Newsletter - Issue #70

COMPETENCE GETS YOU IN THE ROOM. PERCEIVED VALUE GETS YOU INVITED BACK.

We're back to our weekly newsletter after the summer break! I hope you returned refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the year with renewed energy.

As we dive back into business mode, I wanted to address something that might have been on your mind during those quiet moments of reflection...

You've built impressive expertise, delivered solid results, and consistently showing-up as a professional. Yet, somehow, the recognition, opportunities, and influence you deserve seem to go to others who aren't necessarily more capable than you.

That frustration could be true whether you're a career-focused professional or a founder!

In reality, being exceptional at what you do only gets you noticed by those already working with you. But there's a subtle shift that transforms invisible experts into sought-after leaders: they understand that competence gets them in the room, but perceived value gets them invited back.

Perceived value isn’t just a component of personal brand. It’s the mechanism that transforms your personal brand from mere recognition into actual influence and opportunity generation.

Understanding this distinction is crucial because many professionals build brand awareness without building brand value.

The Brand-Value Hierarchy

Think of personal brand as having three levels:

• Level 1: Brand Awareness: “I know who they are”
• Level 2: Brand Recognition: “I know what they do”
• Level 3: Brand Value: “I believe they can solve problems I care about”

Most personal branding advice stops at recognition. Perceived value is what elevates your brand from recognition to influence, and from visibility to desirability.

Perceived value also functions within the personal brand architecture. Here's how:

1. Value as Brand Differentiation: Your personal brand answers “Who are you?” but perceived value answers “Why should I care?”. In crowded markets, differentiation comes not just from being different, but from demonstrating your value in ways others are not.

For example, traditionally, you'd approach talking about yourself such as this: “I’m a marketing consultant with 10 years experience”. However, the value-driven approach would be: “I’ve helped 50+ B2B companies reduce customer acquisition costs by an average of 40% through positioning strategy.”

The second approach embeds perceived value directly into the brand statement by highlighting specific, measurable outcomes that matter to the target audience.

2. Value as Brand Credibility Mechanism: Perceived value serves as the proof system for your personal brand claims. Without it, your brand is just marketing copy. With it, your brand becomes a credible promise of future performance.

For example, your personal brand claim could be that you're an expert in sustainable brand transformation. However, credibility comes with proof of value, such as speaking at major industry conferences, case studies of successful transformations, thought leadership content that gets cited or testimonials from satisfied customer.

The perceived value evidence transforms any claim into a credible brand positioning.

3. Value as Brand Magnetism: High perceived value makes your personal brand magnetic rather than promotional. This way, instead of pushing your brand onto others, you become a value-driven brand that attracts stakeholders who seek out what you offer.

An example of a push-approach constantly promoting your achievements and capabilities, while a pull-approach is consistently demonstrating value through insights, solutions, and results that make people want to engage with you.

Now what?

Professionals & founders with the most successful personal brands are people who built a reputation on the foundation of genuine, demonstrable value that serves their target audience's most important needs.

Top achieve that, your focus should be on the messaging, the content, and the networking, where they all can amplify and prove this underlying value that you have.

Here are some strategic tips that you can implement immediately:

1- Your value as an expert: What you know is your knowledge base, so try to position that knowledge as value delivery rather than credential listing. This can be done by:

• Transforming your experience into reusable frameworks others can apply
• Sharing insights that solve real problems for your target audience
• Creating intellectual property (methodologies, tools, models) that others find valuable

2- Your value within a network: This is all about “Who You Know and Who Knows You”. Your network becomes part of your perceived value. This can be done by:

• The quality of people who engage with your content
• The caliber of events where you speak or participate
• The partnerships and collaborations you’re involved in
• The endorsements and recommendations from respected figures in your industry

3- Your impact value: What have you changed that resulted in tangible outcomes, that demonstrates your ability to create positive impact. This can be done by:

• Documenting and sharing specific results (with permission)
• Telling transformation stories, not just success stories
• Quantifying your impact whenever possible
• Showing before-and-after scenarios (if applicable)

4- The value of your perspective: This is the value of how you think differently, and your distinctive viewpoint that offers new ways of understanding or approaching challenges. This can be done by:

• Sharing contrarian views that prove correct over time or counterintuitive insights backed by evidence
• Sharing a combination of ideas from different fields that can prove beneficial to your line of work by connecting the dots others miss between different trends or fields
• Sharing or showcasing cultural or experiential perspectives others lack
• Having predictive insights about industry trends
• Taking thoughtful positions on industry debates

There is a compound effect that happens when you focusing on your perceived value and positioning: value builds your personal brand equity.

Initially, delivering value builds recognition and helps in building credibility. Consistency in value delivery is what creates a strong reputation and referrals. Over time, an established reputation generates premium opportunities.

As a founder or entrepreneur, your personal brand from a marketing perspective is a business asset! Over time and with consistency, your audience won't just recognize your name, they will actively seek you out because they believe you can create value for them.

Hope you found this week's newsletter useful. See you next week!

Rana xx