Branding Your Program Starts with You!

Have you ever thought about how all the little things you do each day help create a brand for your program, because you are the face of your program? If you thought about it, would you do some things differently knowing that? Hopefully the answer is "no" and they are you who you are at work and at play.

I read a book called "How" by Dov Seidman. The full title is "How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life)" It is a pretty good read. And it got me thinking about why some Career and Technical Education Programs thrive and others do not. The biggest factor is the teacher. So with that in mind, I thought teachers should look at themselves to see what image/brand they are projecting to the students on their campus and parents in the community?

How you make decisions
How you say what you mean
How you follow through
How you treat others
How you make mistakes
How you apologize

All those "Hows" become your story – Your Brand

Our church has a sticker that some people put on their cars to show they are members of this Church. My husband does not want the sticker on his car. He said that sometimes he does not drive in a way that is in keeping with the Church, so does not want the Church to have a bad image because of him. It is funny and it is true. You are the image of your program. Are you creating a good image?

So maybe we need to do a SWOT analysis on ourselves, our attitudes, our classrooms, our daily lesson plans, and our manners.

What are the strengths?
What are the weaknesses?
What are the opportunities?
What are the threats?

Do we provide a class that kids want to be a part of?
Do kids tell others about the good things we do in class?
Do we create projects that engage students?
Is their work meaningful and significant?

Look for the opportunities to sell your brand. Here are a few that are easy to do.

• I cover classes for other teachers and used to look at it as an interruption to my prep. Now, I see it as a valuable opportunity to meet some new students and recruit them to marketing and DECA....just by introducing myself and getting some time with them. And I get comp time. (I love 2 for 1's)
• Use duty time as a way to meet kids. I visit every table during lunch duty and introduce myself. I ask what is the best part of their day so far. I have to be at duty anyway so might as well meet more kids!

So, think about how you brand your program.

What other ideas can we share with each other? Post them here so we can all do a better job!