WOW, Paula Deen has really stepped in it, huh? And judging by uproar, with sponsors dropping like flies and her TV show possibly on the chopping block, things are going from bad to worse. This happening, however, provides what our good buddy President Obama would characterize as a “teachable moment.” Chiefly in its illustration of the massive importance of effectively managing your Brand and presenting Your Best Possible Self.
 

Personal Branding Can Be A Hairy Business

From Paris Hilton to the Kardashians to Jersey Shore stars The Situation and Snookie, new school “businesses” have been built around the concept of: Personal Branding. (In fact, developing a personal brand appears to the only money-making potential in “reality show” stardom)
Paula Deen, like Kim K and Co, is her brand. The cooking show, restaurant, cookbooks and product endorsements all flow from her media persona. But unlike the aforementioned “reality TV stars,” whose brand is synonymous with “bad behavior,” Deen’s brand is synonymous with wholesome American values.
Deen’s confessions of lobbing racial epithets, regardless of who did what to whom, has really brought the smack down on her media identity, in turn killing her brand – which we’ve already established is her business.

You Are Your Reputation

In business, any and all comments, actions, marketing and advertising campaigns, etc… should certainly never offend anyone, and throwing around the n-word is obviously a big no-no. Ultimately, your marketing measures should always present your Best Possible Self.
This is uber-important in the small business realm, because just like Paula Deen, your reputation rest heavily on your customer’s perception.
Big companies have some room to shuck and jive…If the CEO of Proctor & Gamble or General Motors makes controversial comments, it reflects poorly and the business usually suffers. But it’s possible for behemoths like those multinationals to mitigate the damage…an executive can be fired, and their comments denounced as contrary to the company’s position. Quickly followed by the appointment of a new CEO, who takes up the reigns, and moves forward with a totally revamped, controversy-free narrative.
Not so for a personal brands or small business. In Deen’s situation, she is her brand. She can’t be disconnected from the products she endorses, her TV show or her restaurant – that is her business – if she goes away, the biz is kaput.
In a local community setting, a business owner is synonymous with their business. If Jim the Drycleaner guy (or locksmith or attorney or whatever) on main street is cursing out a customer, calling them an n-word, it’s a pretty good bet that’s all she wrote for ole Jim’s dry cleaning biz. (word, as they say, gets around)

Presenting Your Best Possible Self

When you have professional photos taken for marketing and promotional purposes, the photographer uses colored backdrops, lights and a myriad tricks of the trade to make you look like a wildly glamorous movie star-type. And afterwards, the photographer most likely gets busy with photoshop, airbrushing away all your warts, blemishes, hairy moles and the like to give you a very glossy sheen.
Is this lying?
Are you being deceptive?
Not at all. You’re striving to present your Best Possible Self.
Likewise, the rest of your communications and marketing messages, which includes…

• social media marketing
• blogging
• advertising
• print media
• promotions and live events

among others, should always be optimized to present your business’s Best Possible Self.
Does this mean you should ignore mistakes that reflect badly on your business, or avoid controversy that involves your business? Absolutely not.
Paula Deen has certainly done her best to control the bleeding, with fist full of live TV interviews, in addition to hiring Smith & Company, a noted celebrity PR crisis management firm.
Meet mistakes and controversy head on, but address them in a positive manner. Everyone makes mistakes, so just accept responsibility, apologize, offering restitution, promise to learn from the experience and make good on those promises. It’s really not rocket science.

What About You?

Are you presenting your business’s Best Possible Self? If not, why? How could doing so improve your business?
Talkback: spill your guts for us and give up all the grimy details – we’d love to hear all about!