Karen  Nemeth.  Ed.M.    

Fran  Simon,  M.Ed.    

Engaging early childhood decision makers How  companies,  consultants,  and  leaders  can  use  Personal  Branding  strategies  

NAEYC  Annual  Conference  November,  2015  

Fran  Simon,  M.Ed.  Engagement  Strategies  Early  Childhood  Inves;ga;ons    

Karen  Nemeth,  Ed.M.  Language  Castle  

Us  

                           

                       

               

SETTING  THE  STAGE  1Sec;on    

You  

q Independent  consultant,  author  q Organiza;on/company  staff  member  

q Other  

 

 

 

You  are  here  because…        

You  want  to  engage  early  childhood  decision  makers  so  

you  can…?    

Do you worry ?

Branding  is  so  

commercial!  

Personal  branding  is  

like  bragging!  

Don’t  worry!  

The  an;dotes  to  crass  commercialism  

It’s  as  much  about  listening  and  responding  as  it  is  about  presenHng  

yourself.  8  

                           

                       

               

Branding?  Engaging?  2Sec;on    

Branding  is……  

Branding  is  the  encapsula;on  of  a  company’s  mission  statement,  objec;ves,  and  corporate  soul  as  expressed  through  the  corporate  voice  and  aesthe;c.    Margie  Clayman    

A  brand  is  the  emo;onal  rela;onship  between  the  consumer  and  the  product,  you  must  engage  with  consumers  and  build  posi;ve  brand  associa;ons.  The  deeper  the  rela;onship,  the  more  brand  equity  exists.    Neil  Feinstein  –  True  North  A  brand  is  the  set  of  expecta;ons,  memories,  stories  and  rela;onships  that,  taken  together,  account  for  a  consumer’s  decision  to  choose  one  product  or  service  over  another.  Seth  Godin  –  Author  of  Linchpin  

30  Branding  DefiniHons  By  Heidi  Cohen  

Ac;onable  Marke;ng  Guide  hYp://heidicohen.com/30-­‐branding-­‐defini;ons/  

 

Word  of  Mouth  

That  trainer  from  last  week’s  session  really  says  what  she  knows  and  does  what  she  says.  Hire  her!  

“Earned”  raves  are  more  valuable  than  any  other  inten;onal  strategy  you  can  deploy.  Now,  how  do  brands  earn  raves?  

WOW  them  with  WOM!  

-­‐Ravtopia  Word  of  Mouth  Toolkit  

OrganizaHons  are  mosaics  of  the  people  who  work  for  them-­‐

internally  and  externally.  

Personal  brands  are            How  people  perceive  you  

Do  others  see  a  true  reflec;on  of  you?  

Judy  Jablon  clearly  ar;culates  what  she  represents  and  what  specific  exper;se  she  possesses.    

She  authorita;vely  expresses  her  philosophies  throughout  her  websites,  in  person,  and  in  wri;ng.    

Represent  what  you  believe:    

Relevant  

Sustainable   -­‐monigle.com  

You  

Personal  and  corporate  brands  must  be…  

Share  your  specific  exper;se.  

Three  goals  for  demonstra;ng  thought  leadership  

Add  authen;c  value  and  create  genuine  trust  so  your  target  

audience  wants  to  connect  with  you  and/or  your  organiza;on.  

1  

Goal    

Differen;ate  yourself:  Make  it  clear  what  makes  you  or  your  

organiza;on  unique  and  valuable.    

2  

Goal    

Make  yourself  discoverable:  It’s  not  enough  to  be  good  –  people  have  to  be  able  to  find  you!  

3  

Print    Mail    Ads  

Email  Promo  blasts  and  content  

SEO,  SEM  and  Digital  Ads  

(PPC)  

Webinars  Free  Content  Wri;ng  ar;cles,  books,  blogs  

TwiYer  Facebook  Blog  LinkedIn  YouTube  Online  Chats  Pinterest  Blogs  

Website  

Being  discoverable  

Your  brand  as  it  appears  to  the  world  

hYp://is.gd/S0f3b4    

Adapted  from    Christopher  Mengel  

1.  What  is  your  mission?  

2.  Do  you  have  logos,  website,  visual  materials,  photographs?  What  else?  

3.  What  are  your  products  and/or  services?  

Ask  these  ques;ons  to  define  your  brand  

4.  What  are  the  benefits  of  working  with  you?  5.  What  you  stand  for?  

6.  To  whom  do    You  offer  products  and  services?  

7.  What  is  your  voice  in  wri;ng    and  in  person?  

8  What  makes  you  and  your  offerings  special  and  unique?  

1)  Your  personal  mission  statement    2)  The  benefits  of  working  with  you  3)  Your  unique  value  proposi;on  

…and  share  with  neighbors  

Time to reflect… Right here, right now!

                           

               

3 IDENTIFYING  YOUR  AUDIENCE  

All  Early  Childhood  Educators  and  organizaHon  are  not  the  same  

Market  Segments  and  funding  streams  

Pre-­‐k  

Child  Care  Head  Start  Blended  Private  

• USDOE  >  States    • Low  income  families    

• USHHS  >  Grantees  >Delegate  Agencies  • Low  income  families    

• Tui;on  • CCDBG  >  States>  programs  • TANF>States>Subsidies  • Corpora;ons  • Military  

Blended  Private  

Who is

your customer

?

What  are  his/her:  

•  challenges?  

•  highest  priori;es?  

•  needs?  •  preferences  for  selec;ng  

products,  services,  consultants?  

   

Head  Start  Ad

ministrator  

•  Challenges?  •  Needs?  •  Requirements  for  adop;on?  

Pre-­‐K  Administrator  

Child  Care  Administrator  

Know  the  landscape  What’s  going  on  with:    •  compe;tors  

•  collaborators  

•  funding  

•  customers  

•  research  

•  related  fields  

Listen  to  the  landscape  •  Google  alerts  

•  Social  media  

•  conferences  

•  mee;ngs  

•  surveys  

•  journals  

When  you  read  or  meet,  do  you  think,  “How  does  this  relate  to  

my  brand  objec;ves?  

Well,  in  addi;on  to  sessions,  we  should  network,  gather  

“intel”  about  our  niche  and  compe;tors,  and  make  our  exper;se  

shine.  

What  should  we  do  while  we  are  at  the  

conference?  

Now  is  the  perfect  ;me  to  get  started  branding  yourself.  

Ready  to  Be  a  Thought  Leader  

•  hYp://amzn.to/1YbqPhO  

The  Start-­‐up  of  You  

•  hYp://amzn.to/20U1QC4  

All  Marketers  Tell  Stories  

•  hYp://amzn.to/1Qosb7m  

Karen  Nemeth.  Ed.M.  Karen@LanguageCastle.com      LanguageCastle.com  @KarenNemethEDM  

Fran S. Simon, M.Ed. Fran.Simon@EngageStrat.com EngageStrat.com EarlyChildhoodWebinars.com @FSSimon

Ques;ons

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