How This Branding Expert Created a
Book Series to Reach Out to New Markets
By Susan Kendrick
http://www.writetoyourmarket.com/
Click book cover images at left to see this client's back cover text.
Meet corporate branding expert Brenda Bence. Her new book series and website are outstanding examples of how
to use book publishing to expand an already highly
successful brand, this time into new niche markets. Take a look at these book covers and Brenda's website to see how her new "How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo" series title we 
developed for her can help you in your own branding or re-branding process.
In the World of Branding -- You Can't get Much Better Than This
With more than 25 years experience within Fortune 100 multinational corporations--from Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb to Mattel and Pizza Hut--Brenda has been responsible for marketing some of the world's biggest-selling brands in almost 50 countries across four continents.
Also a certified career coach, Brenda married her passion for brands and her passion for coaching to develop the first and only personal branding system. This system, based on the same methods successful companies use to create powerhouse name brands, outlines step-by-step how to define, communicate, and master your personal brand for greater success at work and in life.
In fact, she was already using "YOU™ -- The Trademarked You" as a central component of her identity and marketing message to mean "your personal brand."
"We actually DID go out and register this trademark," says Brenda. "No one we talked to thought it would be possible to trademark this, because “YOU” is such a common phrase, but we did it! it took three years of legal battles, and we now own “YOU™” as a registered trademark--another important element of this brand or any brand."
To expand her YOU™ brand to new markets and further increase her visibility, credibility, and revenue by doing so, she created first a book and then a book series. This time, she brings her expertise not to big business, but to individuals. Each book in her series fluently translates the strategies she uses to help corporations build successful consumer brands into ready-to-use techniques for professionals, job seekers, and college grads.
How Brenda's Book Cover Expands Her Brand
My partner, Graham Van Dixhorn, created Brenda's new "How You Are Like Shampoo" brand for her book title and series name. He then developed the positioning that would both establish her expertise in the personal branding market and elevate her expert status in the corporate market. Here is an excerpt from Brenda's back cover:
"This groundbreaking book provides you with a start-to-finish system for defining, communicating, and taking control of your personal brand at work. Modeled after the world’s most successful big-brand marketing methods, How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo guides you step-by-step through proven corporate branding techniques never before adapted for personal use."
This positioning and "elevator speech" create the transition from Brenda as business branding expert to go-to corporate and personal branding strategist.
The Back Cover Also Includes Other Essential Elements:
- The headline
- At-a-glance bullet points
- An expert/author endorsement, which Graham created for source approval,
a great endorsement technique
- High-profile bio and lead generator
- A technique that drives traffic to Brenda's website, which includes a
name-capture device once they get there, in the form of a newsletter sign-up
Getting Bigger Shouldn't Dilute Your Brand--It Should Make It Stronger
Notice that expanding Brenda's trademarked YOU™ branding into "How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo" does not detract from her status as corporate branding expert--it reinforces it. The allure for professionals, job seekers, and college grads is that they now have access to the same branding strategies Brenda uses to help the likes of Kraft and KFC, through a series of books created just for them.
"Extending the franchise to college students," says Brenda, "provides me additional speaking opportunities. Whenever I’m working with corporate clients in various locations, there are inevitably colleges nearby where I can speak. This allows me to connect with and help students with their job-searches, and Career Services are happy to have me speak, so they pay me a fee and offer to sell my books in the back of the room.
"But even more importantly," she says, "those smart college students will be managers in a few years’ time, looking to hire a speaker, trainer, and coach. So, I collect students’ e-mail addresses for my data base in order to build up a relationship with them that hopefully will last for years to come. I already have a number of university bookings set up for this year."
This Book Cover IS Your Brand
Creating your book's front and back cover positioning language is intended to be a once-and-done function. You are not just creating a "back cover blurb," you are choosing how to identify and communicate your brand. With her first three "How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo" books in place, Brenda can continue to extend her expertise to other niche markets through additional books that will continue to add value to her series and overall brand.
Use It Across ALL Marketing Platforms
The positioning you develop as the your core marketing message for your book cover now functions as the key branding message you use across all your marketing platforms--your website content, book website content, media kit, press releases, social media profiles, public speaker materials, and any other sales collateral. Again, see Brenda Bence's website for good examples.
3 Goals for Creating a Book Title with Branding Power
Here is what to strive for on not just your books, but also your ebooks, information products, speaking topics, and any other parts of the your brand marketing:
- Create a book title that makes people see their world differently
If you can tie your brand to some tangible part of people's lives, you can trigger thoughts of you when people see it. In Brenda's case, the image of "How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo" triggers a connection any time you are faced with a sea of shampoos, competing for your attention on your grocery store shelf. It may even make you stop to think about why you choose one brand over another and what your personal brand says about you.
- Establish a book title that is flexible enough to function for a book series
This way, you can accommodate your growth into known and not-yet-identified markets. With the right title, simply inserting the word "For" after the title can link your message to any audience you decide to reach out to.
- Develop positioning that attracts more of your ideal client
Just as the individuals in Brenda's new niche markets are attracted to her international reputation as the brand expert to the corporate stars, she also elevates her expert status in the eyes of her corporate market as a now published author. As a published author, she gains exponential credibility in the eyes of all her markets. That is exactly why that back cover sales copy--the foundation for Brenda's marketing--intentionally makes that corporate expertise a high-visibility part of her marketing message.
What Will Your Next Book Do for You and Your Brand?
Contact us if you are thinking about writing a book or if you are already in the manuscript or book cover process. We will answer your book cover questions about when to get started and more. And, we will create a bestselling cover for you that builds, refreshes, or expands a profitable brand for you and your business. We can also refer you to a book cover designer to handle the visual part of your brand.
Email us at info@WriteToYourMarket.com or call us 1-888-634-4120.
Susan Kendrick and Graham Van Dixhorn, Write To Your Market, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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