BURNT; Control Your Brand Perception

In the movie?Burnt,?Bradley Cooper, plays a chef who destroyed his career with bad behavior then cleans up his act and resurfaces determined to redeem himself. At times it’s painful to watch.

That’s how I feel about watching certain people on social media. Their brands are keeping them from success! It breaks my heart!?

~Travel Agents~

I see Travel Agents who are marketing “perks” that they CAN’T sell (because it’s an industry privilege and not for clients). This makes them look bad when a client sees them traveling at one rate (that the agent shouldn’t be marketing) and then offering a client a price that is more. A travel agent’s goal is to create wanderlust that excites their social following and creates curiosity about places.

Travel agents are story tellers, and on social media the story you tell, is your brand and supplier brands’. Are you getting “burnt” because you don’t know how to share your story on social media? Are you getting “burnt” because you are rejecting social media? You must realize by now that the number of people you are connected to on social media is a commodity. Like it or not, you do not know enough people to ignore social media.

~People Who Sell a Product~

Social media is just that... it’s social. One of the best places to share your product is on your personal page because you have a relationship with your friends. That is until you turn your personal page into an advertisement. I hope you believe in your product, and if you do, I know you want to share it with the world. But imagine you had a friend who sold toilets and all he posted was different deals on toilets. Can you imagine going to his page to see how his kids are doing and you had to scroll through 25 “ads” for toilets before finding a picture of his kids? Chances are, you’d unfollow him, so you wouldn’t see toilets in your news stream anymore. He absolutely should be selling his toilets on his personal page, BUT there’s a proper way to market the toilets and his personal brand as a toilet provider without getting “burnt”.?

~Business Owner/Entrepreneur~

In today’s world every website has social media links. If I were to click on yours, what would I find? Is your brand clear? Do you have a large, organic following? Are you mixing business with pleasure? Because you should be. If you want to grow loyalty with your customers and clients there must be social media interaction. Don’t get “burnt” by neglecting your social media or using the excuse that you don’t know what to post. If your social media following isn’t growing, it will be reflected in your business.??

And Action!

1.??Evaluate your social media presence on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being great). If you are less than a 10 you have work to do.

2.??Evaluate your brand on social media on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being crystal clear). If you are less than a 10 you have work to do.

3.??Evaluate the time you put into your social media. Is it TOO LITTLE, TOO MUCH, or JUST RIGHT??

Bradley’s character, Adam Jones, proved that even awful mistakes and behavior can be redeemed. You CAN build or repair a brand.