A BowTie and a Personal Brand

A bowtie and a flat brim hat. (My kinda guy!)

Today I sit down with a man who embodies the power of personal brand building with an idea, an iPhone and an understanding of what his customers really value. Meet Bowtie Terrance. The Atlanta-born, collegiate linebacker, stock-broker, semi-truck owner, financial advisor turned car salesman who made a huge splash in the Dallas / Fort-Worth market when he started building his personal brand by putting on a bowtie and producing hip-hop videos about selling cars. Yep. You read that right.

You see, Bowtie Terrance understands people. I constantly say that brand is a “feeling.” BT knows that when people FEEL trusting toward you, they buy from you. He delivers his brand promise to people publicly. In my opinion, this is the ultimate form of brand accountability. Being willing to open yourself up to both the positive and negative with the faith that you will be able to deliver on your promises.

Oh, and to all the other businesses out there, you better pay attention to YOUR brand. Because if you let your people do all the brand building, guess who owns the trust and loyalty…well, it isn’t you.

All of this ties to my thesis that brand activity has a far greater ROI than sales activity. Forget the bottom of the funnel…brand converts “buyers” to loyal “fans”. They don’t even jump in the funnel to begin with…they just call you.