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William Arruda, a business colleague of Krishna’s and considered one of the world’s experts in personal branding recently asked Krishna how building and developing her personal brand online had made a difference in her business in 2006. 

Krishna shares below one part of the conversation with William.

“Early in 2006, having appeared on a local radio show talking about the subject of branding and personal branding, I was approached to host a radio show on one of Ireland’s leading terrestrial radio shows which I named the “Women in Business Show”. 

I sought permission from the radio station to use the new medium of podcasting to broadcast the radio show to wider audience which was also a win-win for them as it extended their reach to listeners across the globe.

In the early autumn of 2006, a business editor for a major Irish newspaper found the radio show when researching online.  My podcast was listed in the search engines ahead in fact of podcast for the major news channel in Ireland.  The business editor featured my radio show and podcast as a must listen to resource for both men and women in the newspaper.

As if that was not success enough, I then experienced two further great outcomes of a result of this endorsement:

• I was recently advised that I have been nominated by the media as a contender in the Veuve Cliquot “Business Woman of the Year Award” – they  nominate just 30 business women a year to be considered for the Irish title and the winner represents Ireland in the global award – the media had become aware of me due to a number of online and offline low cost marketing strategies.Even if I am not shortlisted further, the panel of judges who are mainly from the media have now had my profile raised in front of them which means that the major media channels in Ireland will have had an introduction to my brand.
• And the business editor of the major newspaper has commissioned me to write a regular column focused on the opportunities and challenges of being a woman in business.

So how is this relevant to personal branding?

1. Well firstly I focused my strategy for the radio show on a very specific niche – issues and challenges that are facing business women in Ireland.
2. Secondly I created a content rich and valuable resource through interviewing other business women.  I leveraged my business and personal  network and offered business women the opportunity to share their story about their career and business on the radio show. At the same time I assisted them in  developing their skills in the media – many women are uncomfortable about approaching the media so appearing on my show helped them build their skills as a radio show guest, a key no cost strategy for building awareness of your brand with your target audience.
3. And thirdly I integrated both traditional broadcast media with the new medium of podcasting to share my message.  This enabled me to further extend my personal brand online which enhanced the likelihood of being found online.

It’s been less than two years since I established my business having left a successful global corporate career with a FTSE 20 company.  Being clear about my target market, how I am differentiated from my competitors, building a distinctive brand both online and offline and the power of networking have enabled me to establjsh a strong platform for future business success.

I realise that many professional services experts find it a challenge to build a distinctive brand and my goal is to demonstrate that this is possible and can lead to fantastic outcomes as we grow our professional services practice.  My objective is to model and put into practice the action I encourage my clients to take so that they then are able to build their brand and stand out from their competition and therefore realise the professional and personal success they both deserve and desire.”