Personality Not Included: Interview with Rohit Bhargava

Last week Rohit Bhargava put out the offer to do blog interviews about his new book, Personality Not Included which is being launched today. Naturally, I took up the challenge.  You can also see who else is hosting interviews and get a fantasic overview of Rohit's new book and how it came about. Following are my questions and Rohit Bhargava's responses:

Our clients are primarily service professionals, consultants, speakers and coaches. How do the tactics in your book apply to a solo professional or micro business vs. a larger company?

A very timely question ... actually, I have something in the works which I will release next week which will likely answer this question more completely.  The book is very much tailored towards organizations needing to build their personality and for the individuals within those organizations.  There will be something else available shortly which is focused on the solo professional.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in your research?

The most surprising thing would have to be the access to people that I could get via email.  If I wrote a book 10 years ago, I would get handled by secretaries and have a real tough time getting access to people.  Now, I would just email and could contact anyone worldwide. 

What is your definition of a "great brand"?

A great brand is one that has personality, of course!  To me, that means that the brand is unique, authentic and talkable.  That's the formula I share for having a personality and what I think is most critical for brands. 

How do you define "personality" in the context of a brand?

Oops, I think I answered this question as part of my last answer!

If you were advising a service professional and they could only implement one of "new styles of marketing" that you identify, which one would it be and why?

I would have to say it would be "Useful Marketing."  This is the idea of creating content that is useful and then using it for promoting yourself.  It's a common concept in BtoB marketing (through white papers) as well.  Blogging is a part of this and I think it's a concept that you have used to great affect with your blogs and something you have also counseled your clients such as John (OrganizingLA) to do very well also.  I think you can probably skip that section since you're so well versed in it already! :-)

I ordered my copy of Personality Not Included a couple of days ago and can't wait to get it. I'll also be eagerly looking for whatever it is that Rohit mentioned in answer #1 that he'll be releasing next week.