Personal branding for entrepreneurs at the Beautiful Lunch

I was invited to speak at the Beautiful Lunch on Wednesday, an event organised by Beautiful Events to coincide with Digital Shoreditch.

The event, which took place at The Brickhouse in Brick Lane, brought together creatives, public relations professionals, marketing consultants and web designers to connect with each other and establish relationships. My presentation was about personal branding for entrepreneurs; an  interesting proposition for an audience au fait with managing brands from a client perspective, but seldom managing their own personal brand.

During the break I found there was more interest from people in finding out how they could position themselves, particularly business owners who saw personal branding as a real opportunity to share their expertise and create their own ‘tribe’. We are also living in a world where people are more savvy and demand more from companies and business owners; they want to know about their values and are interested in connecting with them via their personal stories. A recent report published by Weber Shandwick highlights that two-thirds of consumers say that their perceptions of CEOs affect their opinions of company reputations. By proactively taking steps to define and manage their personal brand, entrepreneurs are in a much better position to drive their business forward in the right direction and connect with people in a way that is consistent and authentic.

Other speakers at the Beautiful Lunch were Keren Lerener from Top Left Design, who shared key tips for using Twitter, and Leila Talmadge from Daytrippers, a charity that helps children with disabilities, life limiting or terminal illnesses enjoy amazing experiences. The event was compered by Jeremy Jacobs.

Here is the presentation that I gave at the event:

[slideshare id=13075906&doc=threestepsforentrepreneurstoestablishandleveragetheirpersonalbrand-120525092855-phpapp02]