There is a simple formula to start with “I help…” and what ever it is you do for your target market. Another way according to IIise Benun, author of Self Promotion Online, is to come up with a 10 word blurb in various ways. First by asking the questions “What do you do”, then “For whom” and finally “What do they get”. You then write the blurb from the problem-solving perspective.

Your “who and do what” is an important part of your marketing strategy. If you can’t explain what you do to someone they won’t see any value in your services.

Spending time crafting different ways of explaining what you do to others is important. It helps you focus on who you really want to work with and what your target audience needs to hear in order to trust you.

© iStockphoto.com / SaulHerrera

The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself. – Alan Alda

I’ve read a lot about personal branding, frankly that is just a new term for something we do everyday…. marketing ourselves. Most people hate marketing for a variety of reasons. They feel that there is something bad about it. But we sell ourselves everyday. For example, when we’re trying to impress that new guy or girl we think is cute or get that job we want so badly.

Everyone has something special about them but it is only when we truly embrace our uniqueness that we excel in our personal and professional lives. If we hide what makes us special so that we are accepted by others we tend not to get the results we expect.

Whether you’re building a new website, launching some other product or deciding what you want to be known for, start by figuring out what makes you unique. People will remember what you stand for much quicker.

The seminars I was actually able to get to were Facebook: Knowing is Better, Speaking 50+ and The Future in 4D: Brands, Communities, Content and Technology.

I missed the Forbes Economic Summit which covered the present and future state of the global economy as it relates to its impact on advertising and media industries.

Here are some highlights from the seminars I did attend:

Facebook: Knowing is Better – The presenters were Facebook, COO, Sheryl Sandberg, – Nielsen Online, CEO, John Burbank and Sony Pictures, CEO, Michael Lynton. This talk was about how to engage users in a meaningful way, scalable and measurable way. If a company can’t measure results in some fashion getting budgets approved for projects is indeed tough. Facebook now has about 300 million users with the average user having about 130 friends according to COO Sheryl Sandberg. The number of user accesses Facebook via mobile devices is currently growing as well. The current estimate is that about 65 million users access Facebook via a mobile device.

Facebook has partnered with Nielsen Online to generate market research that can be used by companies and the entities that represent them. The data collected is anonymous and users have the option of opt-ing out of any market research. Demographic information is collected as part of the research.

Facebook doesn’t consider itself a web destination but a technology company. It’s goal is to be a platform for creating connections and also allow users to interact with marketers the same way they interact with friends.

Speaking 50+ – This seminar was presented by Grandparents.com. The speakers were Jerry Shereshewsky, CEO, Grandparents.com, Brent Bouchez, Creative Director, Agency Five 0 and Matt Thornhill, President, The Boomer Project . During this session a lot was made of the fact that people who are 50+ are dead to marketers who fail to recognize of the size of this market. They only seem interested in the 18 – 49 demographic of consumers. A mistake according to the panelist because on average consumers 50+ have more income to spend on products and service. This they say holds true despite the current economic climate.

The 50+ consumer makes up about 40% of the marketplace yet most advertising focuses on younger audiences. Most marketers it seems believe that people 50+ are only interested in health and age related products. Matt Thornhill mentioned that More magazine, a publication geared towards women 50+ has a hard time getting advertising for items such as luxury cars, etc. Interesting fact is that most luxury cars are bought by people 50+. Something that is definitely not clear by watching the commercials for these items. The average buyer of Mercedes is 61.

During The Future in 4D: Brands, Communities, Content and Technology seminar a few things struck a chord:

• Every product should have a back-story
• Consumer data yields power (have a purpose for collecting it and use it wisely)
• Every product must resonate on a human level
• Be brave! Make mistakes. Course correct if necessary

Customers don’t relate to anonymity on your part or theirs. If you want to differentiate yourself based on personalized service, you need to be prepared to interact with customers — even millions of them — as individuals. – Patricia Seybold and Ronni Marshak, Customer.com

An enterprise gets smarter and smarter with every individual interaction, defining in ever more detail the customer’s own individual needs and tastes. – Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Enterprise One to One

There is no artifice as good and desirable as simplicity – St. Francis de Sales

Your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick one person — a real person you know, or an imagined person — and write to that one. – John Steinbeck

If you have an unhappy customer on the Internet, he doesn’t tell six friends, he tells 6,000 friends. – Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com

Jeff Bezos, is absolutely right, he should know people were in an uproar not to long ago on Twitter about something his company supposedly did.

The Internet has given us all a voice. But who is listening?

On second thought, I think I might have to go to Dunkin’ Donuts to try their egg white turkey sausage flatbread sandwich after all. Enjoy!