In the August Issue:
Aligning Personal Style for Extraordinary Brand Presence
Personal style is about more than which blouse you wear to your afternoon Zoom meeting. As a business owner, the line between your own image and your business brand is thin, and in many cases, nonexistent.
You are your brand. Allow me to repeat that: You are your brand.
Everything you do, say, write, and wear, represents your business. You have tremendous opportunity to be your company’s billboard and greatest ambassador. Consistency breeds credibility, and a personal style that’s in alignment with your business, fosters trust in the community to whom you market. It’s not hard to accomplish, but does require awareness and intentional choices.
Non-verbal Messaging
Does the message you send with your presence and your bio photo reflect your brand’s personality? Your brand’s “vibe” can guide selections of photos for your website and marketing materials. People do business with those that they know, like, and trust. Let your market see your face in your business collaterals. Featuring your photo on your website’s “About” page lets visitors know there’s a person behind the brand.
Do you provide a creative product to clients? Show them an animated, energetic, or spirited personality in your photos. Conversely, if your business provides a nurturing or healing service, then images with a gentle, calming personality best support your communications. No matter the message, wear your smile. Smiling bio photos lead to perceptions of both competency and friendliness.
Color Power
When in harmony with your natural features, color has an incredible ability to add vibrance and energy to your presence. A professional color evaluation will guide you to the color palette that can visually take years off your appearance, projecting an engaged demeanor. From that curated collection of colors, choose hues that mirror or complement your business brand’s colors. A color’s psychological significance is another tool to reinforce your brand’s essence. If you want to portray authority and intelligence with your appearance, choose navy blue (powder blue won’t cut it).
Is a cheerful, youthful feeling your goal? Yellow can raise spirits -- your own as well as those you interact with.
Camera Friendly
Whether or not your business puts you in front of a camera on a regular basis, it’s difficult to escape a webcam in this age of virtual meetings. Even if you think you didn’t get the “style gene,” here are 3 ways to style yourself for the camera like a pro:
Skip the leopard-print blouse. Prints and patterns make a photo environment distracting to the eye. When you’re face-to-face with another in a physical space, animated voice, gestures, and expressions help keep the attention on you and your message.
It’s harder to look past high-impact visual elements when the back-and-forth of normal conversation is absent. Keep it solid.
Silence your dressing. In real life, a jangly bracelet or rustling fabric diverts attention away from you and your verbal message. In front of the camera, visually-dominant accessories, unique design elements, and shiny buttons and trims have the same effect. Keep it quiet.
Learn a new language. (Or perfect the one that’s native.) When dressing for the camera, speak the same language as your listener. In website and marketing photos, your listeners are your potential customers and clients. What do they identify with? Is it a subdued and low-key approach to work? Then deliver that. Do they value an upbeat spirited edge to work ideas? Then there’s your language. Keep it fluent.
Your brand tells the world what your business does. You tell the world who your business is. Allow your personal appearance to communicate that with intention and confidence.
PATTY BUCCELLATO, AICI, CIP
STYLE REBOOT COACH
Since 1993 Style-Reboot Coach, Patty Buccellato, has shown the way for hundreds of women leaders and business owners to discover their hidden style mastery.
Contrary to popular belief, surveys show nearly half of all women hate to shop for clothing. Talented and successful women who are among that 50% call upon Patty for rescue. For them, she busts fashion myths, purveys wardrobe hacks, and teaches how to identify the style that changes success trajectories.
Patty is expert at bringing her clients out of the closet with a personal style that suits their body, psyche, and circumstances. The result: her clients find permission to break up with ”blah” and unleash their natural magnetism.
Find Patty HERE!
