How to Build Your Business by Building Your Personal Brand with Tonya Eberhart & Michael Carr.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as we discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income.

Do you think that, as a speaker, you need a brand? You bet you do. In fact, whether you know it or not, you already have one. Whether or not the brand’s one you want is entirely up to you. So as you listen to this episode, ask yourself if your brand strategically supports your efforts to grow your business, if others view you in the way that you view yourself, and if you live up to your brand.

My guests, Tonya Eberhart and Michael Carr of BrandFace, will help you answer these questions and more. They are international bestselling authors, hosts of the Be Bold Branding Podcast, and partners in BrandFace—the only comprehensive personal brand-building system across the globe. They’ve helped authors, podcasters, coaches, real estate agents, and business owners in five countries and 43 U.S. states stand out and become authorities in their market. Here’s my conversation with Tonya and Michael.

Marketing vs. Branding: What’s the Difference?

Peter: Before we get into branding, can you explain the difference between marketing and branding? A lot of people confuse the two.

Tonya: Marketing is utilizing different vehicles to get a message out to your customers—a social media post, a postcard, a billboard, a TV commercial. Your brand, however, is the message and image you put into those marketing vehicles. If you decide to put something on a billboard, what you put there—that’s your brand.

Peter: And branding is absolutely crucial—whether it’s a product, a service, or a person. What’s the difference between branding a business and branding an individual?

Michael: Whether it’s a business or not, that business has a personal brand. Napoleon Hill taught us that the success of a business is very dependent upon the personalities behind it. Tonya taught me this. I was a serial entrepreneur for years—a marketer, not a brander—until she came into my life. When she launched a real estate brokerage with me, she said, “You’re going to be the face of this business.” I said, “I don’t want that.” She said, “It’s not going to happen any other way. They need to know the acumen of what started this company and what it stands for—and that is 100% you.”

Michael: Personal branding is very important for any entrepreneur or forward-facing professional because it’s the recognition on the street that gets you more business.

You Already Have a Brand—The Question Is Whether You Built It

Peter: They say everybody has a brand. The difference is whether you built it or you just ended up with one—oftentimes one your competitors gave you. Is that correct?

Tonya: That’s absolutely correct. We all have a personal brand. But if you haven’t developed it intentionally, you’re left with the brand people assign to you. Why would you do that when you can teach people how to treat you? A great brand sets everything up so that people become familiar with you and what you stand for before you even meet or talk to them. Your brand precedes you—so they know how to treat you before you even arrive.

Tonya: If you don’t have that out there, you’re left with just the engagement you have face to face or on the phone. You could develop a brand and have this salesperson out there for you 24/7—all the way through the introduction phase and the follow-up phase of customer acquisition. Your brand should be everywhere.

The Three D’s: Define, Develop, and Display

Peter: How can my listeners use branding to build their businesses?

Tonya: There are three simple steps to build a personal brand: define, develop, and display.

In the define phase, you identify exactly who your ideal customers are—because how do you know what to put into your marketing unless you know who you’re trying to attract? You also identify what makes you unique. Why are you different from every other speaker who has ever taken the stage or every podcaster? What value do you bring to that customer?

In the develop phase, you go beyond what we call the “three amigos.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking a photo, a tagline, and a logo equals a brand—those are branding elements, not a brand in and of themselves. You develop your bio with the story behind the brand: your why, what led you here, who has influenced you. That’s the most attractive part to anyone. Then you develop your imagery, your background visuals, and your photos—because the words and the pictures have to match the image and message you’re trying to convey.

In the display phase, you take all those elements and display them correctly and consistently on all your marketing platforms—your speaker profile, your website, how you introduce your videos, how you answer the phone, how you market to people. All the language and imagery should be consistent everywhere.

Five Questions Every Great Brand Must Answer

Peter: Is there a way listeners can assess their own brand right now?

Michael: We have five critical questions that every great brand must answer. Who do you serve? How do you serve them? What qualifies you to serve them? How does it make their life better? And what sets you apart from everyone else who does the same thing? These five questions are the benchmark for whether you have a brand, a partial brand, or no brand at all.

Tonya: And we always say: even if you know the answers with certainty, it’s not enough to know—you have to show. That’s where develop and display come in.

What Happens When You Don’t Live Up to Your Brand

Peter: What happens if you set up expectations with your brand and then you don’t live up to those expectations?

Michael: It becomes widely apparent. You stop attracting people—you start repelling them. But the flip side is just as important: rather than only asking if you can live up to your brand, ask yourself—does your brand live up to you? Do you have a brand you truly deserve? Because everyone has an inner star, qualities and value they can offer to the world. A great brand doesn’t just change the way people view you. It changes the way you view yourself.

Tonya: We look at 77 different criteria to build a brand—we dig really deep. And it’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the jar. Our clients say time and again that they could never have put all this together on their own. By the end of the process, they say, “This was my star—it was there all along, and now I have something to live up to.”

Authenticity: The Non-Negotiable

Michael: People don’t do business with a logo. They do business with a person. You cannot fake it with a good brand—because when it’s put out there in an authentic way, people will know immediately if you’re not going to deliver. Authenticity isn’t optional. It’s the foundation.

Tonya: When clients go through our brand messaging reveal—when we read back the story of who they are—we literally have people cry. Grown men. Because they didn’t see themselves that way. They say, “Is that really me?” And that confidence, that alignment, is what leads to success. When you’re confident, you’re more excited about getting your brand out there. You don’t mind introducing yourself at a networking event. You’re proud to hand someone your card. That confidence makes a huge difference.

Peter: Tonya and Michael, where can listeners connect with you?

Tonya: Go to discussyourbrand.com. That will get you on a free call with us to talk about strategy, your goals, your challenges, and what it would take to bring your brand into alignment with who you really are.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let’s make it happen. I’ll see you next time.