The Power of Personal Branding: Dustin Siggins Of Proven Media Solutions On How Publicists Shape Influential Leaders
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
1 . What foundational questions are you answering?
2 . What are your skills, talents, and voice?
3 . What platforms are best for your skills, talents, and voice?
4 . What’s your hook?
5 . What’s your strategy to gain traction?
In today’s digital-first world, personal branding has emerged as a cornerstone of professional success and influence. Behind many of the most recognized leaders and personalities stands a strategic partnership with skilled publicists who craft and convey their stories, values, and visions to the world. I had the pleasure of interviewing Dustin Siggins.
Dustin Siggins is the founder of Proven Media Solutions. A former journalist and nationally published business and media writer, his work has appeared in outlets such as Forbes, Insider, Newsweek and USA TODAY.
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share your “origin story” with our readers? How did you begin your journey, and what challenges did you face in the early days?
I’ve always been an extrovert, and I saw writing as a way to get paid to communicate with people. I got burned out pretty quickly as a low-paid journalist living in the expensive Washington, DC metro area, and built out a freelance PR business that eventually became the foundation for launching Proven Media Solutions.
There were many challenges to my “origin” story, including going from a small town with more trees than people to a major metropolitan area. Another challenge was how to make the transition from journalism to public relations — while the two are related, it was hard for me to psychologically make the jump. A third challenge was establishing my brand as credible first as a journalist and then restarting as a business thought leader — the writing skills are the same, but the thought processes were very different.
Can you share a transformative moment or campaign in your career where you significantly altered the personal brand of a leader, and what was the impact of that change?
We’ve helped a number of for-profit and non-profit leaders accelerate their brand recognition. Perhaps our most successful effort was when we combined earned media and digital marketing to drive huge traffic to an influencer’s videos. The impact was that this person went from being a little-known behind-the-scenes person to a significant player in his niche.
Before starting the company, I helped two charity founders became national leaders in their spaces:
- The first founder sought national media for a book and when the charity pursued — and, eventually, won — a case at the U.S. Supreme Court. The impact was that the founder became a leading national voice for helping women and children.
- The second founder sought to influence an international conference that had global consequences. I helped the founder and other allies secure coverage at The Washington Post and The Associated Press, and the impact was that the alliance became a go-to resource for international media outlets.
What are the most common misconceptions leaders have about personal branding, and how do you address these in your work?
Perhaps the biggest misconception is that a leader’s opinions, data, and news will easily secure national media coverage. The media world is saturated, so it takes time to build the right Google Roadmap. We address this with clients by setting expectations and by guiding them to our website’s Guarantees and Good-Faith Pledge page.
How do you navigate the balance between a leader’s authentic self and the public persona you craft for them in their branding strategy?
A leader’s authentic self is critical to successful personal branding. The best PR/publicity shapes and accentuates a leader’s best self — it does not replace it.
What are the most common misconceptions leaders have about personal branding, and how do you address these in your work?
In a crisis situation, what steps do you take to protect or rehabilitate the personal brand of a leader?
There are too many variables to lay out specific steps. Every crisis is different. Silence is often the right answer, to let the “crisis” blow over.
Could you list and briefly explain “5 Things You Need to Know to Shape a Personal Brand” based on your experiences and insights?
People need to be able to answer the below 5 questions. More on these questions can be found in this “how to” on becoming a thought leader:
1 . What foundational questions are you answering?
2 . What are your skills, talents, and voice?
3 . What platforms are best for your skills, talents, and voice?
4 . What’s your hook?
5 . What’s your strategy to gain traction?
Looking forward, how do you see the role of technology and social media evolving in the way publicists shape and manage the personal brands of leaders?
I don’t know how much they will evolve. Technology and social media are already being used extensively.
How can our readers follow your work?
https://provenmediasolutions.net/blog/
Thank you for offering such valuable insights into the power of personal branding. We wish you continued success in all of your work.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
The Power of Personal Branding: Dustin Siggins Of Proven Media Solutions On How Publicists Shape… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.