To build your own personal brand, become a trusted expert, and “go long” with prospect relationships. Take the position of a helper – with no expectation of a sale at this stage. This seemingly counterintuitive attitude is what now takes the place of the old sales call.

The goal, of course is to establish your brand as a valued sales consultant, capable of delivering expertise, not reinforce a tired stereotype that the world actively looks to avoid.

6 Stepsto Building Your

Personal Brand

The

Change your mindsetJust don’t begin the relationship with a pitch. You need to bear in mind at all times that in social selling, “if you’re helping,you’re selling.” Sales pitches have been replaced with genuine help for the prospect or customer.

GetInto LinkedInIf you’re engaged in B2B selling, the most important site for you is LinkedIn, currently the #1 site for B2B social selling. Start by reading and listening.

Follow potential prospects, get a real feel for them. Go into forums, look over the content. Once you have a solid overview, begin responding—but only from the standpoint of help.

Keep product pitches out of it—in many cases they’ll get you kicked out anyway. Anything that smacks of traditional sales practices will get you deleted immediately. From your own expertise and knowledge of your industry, answer questions and make friends. Do everything you can to become a “go-to” for questions.

Don’t limit your helpful behaviors to your own segment, though. You can become a connector, referring people to information and contacts. Help wherever you can. If, for example, you’re an avid golfer, answer prospective prospects’ questions on the subject when they come up, or engage in con-versations where appropriate. Think of the process almost as you would a cocktail party conversation – it’s about getting to know people, helping them get to know you. In time, trust blooms and confidence goes up.

Start Tweeting and Re-TweetingBe smart about Twitter. Follow the people and prospect companies you’re targeting. Follow other decision makers at their company. Follow your competition. Look at the accounts they follow – keep building on Twitter. Once again, don’t respond before listening and observing until you have the lay of the land. At every opportunity, provide help.

Become a knowledge broker – a curator of great information. As you follow along on Twitter, re-Tweet posts or items you agree with or think will add value.

BlogStart and establish your own blog. A personal blog is your chance to draw people to your helpful advice – not a product marketing vehicle. Answer the questions they are asking online – when they do a Google search, your name will start showing up as someone in the know. Be engaging—blog about topics that readers are showing interest in (utilizing your research from other social media).

Not a great writer? Share relevant content other than your own (with permission)—this is not only helpful to your readers, it will pull additional traffic to your blog. As your blog gains steam, share your posts through social media promotions. Post your articles to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and any other appropriate platforms.

Micro-BlogBlogging has been made even easier today, with micro-blog sites such as Meddle that allow you to do small posts any time you have a thought, want to quickly share content you’ve discovered, or offer a piece of helpful advice. Your post is automatically shared in social media sites you are connected to.

Set Goals and Measure Them – Even InformallyYou can only find out what’s working well by tracking and measuring your results. This isn’t always easily quan-tifiable, so set goals that will lead to a difference in terms of savings or increased revenue. For example, you can measure increases in community engagement, brand “share of voice,” and your increased connectivity to external influencers.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF CREATING YOUR OWN BRAND?Who is it that you trust when seeking advice on a purchase yourself? The answer: experts and friends.Make yourself into a trusted expert and friend of your potential buyers. You then become someone they automatically come to when looking to purchase a solution you are offering.

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Eric QuanstromCMO at Pipelinersales Inc.@equanstrom