT resonate.

Just recently I removed 20% of my contacts off of my email list. That’s right. I unsubscribed people from my own list. That may sound crazy to you… especially if you’re trying to build your email list. Why would I do such a thing? Simple. Metrics showed I didn’t resonate with them enough. And if I didn’t resonate, they’d never contract me or refer me business.

In addition to cleaning out my email list, I also eliminated several service offerings and stopped taking small, project-based or “one-off” clients (unless they pay a LOT more).

The result: some awesome free time to spend having a life.

Here’s to “blinging your brand!”

Michelle Villalobos (vee – ya – low – bos)

Quickie Personal Brand Workshop – 5 Essential Personal Branding Steps…

View more presentations from Michelle Villalobos

Creating Your Personal Brand – Part I: Defining Your Brand

The most important first step in creating an effective, compelling, personal brand that drives referrals, buzz and word-of-mouth business is to DEFINE your personal brand as narrowly as you can.

Consider these essential elements:

1. What value do you provide (rather than what services you offer)? Here’s an example, if you are a personal trainer, try positioning yourself in terms of the result: “lose weight,” “get in shape,” or “get hot.” Keep in mind that to cut through the clutter, you’ll want to choose something memorable, something “sticky.” David Barton Gym uses “Look Better Naked.” Now that’s memorable.
2. Who is your target customer? Get specific. If you say “everyone” or “anyone,” that’s simply not defined enough – especially online.
3. In what geographic area do you focus?
4. What makes you different from your competition (your USP – unique selling proposition)? This is a tough one because a UNIQUE selling proposition by definition means that other people can’t say the same thing. So if you say “unparalleled service” or “top-notch quality” that’s simply not unique enough (because everyone says that). How are you truly different from everyone else? That’s your USP.
5. What are some basic key words (like “luxury real estate” or “small business coach”) that you’d like associated with your name?
6. What do you want to be top of mind for? From the above, create a one-liner that describes who you are and what you do, that you can start using in multiple places (more on where to deploy this later). For example, mine is “Michelle Villalobos delivers never-boring workshops, seminars and keynotes to help professionals – especially women – market, sell and promote themselves. Our programs are 100% performance guaranteed, or you don’t pay.”

Keep in mind that your goal is ultimately to be “top of mind” for something, and it’s impossible to be top of mind for multiple things – at least at first. So if you have a side business or have two jobs, you need to choose one brand that encompasses both, or just focus on one. Later, once your brand is established, you can start to expand your brand and leverage it into new areas.

Think of Martha Stewart, who got her start focusing on food and catering. Once established in that niche, she started expanding her focus to encompass “homemaking” in general. Plan now for where your going 1 – 3 years out.

Stay tuned for parts 2 – 10 of this Personal Branding Series. Want more? Check out our Personal Branding video training program at www.MakeThemBEG.com.

Michelle Villalobos is based in Miami, FL and travels nationally & internationally to consult on brand strategy and deliver workshops, seminars & keynotes, especially for women’s groups and companies marketing to women. 


What Is A “Personal Brand”… And Why EVERYONE Needs One To Get Ahead

Personal Branding is the process of developing a brand around your name and what you do. This brand communicates your skills, shares your personality and conveys your values.

Personal branding is a “must” everyone these days. Whether you are self-employed or working your way up the corporate ladder, Personal Branding raises your profile, establishes you as an expert in something, and increases your market value so you can earn more. Think of it this way: you are the CEO of the business called YOU. In this day and age ANYONE can and should develop a personal brand and deploy it online.

Personal Branding 101

The 3 key steps of personal branding are:

• Define – in a compelling way – who you are, the value you provide and to whom. What are you the expert of? Who’s going to pay you for that?
• Develop – create and gather your personal brand elements: everything from your name and the images that are “out there” of you (like a professional headshot), to the professional headlines and descriptions of yourself that you use on social media such as LinkedIn or Google Profiles, and everything in between.
• Deploy – get your brand out into the world through a variety of tactical means, like social media, networking & referral marketing

Ready to learn more about personal branding? Visit www.MakeThemBEG.com for a free 4-video mini course on the subject.

Who loves you?

Michelle Villalobos (vee – ya – low – bos)

Just Say “No”

Me working on a project for my FAVORITE new client: GKIC (Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle). More on that project soon (it's WAY COOL).

For the first few years of my business, my default answer to most ANY request – requests for favors, free advice, “picking my brain,” meeting for coffee, unpaid seminars, writing proposals, “exploring potential synergies” or partnering on new projects – was “YES.” I was a “yes” MACHINE.

All those yeses got me into trouble. First off, I ran myself ragged – oftentimes for people and projects that wasted my time and didn’t pay. At one point I was working 90 and 100-hour weeks – without much to show for it. Second, I had far less time and energy to spend on the clients that DID value my time and WERE paying for the privilege of working with me.

Something had to give. I was forced (thank goodness!) to put systems in place to protect my time.

I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this challenge, so I’ve put together a few of the processes my team and I have implemented, perhaps they’ll inspire you:

• First and foremost, I switched my default answer from “yes” to “no.” This doesn’t mean that I don’t take on new opportunities, meet new people or embark on new projects, but it does mean that I’m muuuuuch more discerning about how and who with.
• If a substantial request is and I’m leaning towards “yes,” I instead say “let me think about it and get back to you tomorrow.” This technique buys me the time I need to evaluate the opportunity (because some requests DO merit a big, fat “yes”) and, when appropriate, to formulate a thoughtful, and respectful (yet FIRM) “no”.
• Rather than meeting with and sending proposals to all whoexpress interest in working with me (the “old” way), we now use a media kit  so potential clients can see what we offer and decide if they want to move forward. Showing price up front filters out those who aren’t serious or whose budgets are unrealistic.
  

  The Media Kit that saves us from spinning our wheels...

• Have you met Toma yet? I’ve hired her to manage my calendar and ensure that important meetings and client work get scheduled. Delegating this simple task has released HOURS every week to allow me to focus on what’s really important.
• I set aside one whole day a week to do exploratory phone calls with people and prospects. This limits the amount of time Ispend on potential time-wasters.
• I no longer work for free. Period. And I’m much more willing to let business “walk away” because I know that the space that remains will be filled with activities that bring real value to our bottom line.
• I get so many requests for one-on-one meetings with people I really want to connect with – but I just don’t have enough time. So now I invite them to a small group lunch (max 8 people) that I host every month. If they come, GREAT, we chat and get to know each other, and if they don’t, well then I figure they weren’t that interested in the first place.

The upside since implementing the above?

Way better clients, way cooler projects and waaaay more free time for FUN. I actually have a LIFE!!

Plus now I have quality time to spend on the clients that really deserve it. Just one example is GKIC who I just came back from visiting in Chicago (with Badass Business Woman Jessica Kizorek). You’ll be hearing more about that project for SURE.

Speaking of Jessica Kizorek, here’s a pic of us after a hike with our favorite accessory – the Make Them BEG sweatshirt. Want one? Sorry, that was a limited edition – a limit of two, one for her, one for me BUT you CAN still join us for our all-day workshop on July 22nd. If you sign up now you get the workshop AND the Make Them BEG training program – a sweet package deal. Click here to register.

Remember: Just say NO!!

Who loves you?

Michelle Villalobos
(vee – ya – low – bos)
www.EmpoweredWoman.info
www.MichelleVillalobos.com
www.Twitter.com/mivi

 

 

PS – we are fleshing out our Google Places Profile, if you’ve worked with me, attended an event or hired me to speak please consider filling out a review here (click on the link, scroll down to reviews and click “sign in to rate”).