For the last couple of days, we've been talking about how often you show up on the first page of Google.

According to Forbes, less than 2% of all people dominate page one of the Google search results for their name and one out of three have no presence on page one at all. They're invisible.

Yesterday, you picked out YourName.com or the closest thing to it as the first step out of the shadows and into the light.

Today, we're going to talk about what Google is saying about you, how to start training it to use the words you want it to use, and another BIG MISTAKE that almost everyone makes when they set out to create their personal brand.

Often times, when someone sets out to establish a memorable online image and increase their digital footprint, the first thing they do is proclaim themselves to be a Guru, Ninja or Rock Star of whatever it is they're selling.

The problem is the last thing you want your personal brand to be about is you.

It ain't about you. It's about how you can help them.

Your personal brand is simply a fancy, schmancy internet word for what your grandfather used to call your reputation. It's the idea of you that exists in the minds of others.

We learned in Sales 101 that we have to sell BENEFITS instead of features. No one is interested in shampoo, they're shopping for good hair days.

If you start spouting off about how you're the Guru of this, that, or the other thing, you're making it all about you and you come off as a pompous jerkwad.

What you want to plant in their brain is the idea that you have the SKILL SET and the MINDSET to help solve their problems.

Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy says we form instantaneous, lasting opinions of people we meet based on our initial judgment of two questions:

Can I respect this person? Can I trust this person?

Respect is a measure of competence. Can this person do the job?

But trust is a measure of warmth and likeability.

Warmth opens wallets.

Research shows that despite all the pre-purchase research that happens online and elsewhere, people often end up closing the deal with the salesperson they "like" the most.

People don't make buying decisions for logical reasons. They make buying decisions for emotional reasons, and use logic to justify and explain those decisions.

So I've developed a formula for a positioning statement that allows you to plant the seed that you are both competent and likable, that you're interested in helping them solve their problems, and that you can get the job done.

I call it the MICRO MANIFESTO:

I help (WHO) do (WHAT)

If you can craft a 25-word version of that sentence to describe yourself and insert it into exactly the right places on your website, your social media profiles, and your content, You can start to train Google to describe you in exactly those words.

If you Google me, Google will tell you a several times on the front page that I help salespeople and entrepreneurs create an army of buyers who know, like, and trust you before they've ever even met you.

And Google's going to tell you that in exactly those words because that's exactly what I've trained Google to tell you. That's exactly the story that I want you to hear.

No one cares if I'm a Personal Branding Rock Star. You care about how I can help you build deeper, more meaningful, and more profitable relationships with an ever expanding network of customers.

It ain't about me. It's about how I can help you.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT

Download the worksheet and create a 25-word description of who you help and how you can help them.

Then post your MICRO MANIFESTO in the

If you don't share it, it didn't happen!

Today was about using words as seeds to grow the idea of you. Tomorrow is picture day. Get a good night's sleep so you can smile pretty for Sergeant Terry in the morning.

"Terry Lancaster takes the subject of branding, makes it an art form and takes it to a whole new level."

- Tony D'Urso, Author

PS

How else may I be of service? If you've got questions, I've got answers. Let's schedule a no-obligation 25-minute strategy session to put you on the path of righteousness. I can help you fine tune your micro manifesto and tell you exactly where to insert those words for maximum Google juice. But if you don't call, I can't help.