Is your VOICEMAIL GREETING up to date?

When it comes to about reinforcing your PERSONAL BRAND, what should we focus on first?

The obvious places to start are with your LinkedIn profile, your resume and bio, your body language, and how you introduce yourself. (That’s where I’d start, too!)

But as I said to someone recently, “The opportunities of where to communicate your Personal Brand are infinite!”

That means looking in the less obvious places…

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…like your voicemail greeting!

In this week’s Talk About Talk podcast episode, I share a checklist of 5 IMPACTFUL but often OVERLOOKEDways to reinforce your Personal Brand:

1️⃣ Your VOICEMAIL message
2️⃣ Your email SIGNATURE
3️⃣ Your online meeting BACKGROUND
4️⃣ Your GRAVATAR (globally recognized avatar)
5️⃣ Your ANSWER when asked, “How was your weekend?”

Raise Your Voice(mail)!

If you’re a regular reader or listener, you’ll know how passionate I am about helping people articulate and communicatetheir Personal Brands.

I say this all the time, and I may sound like a broken record, but we ALL have a Personal Brand, whether or not we CHOOSE to strategically manage it.

One often overlooked way to reinforce your Personal Brand is through your voicemail greeting.

Your voicemail is a prime opportunity for others to hear your name, your voice, and your words.

Ok, before we go any further, let’s try something.

Stop right now and call your voicemail.

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Listen CRITICALLY to your voicemail greeting, and ask yourself if it properly reflects your Personal Brand.

If the answer is yes, fantastic!

If the answer is no, (or if the answer is, “I never bothered to record one in the first place”), don’t waste any time and UPDATE your greeting right away!

“Yours Sincerely”…

Think of the volume of emails you respond to on a daily basis.

Every one of those emails is an opportunity for you to communicate your Personal Brand!

This one is actually a two-parter: your SIGN-OFF and your SIGNATURE.

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Part 1: The Sign-Off

A huge pet peeve of mine is the generic sign-off, like “Regards, Andrea” or “Best, Andrea.”

At BEST, this is a missed opportunity for a personalized sign-off (“Looking forward to speaking with you tomorrow!” “Thanks for your help with this”).

And at WORST, the generic sign-off may be inappropriate, depending on the context of the email.

So always CUSTOMIZE your sign-off. It will only take you a few extra seconds.

Part 2: The Signature

This is the part that shows up after your name and contains information like your job title, the name of your business, and how to contact you.

Andrea’s Email Signature

Think of your signature as a BUSINESS CARD that you can optimize with the following suggestions:

DO block off this section with a line or a frame.
DO personalize it and update it on a regular basis.
DO include relevant links, perhaps to your LinkedIn profile or website.
DO provide contact information.
DON’T include your email address – you’re writing an email, after all. The recipient will already have this.
DON’T include a phone number if that’s not how you wish to be contacted.
DO be selective and ensure that your signature isn’t too long.

That’s it for this week! I hope this episode helps you to reinforce your Personal Brand in new and impactful ways.

You can listen to this episode directly on the Talkabouttalk.com website just by clicking ▶️PLAY. Or you can find the podcast on any podcast app. Just search “Talk About Talk.”

Enjoy the podcast!

Please forward this email to your friends who might like help with their communication skills and job-seeking. Thank you.

Have a great week.

Talk soon,