UHV SBDC workshop to focus on business branding
Crossroads entrepreneurs can get clear guidance on developing their business and personal brand thanks to a new workshop from the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center.
Branding Yourself is a free, two-hour workshop hosted by the UHV SBDC. The workshop will be from 10 a.m. to noon March 22 in the UHV SBDC, 1908 N. Laurent St., Suite 400. Terri Kurtz, Victoria College executive director of human resources, will be the presenter.
“A brand is an important element in any business’ success,” UHV SBDC Director Joe Humphreys said. “It gives a business recognition and helps build a positive, memorable reputation. We want to help small business owners learn how to present the best of themselves and, in turn, that will reflect positively on their businesses.”
The workshop will have three parts. First, Kurtz will guide attendees through a DISC behavior assessment to help them identify their strengths and communication preferences. The assessment is perfect for a workshop because it can be completed quickly and doesn’t require an in-depth process, Kurtz said.
“The main goal of the assessment is to help people learn about who they are,” Kurtz said. “It’s hard for people to capitalize on their strengths or communicate effectively if they don’t understand their own abilities or how to identify the strengths of others. Once they do know these things, they can adjust their communication style accordingly.”
In addition to the assessment, attendees will learn about the eight laws of personal branding, which focus on specific characteristics that make branding successful. Kurtz will illustrate each law with real-world companies.
For example, the law of unity focuses on how business owners carry themselves and how that relates to the business. The owner’s personal moral and ethical codes and behaviors often will impact the company’s brand.
Oprah Winfrey is an example of how an individual developed into a brand. While Oprah’s fame took off based on her talk show, she has expanded her brand to encompass an entire network. She used her personal identity and created an internationally recognized empire, Kurtz said.
The final portion of the workshop will focus on helping attendees develop their own elevator speech. An elevator speech is a quick pitch that outlines the positive, most important elements of a person or business. Elements of the DISC profile and the eight laws will be included in the exercise.
“It’s hard to create an elevator speech if a person doesn’t know who they are and what their strengths are,” Kurtz said. “I’ll have a worksheet they can use to guide themselves through identifying their strengths and successes.”
To register for the workshop, contact the UHV SBDC at 361-485-4485 or email sbdc@uhv.edu.
The UHV SBDC is part of a nationwide small business assistance program serving the small business community in partnership with federal, state and local governments. The center offers business advising, training and technical assistance to existing and start-up businesses in an 11-county area.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
