---

BizBooks: We will begin taking questions in less than hour.

Rohit Bhargava: Looking forward to answering all of your questions.

_______________________

BizBooks: Welcome to the 5th segment in the BizBooks Ask the Expert Series.

Today with he have with us author, Rohit Bhargava. Rohit is a SVP of Digital Strategy and a founding member of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence.

We will be discussing his new book Personality Not Included and along the way hopefully discover how your business can find its voice, delight its customers and use its personality.

Rohit Bhargava: Hi everyone - we are live and ready to go! I'm looking forward to answering a few questions about using your personality in business ...

_______________________

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI: How long from idea to publication did it take to create Personality Not Included?

Rohit Bhargava: The whole process of writing to publication for me was just under a year. It's a pretty fast turnaround for a full length business book, but both me and the publisher were keen to get the book out sooner rather than later so we worked hard to finish it and still have something we'd be proud of. One thing I was surprised at was that I thought I would be able to reuse more of my blog content for the book, and I really didn't use much. Luckily the blogging kept my writing skills current and probably helped me to write much faster than I could otherwise have.

_______________________

Warren Whitlock, BestSellerAuthors.com: You used social media marketing so well in the launch of your book. What advice do you have for authors wanting to get well known online?

Rohit Bhargava: Thanks for the compliment, Warren. For me, I had a blog and a personal brand established before writing my book and that was really important to getting a book deal, as well as having a good base of people who would be interested in it. For any author wanting to get well known online, I think the main thing you need to focus on is building your personal brand and network. This may mean starting a blog or joining social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. It could also mean starting to do more online interviews (such as blog interviews and podcasts). The more content there is out there for a Google search on your name or book name, the more ways that people have to get to know you and what you do.

_______________________

Boston, MA: What makes your book different from other marketing for web 2.0 books?

Rohit Bhargava: I'm glad you asked this one, because I spent a lot of time thinking about the answer to it as I was writing the book because there's no shortage of competition! I would sum up the difference between my book and others in two words: entertaining and useful. As I wrote the book, I focused on living up to these two themes. I wanted to write a book that was actually fun to read (I know, it's an odd way to describe a marketing book, but stay with me). To do that, I have more than a hundred stories in the book, from how a small restaurant in DC with just 8 seats creates one of the most unique dining experiences in the world to the story of LiveVault made the intensely technical subject of data storage approachable, fun and viral. The useful part comes from the structure of the book which has two main parts. The first part is the theory of personality in business and has six chapters with lots of stories that you could probably finish in a few hours on a quick plane flight. Along with all the stories are links to guides, tools, checklists and other resources in the second part of the book. That part is all about action and helping you to put the theory of the book to work for your business. This isn't meant to be just a big "theory" book, it's all about applying the lessons to your business.

_______________________

Dallas, Tex.: What is the one social media tool that you feel right now a small business cannot live without?

Rohit Bhargava: It may be odd to consider this a social media tool, but I think that social networks offer a very powerful tool that many small businesses are not using as much as they could be. Depending on who your audience is, this could mean Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, MeetUp, LinkedIn, Yelp, or another niche community. No matter what kind of business you are in, there are people who care about it or are looking for information that are seeking it through their trusted networks. This is not about search optimization but about being a part of the right communities. Whether you associate your business with a particular industry or a particular region, finding the right social networks and joining them is the smartest social media tool any small business can start to master.

_______________________

Virginia Beach, VA: Is email overload killing our brand personality? Even our personality in general?

Rohit Bhargava: This is a great question because it cuts to the heart of why personality matters. If you have a personality, you can help your company avoid being faceless. When you think about the potential power of email, it could be a great ally in doing that. The problem is that many companies use it as a way of blasting out information to a mass audience at a low cost. When you do that, you are certainly not helping your brand personality. But on the flip side, imagine how much impact a single well timed personal email from a real person in a company could have. Not only could you establish a very personal connection (perhaps even more so than the phone), but that connection could translate to others because of how easy emails are to pass around. It means we all need to rethink how we use email, but I think there is so much undiscovered potential in email that many companies are missing.

_______________________

San Francisco, Calif.: Is there one company you wish you could help out right now?

Rohit Bhargava: The one that stands out for me simply because I travel a lot and live in a major hub is United Airlines. The amount of money they waste on "brand campaigns" is just staggering. Who in America hasn't heard of United Airlines? No one. So why spend all this money to tell them who you are? They have so much potential to reinvent the way that they train their employees and that they use social media to allow people to have a more direct relationship with them. Sometimes I dream about getting them as a client because there are so many solutions that could make such a big impact on their brand. It's uncommon to have a brand with that much untapped potential.

_______________________

Somerville, Mass.: If you could choose the one single takeaway from the book that is the most important for marketers in developing a brand personality, what would it be?

Rohit Bhargava: It would be that "personality matters." It matters for the brands that customers are loyal to and it matters for the companies that people want to work for and continue to work for. This doesn't mean you can replace the necessity for having a good product or service. You need to do that too. But if you can just focus on bringing the personality out of your organization, you are already ahead. In terms of an actionable way to do that, here's a quick exercise. Go to the about page of your website and read what you have on that page out loud to yourself. Does it sound like a real person talking or like a faceless marketing brochure? Now think about using a human voice instead of that marketing voice and see how much better you can make it.

_______________________

Atlanta, Ga.: Is there one company right now that you feel is doing it right?

Rohit Bhargava: One company that I often point to which I think is a great example is one that may not be familiar to very many people based in the US ... a UK based smoothie maker called Innocent Drinks. As their name indicates, they make fruit smoothies that you can buy in most grocery stores in the UK which are all natural with real fruit. They have many ways, though, that they bring their personality to life and make it as necessary a part of how people connect with the brand and the quality of their product. In the winter, they have senior citizens knit little wool hats for their smoothie bottles and donate the proceeds to charity. They held a customer gathering several months ago in leiu of a shareholder meeting where they invited people to sample new flavors and gave them an inside look at the company. It was open to any customer who wanted to be part of it, and resulted in huge word of mouth and even more loyalty from their best customers. A common question from many businesses is how they can find their best customers. For Innocent Drinks, all they had to do was hold a big event, invite everyone and wait to see who showed up. It's a great company story worth googling ...

_______________________

Baltimore, Md.: I have not yet read your book but I plan on buying a copy. One question I have is when did the light bulb come on for you and how did it come about?

Rohit Bhargava: Well, I would say that "light bulb" for me came when I was reading yet another blog talking about how blogging was going to change the way businesses communicate. I'm a blogger myself and I believe in the power of blogging, but I also don't think that starting a blog is for everyone and I'm very vocal about that. Blogs are one communication tool, but there are lots of others. And the thing that is changing in how businesses communicate isn't that blogs will save us all, it's something bigger. For me, that idea led me to personality, which I think is a much broader concept. Blogs help you bring your business to life, but there are other ways to do that too (such as commenting online or being a part of social networks). In each case, what you are doing is avoiding being faceless and giving a voice to your brand. The real trend is that successful companies are getting more HUMAN and letting their customers have a stronger relationship with them as a result. I believe that personality is the biggest trend in business today and will continue to grow in importance over the next several years as more businesses start to understand it and think beyond just blogs.

_______________________

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI: Do you evangelize for any brands?

Rohit Bhargava: I think I'm very much like anyone, I evangelize for the brands that I have a personal connection to or make products that I love. Those that are able to offer me more of a connection to their products or an inside look are the ones that I tend to talk about even more. For example, Scott Jordan, the founder of Scottevest, is a good friend of mine. I love his products (multipocketed "gear management clothes") but I also like his philosophy for business and feel a personal connection to him. He's featured in the book and recently took many of the lessons from the book and redesigned his company's website to use those ideas to give you even more of an idea of his personality and that of his business. Over time I think there will be more and more examples of brands like this, and those will be the ones that we all talk about.

_______________________

Chicago, Ill.: I'm part of a marketing team at a media company. While a few of us on the team keep pushing to get our products featured on social media outlets, such as Facebook and YouTube, we are faced with pessimism from many of our teammates. How do you get colleagues to wake up to the 21st century and embrace the opportunities of (free) online marketing?

Rohit Bhargava: Read Pages 271 - 282 of the book! Actually, I'm only partly kidding. This is a great question and one that many of the more forward thinking marketing pros like yourself are going to have to contend with, which is opposition from others in your team. In fact, I was so concerned with offering a useful way of dealing with this situation that I wrote an entire Chapter (5) on dealing with people who may not "get it." Those pages I mentioned talk about dealing with obstacles and how to get past them. It's likely no surprise to you that they are likely coming from fear. In the book I offer a four part vision of what causes that fear, and try to give you a guidebook to dealing with it and overcoming in in a step by step guide. I have heard lots of examples already of people who have used that system to get past the exact situation you are describing. And if it doesn't work for you, send me an email at personalitynotincluded@gmail.com (sounds like a generic email but it goes right to me) and I'll offer up another idea to help.

_______________________

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI: What was your first job?

Rohit Bhargava: Hmmm, good question. My very first job would have to have been as a soccer referee when I was a kid. A great learning experience for a 13 year old to try and control a field full of ten year olds, I highly recommend it! After that, I've done everything from being an intern in an eye hospital to writing press releases for the Cartoon Network to waiting tables trying to make enough to move to Australia (which I did) to starting my own web startup and failing miserably. I'd rather not post the URL here but in case you really want to know send me an email at personalitynotincluded@gmail.com and I'll share it. Along the way, I uncovered that I really wanted to be in marketing and I've been doing it ever since.

_______________________

Chicago, Ill.: You mentioned that you established a personal brand first (before launching the book). What 2 or 3 things are the MOST important to do with regards to initially establishing a brand for yourself as an information expert?

Rohit Bhargava: I think that in addition to having your own platform of what you are an expert in, you need to proactively offer yourself up as an expert to get people to start to consider you. Part of that is thought leadership and having a way to promote your voice, but a bigger part is keeping an eye on where your point of view would be of benefit to someone and to target those opportunities. The other thing is to take some risks, and perhaps do something that may be outside of your day job. No one is going to hand you a personal brand with the possible exception of having a famous parent or family lineage. So take a risk and try to stand for something.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: In my experience, companies tend to focus more on brand identity when the profits are flowing, but when the economy is in a down-turn the knee-jerk reaction seems to be price-slashing and direct response advertising. How can you stress the importance of maintaining a focus on brand personality in a lagging economy?

Rohit Bhargava: That's an easy one - in a lagging economy it is more important than ever to keep the customers you have. The costs of getting more customers will continue to escalate from the already imbalanced ratio of how much it costs to keep a customer versus getting a new one. As I talked about in another response, customer loyalty is a big output from focusing on your personality. The other big output is that often by having a personality you are giving your customers something more to talk about ... a necessary thing when you consider the power and importance of word of mouth and referrals to most businesses. Add these together and you'll see that in a downturn, brands need to focus on personality more than ever.

_______________________

Boston, Mass.: I know you use Twitter. I run a small business but do not use Twitter. Am I missing out?

Rohit Bhargava: This is a tough one because it really does depend on the business. If you have a flooring business that is regional then Twitter could be a goldmine to spot new homeowners that are looking for vendors to quote for a new project (by doing a simple keyword search using a twitter search engine tool like www.summize.com). In that case, LISTENING to Twitter would be far more important than actually updating it if you are focused on your bottom line. I could imagine lots of other business cases where this type of information is not really helpful and Twitter would be more of a distraction or idle hobby rather than a real business tool. Ultimately it comes down to what you are trying to sell and whether there is a good reason to use or listen to the "twitterati."

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: What do you think is the most important thing for someone starting their own business in this personality driven market?

Rohit Bhargava: I think the most important thing is to be a real person and deal with others in the same way. Being faceless doesn't necessarily take having lots of employees. A single person shop can be equally faceless. The idea is that if you share more of your personality in your business, you create more of reason for people to interact with you, buy from you, and tell others about you.

_______________________

Atlanta, Ga. : I work for a great personality driven company, however there is talk of my company soon going public - is this a sure killer of our unique persona?

Rohit Bhargava: Not necessarily, though a common misperception is that big equals faceless. All small companies don't have a personality automatically and all big ones don't need to lose it. The trick will be knowing what the company stands for and not losing that as you go public. It will all be based on how well defined your business is and how strongly you can maintain that definition as you grow.

_______________________

Washington, DC: Our small business's personality had been largely defined by its founder, but he's now ramping down his involvement and a new CEO has joined us. What steps can the company take to modify its image to mesh with that of the new CEO?

Rohit Bhargava: Great question as the issue of succession is a tricky one. I think that ultimately the brands with personality are the ones that stand for more than just what the old or new CEO stands for. The idea in the book of "accidental spokespeople" is that when more than one person is speaking for your brand (including employees and customers), then you are getting a truer picture of what the brand stands for. You've got a great opportunity with the new CEO coming in to have more of a BRAND personality rather than an individual personality applied to your whole brand. My advice would be to take advantage of the chance!

_______________________

Columbus, Ohio: How do I ensure that my "personality" doesn't just blend in with the crowd? Seems like there are more and more personality driven businesses out there - won't we just eventually run out of "fresh" personalities?

Rohit Bhargava: The thing to remember about personality is that it's not a question of whether you have more or less of one, but rather whether you can let people see a more authentic part of your company. It's not necessarily about having a fresh personality, but having one that is true to what it is that you sell or offer. If your customers know what you stand for and have a personal association with your brand, you are on your way to using personality ... and it's not an idea that can get old or overused because every brand is aspiring for something different.

_______________________

Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany: Now you've had the chance to ponder it, how about revisiting how you are using sound as part of your outreach? (context: http://internetbrandingstrategy.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-lauch-personality-not-included.html .)

Rohit Bhargava: I have to admit, I haven't focused on this component yet, but am still planning to and will likely coincide it with the audio release of the book which should be in the next few months.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Is it easier for a lifestyle brand to develop a personality than a non-lifestyle brand? i.e. Starbucks and iPod vs. Fidelity and Bank of America

Rohit Bhargava: Good question. Actually, I have examples of both in the book and I don't think it's necessarily easier for one type of brand or another to use their personality. I talk about Starbucks and the iPod, but I also have a great story about ING Direct, Dole Bananas and lots of other unexpected stories. I think the idea of having a personality is one that applies to just about any brand and could be even more powerful in those examples like the ones you mention in your question where they are more unexpected.

_______________________

New York, NY: How can small businesses best use social media?

Rohit Bhargava: Embrace your accidental spokespeople, focus on your personality, tell your backstory and sieze your personality moments. That's the "recipe" for personality if it could be called that, and what you'll ultimately find in Personality Not Included.

_______________________

BizBooks: Looks like that's all the time we have for today. Thank you Rohit for taking the time to answer our questions. And thanks to everyone for joining us.

Rohit Bhargava: Thanks to everyone for all your great questions! I didn't quite get through all of them, but feel free to send me an email at personalitynotincluded@gmail.com and I'd be happy to try and answer yours if I didn't get to it.

---