Welcome back to Becoming a Better Business Broker in 30 Days!
This concise series title describes exactly what we hope you get out it - becoming a broker that can close more deals with less work.
If you missed yesterday, check out Becoming a Better Business Broker Day 14: Building A Business Broker Support Team.
If you've read all 14 previous articles (we're equally thankful and surprised) you'll know we covered everything from managing lawyers to the art of business valuation and the importance of leveraging technology.
Today, we're diving into a topic that needs to be talked about more in our industry: Developing Your Personal Brand as a Business Broker.
Why Your Personal Brand Matters
Business brokerage is a bit different than other industries as your personal brand is your reputation. While this may be true in other professions, Partners of the McKinsey Consulting Group get a lot of leeway with the McKinsey name - this probably doesn't extend to your brokerage. If you want consistent, high-quality referrals - your name needs to carry weight. Think of your personal brand as the unique value proposition you want to present to the marketplace. A strong personal brand can:
- Set you apart from the competition: Are you focused on a specific industry? Deal size? Type of deal? All these things can differentiate you from competitors.
- Build trust with potential clients: People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Your personal brand helps establish that trust.
- Attract your ideal clients: This one is underrated - by effectively communicating your personal brand the right clients will come to you, rather than you pitching them.
Crafting Your Personal Brand
1) Make Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Dummy-Proof
Have you ever met someone at a networking event who wasn't listening to anything you were saying and asked a ton of dumb questions? Well, these short attention spans are only getting worse in our digital age - especially online - where many people 'meet' us for the first time.
Our Co-Founder, Morgan Tate, has found personal success on LinkedIn resulting in a lot of inbound leads (one being the owner of a $30M+ Holdco). He has tried to make his profile as 'dummy proof' as possible for people to learn more about what he does.
Let's break it down:
Profile Review
- His USP is stated multiple times on his profile
- He has a professional headshot, not the placeholder grey avatar many of you have (👀)
- His background is branded to his company
- He has linked his website - so leads can easy learn more
2) Be Authentic
Continuing to use Morgan as an example, here are a few examples of authentic posts you can add to your social media, blogs on your website, or even to your email newsletter (if you're not a big social media fan):
3) More Consistent Posting = More Sell-Side Leads
This above is the best form of advice = anecdotal 😂 but we're sure it's true!
But seriously, our experience is that the more consistent you are at posting high-quality content written in an authentic voice (like this run-on sentence) - it results in more leads via DMs!
Consistent posting about a specific topic also solidifies you as the 'expert' in a person's particular network, even if they know other business brokers personally.
4) Educate and Add Value
When it comes to establishing your personal brand - don't take shortcuts. This means, don't post, "Hey message me to sell your business!" every day because people will ignore you.
Post super high-value content, every day if you can, with zero expectation of anything in return.
Advice from a personal experience: you do not need to post 30 articles in 30 days with an average word count exceeding 1,200 words to provide this value (take it from us 😅).
Conclusion: Your Brand, Your Legacy
Remember that your personal brand is going to win you that listing agreement, build trust with buyers, or secure a referral relationship with an accountant's office. It's what people will remember long after a deal is closed. Start by giving your digital presence a face-lift, write/film consistent high-quality content, and expect nothing in return. Building these good habits will lay the foundation for a lasting impact in the industry.
Stay tuned for Day 16 as we cover, Due Diligence Mastery.
If you want to learn more about automating your business brokerage with DealBuilder, please visit our site or book a demo here.
