Your attention to building a brand has never been more important, or as convenient, as now

One of the coolest jobs I’ve got is as the stadium announcer for the North Kitsap High School football team. I’ve been lucky to be the “Voice of the Vikings” for 20 years.

Last month, I had the opportunity to announce the game in a special place. North Kitsap was one of several high schools that got to play at Lumen Field, home to the Seattle Seahawks. As the home team, I was invited to tag along as the team’s announcer and call the game from the press box. A once-in a lifetime opportunity.

The staff at Lumen Field were gracious and showed me around the Gary Wright Press Box area, named after the longtime Seahawks press secretary. Admittedly, I was surprised that the stadium announcer’s booth was in the corner of the north end zone as opposed to midfield, like at every stadium I’ve been to.

As we walked by the various media boxes ranging from local to national, my hosts explained that while the national media and team coaches received priority, the rest of the best seats in the house went to corporate suites. Those seats sell for big money, so the stadium announcer and significant number staff get to announce the game from the corner of the field.

You might think that I’m about to embark on a metaphor about prioritizing clients and customers. While that’s a good allegory, it’s not the topic. You see, even the big money took second fiddle to the media outlets — both local and national.

Why’s this important for you?

Think about it. The media is the platform for building a brand for the National Football League. They sell the league and each of its teams to millions of viewers, both current and potential fans. Without the media doing its job, the popularity of the sport would not be at the heights it is.

That same focus on brand building should be your focus, too. Now more than ever.

I remember 30 years ago being a young insurance professional working for a medium-sized agency in Kent. Advertising and marketing were expensive propositions. The main source of advertising — at an elaborate expense — was the Yellow Pages. Depending on your age, you may have no clue what that means.

If one really wanted to get fancy, they’d invest in television commercials, radio ads, and billboards. The price to proclaim your brand to your small part of the world was both costly and necessary.

We don’t have that issue today. We can be as creative as we dare; be willing to make mistakes because there is little financial consequence; and even push the limits of our demographics from our little corner to the entire world. And it can cost next to nothing.

Whatever your opinion is on social media marketing doesn’t matter. The truth is that if you aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities to build your brand, then you’re missing out. And that could ultimately be costly or fatal to your business.

I’ve heard the arguments…

“My prospects, clients, customers, etc. don’t use INSERT ANY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.”

Wrong. They are.

“I don’t know or have time to use it.”

Find someone who does. It’s too important.

“I don’t like social media.”

This isn’t about you. It’s about your business and bringing value to those who want your products and services.

YouTube is the second most utilized search engine in the world behind Google (who owns YouTube). That means when people are looking for a recipe, how to fix their golf swing, or how to open their car key fob when the battery is dead (that would be me), they go to YouTube.

We are all influenced by commercials. We always have been. When my father was growing up, commercials were on the radio. As time went by, advertisements became huge on television. As mentioned earlier, both were expensive, took a long time to produce, and could become obsolete before they even aired!

I have a YouTube channel where I post videos. You may consider these “commercials” for what I do to help clients. My goal is to make them entertaining, educational, and of value to people searching for information. Sometimes the videos are longer (e.g., full podcast episode) and now often, they are under a minute (called shorts).

I recently posted a fun video about an experience in Whistler, B.C., where I enjoyed a “smoking libation.” My colleague video recorded it, gave it to me, and I shared it as part of branding myself to my community. It garnered almost 1,300 views in 37 minutes.

Visit my channel at www.DanWeedin.tv to watch all my videos.

See how it works?

The final objection I frequently hear is, “I don’t know what to say.”

Of course, you do.

Be creative. I’ve got clients, colleagues and friends who are wildly successful using video marketing for businesses ranging from strategic financial planning to restaurant consulting. The latter is a friend who gets 100% of his clients through his YouTube channel!

I’ve got no skin in the game with Google or YouTube. This is simply my way of sharing with you the tremendous opportunity that you have to extend your brand to whomever and wherever your demographics live. Just as the NFL relies on marketing its brand to grow their billion-dollar business, you can compete at the same level in today’s digital world for your business, regardless of size, industry, or time in business.

Try this…it won’t hurt.

If you’ve never used video for creating a commercial for your business, here’s your chance. Take your phone and record yourself explaining your value proposition. That’s how your product and service help people or other businesses. Post and share it.

Don’t expect people to come rushing in but do expect to get some feedback. You might find that what you’ve got to offer translates well on video and that your opportunity to build your brand has a new avenue.

You may just find that you can move out of the corner and into the new heights in your business.

Dan Weedin is a strategist, speaker, author and executive coach. He helps small business and middle market business leaders and entrepreneurs to grow more profitably and create a better life. He was inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame in 2012. You can reach Dan at 360-271-1592; e-mail at dan@danweedin.com or visit his web site at www.DanWeedin.com.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Dan Weedin: Time spent building a brand has never been more important