It’s Stephanie C. Harper

Recently, I had the pleasure to be a featured “diva” panelist for the Exceptional Women of Color Networking Conference, an annual event held in the Sacramento, California area.   The Conference was fantastic and while this was about “Exceptional Women”, the Distinguished Men’s panel certainly stole the show – but that’s another blog.

Because I’m not a regular blogger, when I do, I’m always looking for things to discuss that you wont see on most blogs.  While this topic has been something that I’ve addressed privately with various organizations who have requested my presence, today I’d like to blog about “getting it right” publicly.   What is it?  My name and the names of others.

As customary, the beautiful and funny host introduced those of us selected to be part of  the “diva” panel to the audience.  Even though the program had my name printed as “Stephanie C. Harper”, the host introduced me as Stephanie Harper.   In true form, I pushed the little button to engage my mic and corrected her, stating “it’s Stephanie C. Harper”.   She laughed, called me a Diva and responded with “okay,  Stephanie C. Harper!”   Since the was the “Diva Panel”, I too laughed and didn’t take any offense to her remark.   But the reality is, this is not about bragging, this is about branding! While we laughed about it, this is a very serious issue for me.  See, what’s printed is what’s preferred!  Why?….it’s my brand!

For any business or business owner, branding is crucial.  Having a public career, “Stephanie C. Harper” is my name BUT ALSO A BRAND!  The “C” is one of the many things that set my brand apart from others.  The bigger issue is anyone in the audience who may have wanted to  connect with me and decided to do a Google search may not have found me.  If you Google “Stephanie Harper” here are several things you find.

So I think you get my point!  Stephanie Harper is NOT JUST ME!   I’ve been around a while so I was fortunate to purchase the domains  StephanieHarper.com and StephanieCHarper.com {and they both point to my personal website} and I typically come up first in the Google Search, but if you want to find me…and a ton of info about me, please search for “Stephanie C. Harper”.

The overall point of this blog post, especially for those of us with blogs, radio shows, TV shows and such,  how a person submits their name in print, is how they prefer to be addressed.  People take the time build their brands the way they wish to be represented.   In many cases, they may have paid someone to write their bios, content for webpages, media kits and the likes.  When people are asked to submit a bio or profile, others should be mindful of the details which may not seem like a huge big deal, but as I have shared above, you see how minor details can make a major difference!  If you Google “Stephanie C. Harper” well, here’s what you get!

 

Many of you know, I am also married and intimately people call me by my husband’s last name….if my husband respects the brand – YOU CAN TOO!  (insert smile).  However when introducing or presenting me to others in any public forum, as the name of this blog says, “ITS STEPHANIE C. HARPER”.   Not only is it a matter of respect, it’s a matter of reputation management.  I’m committed to the look, sound, feel and flow of my branding message, down to the photos that I use.  It’s that serious for me!  Have you ever seen a blue Coca Cola can?  No, because they have a consistent branding message and that is my goal as well.  I have worked VERY hard on creating the Stephanie C. Harper brand, so much so that I have a presence on the first 40 pages of Google.  I’ve worked hard on inserting that “C” into the mix PURPOSELY to stand out and be set apart! So ya see, it’s not about being a “diva” at all, just proper representation of the brand!  Details are important, please pay attention to the details and everyone will be happy!  #BrandManagement #BrandingMatters #RespectTheBrand

*********just thought this was a good teachable moment!********

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