7 Minutes to Better Selling Podcast - S2 - Ep. 13

Hey, welcome everybody to season two of the seven minutes to better selling podcast. I'm your host

Colin Lake. I'm so excited to introduce our second time guest, our first second time guest

of the show after two, two long seasons and 50 plus shows. We have Scott Crossan joining us

Scott Crossan is a brand expert. He has an amazing history behind him in terms of developing all of

these things that make him a brand expert. And Scott and I have a long storied history together

doing some wonderful things from like professional to spiritual to life's toughest moments to life's

best moments together. So I've known Scott for a better part of three decades and welcome Scott

Crossan. Good morning, Colin. And because you know me so well, that's why you have a sneaky

suspicion that we may run long. Is that correct? That is exactly right. Maybe. Hi, buddy. That is

so true. It's so good to have you back, Scott. And I said on LinkedIn and some of the other

social platform, literally backed by popular demand, people want to hear more from you

And, you know, it's because they love your handsome face. But more so than that, Scott

it's because of the stuff you were talking about as it relates to creating a brand. And so it's stuff that's near and dear to my heart, something we train on a lot. So I'm really

excited to get into this conversation. So Scott, if you will, maybe in like two minutes, just give

people a reminder of who you are and how you get to this lofty position as a brand expert where

organizations and individuals all over the world look to you to help them create their right brand

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Colin. Always thrilled to be with you, buddy, both personally

and professionally. My background primarily was with a company called QVC. I spent over 20 years at QVC at a time when it was

continuously evolving from a traditional home shopping channel and all the stigma attached to that negative stigma attached to that into one of the world largest video and e retailers and a 10 plus billion dollar business globally

So I kind of went along for that ride, if you will. Part of my job, along with my team, was the branding addressing the stigma of the QVC

brand, as well as that being QVC being an umbrella brand, being a retailer that sells

lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of other brands and partners with lots of other brands

So I was responsible for how we position every brand within our brand umbrella

Scott, let me just see if I distill this and see what type of thoughts it inspires from you

So you had the responsibility of helping further and future and create the QVC brand

And within that, you had to build your own brand of your brand in that corporation

And then also help all of these different businesses who are trying to sell their products on QVC improve their branding

You've had it from like three different angles all at the same time. Am I hearing that right

You are. And I didn't realize it at the time. I wish I, you know, if there are a few things you could go back in time and, you know, just be equipped with from a knowledge perspective, this is one of them

I didn't realize that there was such a thing as my personal brand

So I was so focused on my company's brand and trying to develop that, elevate that, as well as our client or customer or partner brands

I didn't really I was focused on that as well really wasn't focused on my personal brand

at some point you know you learn from others and you're blessed with great leaders and you're

blessed with great mentors and eventually you know I learned and figured it out that that is

just as important as any there are so many folks to this day to this day friends colleagues former partners who are absolutely brilliant brand marketing minds who do amazing things for their respective brands but do not recognize or at least invest in their own personal brand

So that, you know, if anything, if there's one takeaway from today, I would hope to encourage others to, A, recognize that whether you like it or not, you have a personal brand

And B, be intentional about it. Invest in it. Because it can take you to places that you've never been

Scott, I'm going to give you kind of like a story. So one of the folks we coach is a financial advisor

and he's on LinkedIn. In fact, he has 500 plus connections on LinkedIn

So you'd suggest maybe he's somewhat active. On his profile, he doesn't have a picture

So it's like one of those like silhouettes. Yeah. And I said to him, so your brand to the person

who happens to look at your page is that you don't care too much about this platform

or care too much for this platform. He said, that's not true. I like LinkedIn. I think LinkedIn is really valuable

And so, well, that's probably not what they think. If it's not what all 500 plus think

it's certainly what some of the 500 plus think. Cause I know that's my first off. Yeah

You, it, there's, that's, that's so common. And it doesn't need to be that way

Too many of us look at personal branding as in a negative connotation

Some of us view personal branding as self-serving or even egotistical or just fluff. Right

I am who I am and my clients and my colleagues, they know who I am

Some do Some don for sure especially when it comes to attract becoming more engaging and relevant to new people new audiences new customers new clients

I liken it, Colin, how that perception on personal branding to it's the same reason why we didn't raise our hand in clicks

Number one, we don't want to look stupid. Right. Number two, we do not feel comfortable putting ourselves out there

And we don't want to be viewed as a show off or a know it all

Right. And that's really not what it's about. I understand that negative connotation, but that's really not what it's about

Back to your example. Do I, you know, putting a profile, putting a profile pic on my LinkedIn page

I understand that it may be outside my comfort level to put myself out there like that, but you need to look at it from the perspective of your best future client, your best future partner, your best future customer

Wouldn't they be more inclined to have a comfort level with establishing a connection with you if you are expressing yourself in a personal, authentic way

Like that's how you need to look at it, not from a self-serving standpoint, but what will help your personal brand resonate in the eyes and hearts and minds of your audience

Boy, that's a power statement there. That was going to stay in there, Simon

So remember that we're editing last word. And then how do they get in touch with you? How do they find Scott Crossan

I would be delighted to connect with anyone for sure on this topic, on any topic by way of LinkedIn

All my contact information is there. That's the easiest way to connect with me

Yeah, there's Scott's LinkedIn. I would recommend it. I mean, this guy is so good at what he does

He's so thoughtful with the questions he asks and helping you decide or determine those things

and help you decide the right actions to forge your brand. So Scott Crossman, thank you and good selling everyone

Good selling, Colin