Without a doubt you'll agree that the key to successful selling is promotion. You need to get your name and your product out there. You want the press, your colleagues and your prospective clients to know exactly what you can do for them. To do this, you must build your brand.

Your brand is more than just your product name, your catchy tag line or your well-designed web site. It's also your credibility in the marketplace. Your brand is, simply, the way your customers perceive you and your product.

Stefanie Hartman, a marketing strategist who helps high-profile clients build a solid brand identity for themselves, explains branding this way. "When it comes to branding you have two choices: brand yourself or brand your value. It's true that people don't buy products; people by people, and so it may seem like branding yourself is the obvious choice. However, that can backfire.”

When you brand yourself, you become the main attraction. You are the face of your business - the only face - and clients will not settle for a stand in. This means that when your business becomes successful, you won't be able to take time off. You'll have to be everything to everyone, all the time. However when you choose to brand your value - that is, the information or the product that you're offering - your schedule opens right up. You still get the recognition as an expert, but the product you're selling becomes the main attraction. People will want the product first; you become secondary. A successful branding strategy is one that allows you to stay in the background. If you've worked hard to build your brand and your product is selling well, don't make the mistake of thinking that you're finished. A successful sales person is always looking for ways to increase sales. Never think that you're at the top.

"If your marketing person tells you that all you need to do is get your book

to number one and you'll be all set, you should run or stop paying them,” says Hartman. "Here's why. A book is a lead generator. It will make you money, earn you recognition and credibility, get you new customers and get you press. But it's not your main moneymaker.”

To make more money you need to increase sales. Develop a CD-Rom or DVD seminar series, give lectures or write ebooks or reports that compliment your primary product. By selling these other items, you not only increase sales, you solidify your brand. Branding is something that never ends; you're never finished building it. You always have more to gain, new clients to reach, new goals to reach. Your brand will get you there.

The secret to becoming financially successful in today's marketing is to brand your value, position yourself as an expert, and exploit that expertise. Believe in what you're selling and offer your customers an outstanding value. "The important thing to remember,” says Hartman, " is that you don't have to sell out to sell. You can build your brand and establish yourself in the marketplace and still be an ethical person.”

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