You are Faster than You Think!

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We all have role models, heroes, or leaders we look up to for inspiration, motivation, and guidance. Our role models can be famous althletes and celebrities, or simply a family member or teacher. But no matter who it is, we aspire to be like them and maybe even have dreams of actually being them.

As a passionate cyclist, one of my role models is Lance Armstrong. I respect him for his perseverance to beat cancer, his competitive drive to be the best cyclist, and his passion and commitment to advance cancer research. I admit there are even times while on a bike ride I have visions of being like Lance as I jump out of the saddle and sprint to the top of a long climb. This reminded me of a great commercial by Nike called “Your are faster than you think”.

What I love about this commercial is that the Chinese pianist sees himself as Lance Armstrong racing through the streets to get to the recital he is late for. In the end while it appears as if Lance is walking across the stage and sitting at the piano, it is the actual pianist who starts to play.

Build your brand, not an image

I know I can never be Lance simply because I am not him. I am me. I can buy the same bike he rides, wear the same gear he wears, and train the same way he trains. In the end, I will still be me. This really demonstrates the difference between branding who you authentically are versus creating a superficial or fake image of who you are not. Big corporate brands like Coke or Starbucks, and even celebrity brands such as Oprah or Madonna, are successful because they are clearly, consistently, and constantly their own identity. They do not try to be something they are not. The same can be said for personal brands.

Here are 4 things you can do to build your brand, not an image:

1. Get Feedback

The 360˚Reach Personal Brand Assessment enables you to gather data regarding the attributes, skills, leadership competencies and strengths that define your brand. The process begins with a self-assessment and is followed by requesting feedback from others so you can compare how you view yourself with how you are currently perceived. The results will enable you to identify areas that you want to accentuate and areas you want to diminish as you develop your brand.

2. Focus on strengths

Capitalize on your strengths rather than improve your weaknesses. Save time by taking what your are strong at and make it superb instead of wasting time on your weaknesses. When you focus on your strengths, you demonstrate passion and drive. When you focus on your weaknesses, you show frustration and stagnation. In addition to 360Reach, use StrengthsFinder 2.0. This is a great tool as it identifies how you can move forward with what you are good at by finding ways to work around your weaknesses.

3. Tell your story, not someone else’s

Michael Margolis, founder of Get Storied, says, “Your story is your brand. You have to get others to believe and identify with your story. When you can do that — the need to persuade, convince, or sell disappears.” We all have a unique story to tell and our story is what makes us authentic. Of course others can relate to our story because it may be similar, but it is never exactly the same. Each story is unique. Walter Akana of Threshold Consulting refers to this as your “brand DNA” and to discover it you need to unravel your life stories to find the themes that make you who you uniquely are.

4. Be real online (and off)

In a recent interview, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said “The social web can’t exist until you are your real self online.”

Just like in the real world, being yourself online takes courage. It takes the willingness to be transparent. Use social media to portray the real you. Avoid nicknames and avatars and use your real name and a professional head-shot. Share bite-sized chunks about yourself but not your life history. Don’t just brag and boast. Listen and engage others as well.

Many of us dream of being someone else because we may not be strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough. But you are stronger, smarter, or faster than you think. Continue to look to your role models, heroes, and leaders for inspiration but in the end simply be yourself. No one can be you, just as you can never be someone else.

Peter Sterlacci, Founder of BeYB – Believe. Become. Be Your Brand, combines personal branding strategy with cycling imagery to empower on-the-move careerists in global companies in Japan to shift gears, get out of the saddle, and sprint to career success.

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Filed Under: Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding Quick Tips, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: , ,

Personal Branding Resources

December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

These resources are brought to you by William Arruda as part of the Reach 10th Anniversary Celebration …

10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Reach Personal Branding
Top 10 Videos from Personal Branding TV
Top 10 Social Media Dos for A Successful Job Search
10 Ways to Give to Your Network

10 Days to Establishing and Achieving Your Goals
Top 10 Ways to Unearth The Brand Called YOU
Top 10 Most Viewed Commercial Breaks
10 Days to Understanding Your Professional Reputation
10 Ways to Build and Maintain Your Professional Network

10 Days to Writing a Compelling Branded Bio
10 Steps to Recession-Proof Your Career
Ten Most-Read Blog Posts from The Personal Branding Blog
10 Days to a Perfect Linkedin Profile
10 Tools For Creating a Website That Exudes Your Personal Brand

Ten Days to Creating Your Personal Brand Identity System
The Ten Most Re-Tweeted Tweets
Ten Tips Towards Career Reinvention
Ten Days to Positioning You and Your Brand
How Not to Build Your Personal Brand

Ten Most Listened-to Audios from the Reach Personal Branding Interview Series
Ten Reasons to Make 2012 The Year of Your Brand
Top Ten Willisms – William Arruda’s thoughts on Personal Branding

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Filed Under: Discovering Your Brand, Employee Brand Activation, Employees Are The Brand, Everything is a Brand, Executive Branding, Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

10 Tools For Creating a Website That Exudes Your Personal Brand

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Rachel Gogos

1.  Colors should represent your personal brand. For more on color watch this video.

2.  Fonts should also represent your personal brand – traditional, modern, fun, robotic there are lots of fonts to help you express yourself.

3.  The homepage content should answer your Why?

4.  Use video to connect with your audience.  Your site will make a far more lasting impression. Site visitors will see you, hear your voice and connect to your message.

5.    Encourage people to connect with you on your social media networks of choice.  Create unique icons that work with the design personality of you and your site.

6.    Your voice or your company’s voice should be echoed in the content. If you want to project a funny, light-hearted approach to your web presence then your web content should reflect that.

7.    Use your keywords throughout the content.  If your name is a keyword for your site then make sure you use it in the content. Take the time at the beginning of your new web project to identify your key words and build utilizing them.

8.    Use a professional headshot on your About page and / or your homepage. Having an image of you helps your audience former a greater connection to you.

9.    Your bio should be written in a way that helps make you memorable and personal to your potential audience.  Take the time to write a branded bio and share “just enough” about yourself to stand out in a reader’s mind.

10.    When building your web presence remember that it’s someone’s first and, in some cases, only impression of you.  Your site is a HUGE part of your brand environment. I equate it to how you dress for work.  Be proud of your web presence and dress it for success!

Rachel Gogos is the founder of brandiD, a digital marketing and web design firm specializing in building attention-getting, online identities through personal branding, social media, and highly differentiated WordPress sites.

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Filed Under: Exuding Your Brand, Reach 10th Anniversary Celebration Tagged With: ,

Paul Allen – Idea Man – a memoir by the co-founder of Microsoft

November 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Personal Brand Leadership – Book Review

© 2011 MIE Services LLC – 358 pages hardback $- US 27.95 / Cdn $35

PERSONAL BRAND LEADERSHIP POINTERS

From this book you will learn:

- The importance of having several avenues of interest to round out your brand.
- How you can enjoy your passions AND make it part of who you are.
- Remain true to your core beliefs and not wavering.
- Understand the power of doing what you’re uniquely good at.

Paul Allen is certainly best known by many as the co-founder of Microsoft, who left in the early 1980′s but still wound up a multi-billionaire. Many might also choose to pick up this book to find out the insider scoop on what really happened in his ‘fall out’ with Bill Gates. Certainly the publishers have positioned this book to portray these very two renowned key points.

However there is much more to this autobiography than just dishing the dirt and making billions from Microsoft. It could be argued that Allen has had more influence across a wider spectrum with his various successes and failures since, than an ever lasting impact with what remains of his legacy inside Microsoft. After all how much of Allen’s work or influence even is in what the company is now – over 35 years later?

What was more insightful was Allen’s ability to think ahead of the technology curve (and beyond tech.) in a number of ways. This is more where the title “Idea Man” comes in to play – he invested, in some cases more closely gambled, on technology such as streaming content, wireless technology, consumer space travel. Some proved successful, others failed, but likely more from being too soon than completely wrong.

The book can appear in places dry (read – too much technical information that may not have been needed) and although you learn of the trappings that wealth brings – yachts, sports teams, playing guitar with Bono – you certainly also understand Paul Allen to be a very private man, close to his immediate family but you learn little of his own personal life – something in an autobiography is lacking.

Overall an interesting insight in the personal brand leadership of a technology titan, a community leader and philanthropist and some interesting lessons about business.

Personal Brand Leadership Rating – 3.5 stars

Read about the Personal Brand that is Paul Allen HERE

Paul Copcutt first aligned with personal branding after reading Tom Peters ‘Brand You 50’ in 1997. Now a sought after speaker and media resource he has been featured by Forbes, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Elle. He works with executives, managers and teams for leading Fortune 500 corporations.

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Filed Under: Books, Executive Branding, Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Sports, Strong Personal Brands, Web/Tech Tagged With: , , ,

The 7 Signature Signs of Jimmy Savile – An Original Personal Brand

November 5, 2011 By 4 Comments

It was sad to see the news earlier this week of the passing of Jimmy Savile, two days short of his 85th birthday, a truly authentic if slightly eccentric personal brand.

Many years ago my aunt experienced a stroke and was in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the UK, world renowned for it’s work in spinal injuries, but also a hospital supported and visited on a regular basis by Jimmy Savile. We happened to be visiting one weekend when he was ‘doing his rounds’ as a volunteer porter and experienced first hand his overwhelming generosity, humour and uniqueness.

Apart from his core attributes, he had many ways that he exuded his brand that were signature to him and made him perhaps one of the early authentic celebrity brands.

He was;

1. Known for wearing shell suits and clothes with the very loud colours and patterns – an early CHAV.
2. The “King of Bling’ wearing very flashy jewellery and adornments – long before it was hip for rappers.
3. Recalled often for his memorable phrase that was mimicked by every comedian – “Howz about that then?” – an early celebrity tagline.
4. Also known for a yodel that made an almost monkey sound at the end of many introductions on the popular Top of the Pops, TV show accompanied with other catchphrases – “Now then, now then, now then”, “Goodness gracious”, “as it happens” (pronounced “as it ‘appens”) and “Guys and gals”.
5. A keen and regular marathon runner, raising thousands of pounds for charities – long before it was socially expected to be seen being charitable.
6. Always seen to be chomping on a big fat ‘cohiba’ stlye cigar – long before the stoggie was a must to be seen with.
7. His life was lived on his terms and although he was certainly a character and showman it never seemed to be contrived or inauthentic – a sadly rapidly disappearing trait in todays ‘celebrity circles’.

And like any star struck young kids, we also got him to sign his autograph, which again was unique with a happy face in the circle round of his ‘J’
the ‘S’ looked like a dollar sign and the ‘L’ he made look like the pound sign.

Thanks Jimmy – RIP

Paul Copcutt first aligned with personal branding after reading Tom Peters ‘Brand You 50’ in 1997. Now a sought after speaker and media resource he has been featured by Forbes, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Elle. He works with executives, managers and teams for leading Fortune 500 corporations.

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Filed Under: Exuding Your Brand, Strong Personal Brands, Television Tagged With: , ,

Be Digitally Distinct and Physically Present

November 4, 2011 By 2 Comments

Can you imagine going a week without access to your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or You Tube accounts? Some of us actually make a conscious choice to take some time away from posting on a wall, tweeting, joining a new circle, or uploading a new video clip. We need the time away from our online networks to get out into the real world.

Now imagine someone blocking you from your social media networks. You innocently try to log into your account and your access is denied. Such was the case for me on a recent business trip to China. For one week I was blocked from all my accounts – no ‘tweets,’ no ‘likes’, no social contact! I literally felt cut off from the world and after a few days it almost felt like symptoms of ‘social media withdrawal’ had started to set in. Seeing the drop in my Klout just made things worse. Social media had become such a regular part of my daily life that without it I felt naked!

Be Digitally Distinct and Physically Present

Building a successful personal brand requires an active social media presence to ensure you are digitally distinct, not digitally dissed. If you are not on social media, your brand runs the risk of being invisible – which is literally how I felt for that week in China. So much of my own branding is invested in social media that my friends, followers, fans, and circles thought I had disappeared off the face of the earth. I even had one of my Twitter followers jokingly tell me that she was going through her own kind of ‘withdrawal’ from not seeing my tweets.

This experience was eye opening. How did we socialize and identify ourselves before social media? While social media tools have certainly helped to catapult personal branding into the mainstream, we have to remember that Tom Peters seminal 1997 work, The Brand called You, was not a 140 character tweet.

Before we had online social networks we identified ourselves by our offline social clubs, sport teams, community groups, or school band. So while services such as Twitter and Facebook may be useful tools to build an online identity and communicate your brand, they certainly did not create the need for humans to form communities. Physical human interaction is in our bones and Tom Peters intention most certainly was for us to brand ourselves at the next job interview, job fair, conference networking event, or cocktail party.

As such we need to always remember to keep the human side of our personal branding efforts active and healthy. When creating your brand communication plan keep a good balance between online social networking efforts and offline physical ‘personal’ efforts such as talking at your local library, speaking at a “meet up,” presenting at a conference, or attending networking parties. After all, it would not be personal branding without the person.

Peter Sterlacci, Founder of BeYB – Believe. Become. Be Your Brand, combines personal branding strategy with cycling imagery to empower on-the-move careerists in global companies in Japan to shift gears, get out of the saddle, and sprint to career success.

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Filed Under: Exuding Your Brand, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

It is easy to damage your brand.

November 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

There have been two well publicized national incidents in Australia this week that have the potential to cause major brand damage to the large corporations at the center of them.

Qantas, the national airline, grounded all flights across the globe in response to ongoing labor contract disputes with three major unions. This act left 60,000 passengers stranded around the world for two to four days and for all those concerned this resulted in stress, missed flights, additional cost and a burning desire not to fly with Qantas again.

The second incident was the National Australia Bank who decided not to pass on all of the Reserve Banks latest interest rate decrease in spite of announcing a record profit for the year (19% up on last year). This same bank had spent millions building a brand about being different than the other three major banks and caring for its clients. For all of .05% or $68 million a year they have hurt their brand by showing they are just a callous as the others and they are now back to where they were a year ago – firmly in the disliked ‘ Big Bank Bully’ camp.

While both of these incidents may have stacked up from a financial point of view they have both done considerable damage to the brand which over time is likely to have a far bigger negative impact on the bottom line.

This same short term/ unbalanced thinking also happens at the Personal Brand level where we all can make decisions that feel right in the moment but can do considerable damage to our long term brand.

Things we do that can negatively impact on our brand are:

• That email or phone call made in response to an incident where our blood is boiling and we want to get things off our chest – unless your brand is “Hothead” sleep on it and look at the incident from all aspects and respond in a manner that suits your professional style/ brand.

• Someone in the organisation (or outside like a client or supplier) has just done something to upset you and your first reaction is to get them in to rip a strip off them – there are always two sides to every story so get theirs first without taking a position and then think on it overnight to ensure your reaction is measured and in line with your brand.

• That job you have accepted that will bring in some much needed cash but that also devalues your main offer and confuses the market – If you have to do it how do you isolate it and keep it off the radar – or just refuse it as not being your area of expertise.

• That function you go to over the Christmas break where you had a bit too much to drink and told a few people what you think of things (business, politics) and people – know your limits and remember that these are branding networking opportunities where people are observing all around them. Have a buddy keep close to tap you on the shoulder if necessary.

• You are about to post some new photos onto Facebook showing the great function you were at last night – consider how these will be viewed by all who can see them as they may hurt your brand, or hurt others, which will still hurt your brand.

• You are a young executive and want to be seen as a mature, responsible professional but on the weekend you dress down and hoon about in the city and on the streets – there is no down time when building a brand and people who see you “out of work’ will still be expecting to see the mature, responsible adult you aspire to be so dress and act accordingly at all times. Look at your casual wardrobe and ask “what does this say about me?”

Remember Branding is about being authentic all of the time and being conscious of the fact that we are always under the spotlight and it can only take a moment to destroy the work of years.

Richard Anderson, Managing Partner at  Point Ahead delivers Personal Brand Strategy for mid-career executives wanting to take control of their careers. Richard works successfully with Australian organizations and individual clients in navigating the emotional and practical challenges of developing an engaging personal brand for both personal and organizational success.

Link: http://www.pointahead.com.au

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Filed Under: Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding Quick Tips, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: , , ,

Which way at work?

October 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There was a recent article in the Globe & Mail, Top 12 Workplace Myths, taken from a chapter in the new book Fuse: Making Sense of the New Cogenerational Workplace™ – the article ended by offering what they called Fusions as key learnings from the chapter – I have added what you need to do about them in relation to your personal brand.

The most likable people get promoted, not the hardest workers. – If likeable is one of your key differentiating attributes then certainly you want to highlight it, but do not ignore other attributes that you have that make you memorable and different (positive of course!). However it’s not a replacement for hard work – that still has to happen – but it has to be hard PRODUCTIVE and ideally MEASURABLE work!

Broadcast the work you’re doing, especially to your managers. – It seems to be the greatest aversion in the workplace – ‘bragging’ about your accomplishments and activity. I use the term bragging very loosely – we do not like braggers, but it it is critical for you to communicate the impact you are having in the organization – no-one else is going to do it for you, that’s for sure! Just be genuine and deliver it in a way that feels right to you and is congruent with your audience.

Be yourself. Really. – Authenticity is now the most over used word in the English language (apart from ‘Like’ !!). But you need to be yourself in all that you do, otherwise if you put on a false face to get noticed then you have to turn up every day with that false face- gets very tiring and stressful andv it certainly is not fun.

Without visual and auditory cues, people often misinterpret an email’s intent and message. – Often is probably an understatement! How you communicate (including e-mail) are key expressions of your brand, so be wise in how and when you use it. If you can get to someones work space faster than it takes to compose and send an e-mail, get up and take a walk – if not pick up the phone!

You cannot have it all. You can have the things you want most only intermittently. -To clearly define your personal brand you need to take some time getting very clear about what you do want, from all apsects of your life, and then spend the majority of your time focused on those. Using up your limited time on this earth pursuing things that do not even inspire you really is a waste of energy for everyone.

Paul Copcutt first aligned with personal branding after reading Tom Peters ‘Brand You 50’ in 1997. Now a sought after speaker and media resource he has been featured by Forbes, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Elle. He works with executives, managers and teams for leading Fortune 500 corporations.

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Filed Under: Books, Employee Brand Activation, Employees Are The Brand, Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers Tagged With: , ,

Connecting Your Dots

October 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

It’s no surprise that with the tragic passing of Steve Jobs, there have been so many tributes to his genius and contributions to the world. And while most have been great, perhaps one of the most touching is the impromptu talk by Guy Kawasaki during a Facebook Success Summit 2011 teleconference, just minutes after Apple’s announcement of Jobs’ death. If you haven’t heard or read it, I recommend you do.

Yet, for me, perhaps the most touching tributes have been publications of Steve Job’s own words. And while the advanced, game changing, and exquisitely designed technology he brought into the world is central to his legacy, his philosophy frames his passion as well as the value he created. His view of life is firmly rooted in his personal stories; and to see their power, you need only look at the three stories he told during his commencement address at Stanford University, June 12, 2005, which you can watch or read. During that speech, he said:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. I have always wished that for myself. And now, I wish that for you.”

While it was certainly not his intention to convey a “branding” message, those 83 words capture the essence of what personal brand is truly about – following your heart and intuition.

Unfortunately, too many people look at personal branding in strictly value terms. Yet, it is even more critical to determine the foundation for the value you bring. Getting locked into crafting a perfect value statement, without introspection, is to miss the point. In fact, it’s a big mistake. As I see it, putting who you are in service to others is the only way to ever provide the kind of value that matters to your community.

So, to truly follow your heart means taking a look at your life and figuring out how your values, passions, interests, activities, and even circumstances, contribute to the direction of your life – pointing you toward work you were meant to do. Indeed, in his commencement address, Steve Jobs makes a brilliant point about this when he references connecting the dots. He said:

“… you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

In a very real way, your personal brand is tied to your stories, and your stories encompass your “dots.” If you don’t know what they are, and more importantly, how they connect, then you have slim chance of standing out and making a difference. So, find your stories, see how they connect, and use them as a basis to move ahead. You may fail at times. In fact, expect it. Yet, realize that each of those failures is just another set of dots to connect as you move forward.

Walter Akana is a Reach Certified Personal Branding and Online Identity Strategist. Founder Threshold Consulting, he works with mid-career professionals and executives. His career advice has been featured online at marketwatch, cnnmoney, and online.wsj. He is a long-time blogger, and avid user of social media.

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Filed Under: Discovering Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is the art of good conversation missing from your brand?

October 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

I got into a good debate with my business partners last week regarding the difference between communication and conversation and whether good conversation is a dying art.

We looked up the meaning of conversation and it is quoted as:
A talk between two or more people in which thoughts, feelings and ideas are expressed, questions are asked and answered, or news and information are exchanged. An oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas.

Based on the above we determined that conversation has been replaced with communication and that in the process it has become more a one way process than the two way art of good conversation. Too much today we communicate our thoughts, decisions and instructions to our wider world (family, work and non-work network) with the intention of not receiving feedback and or debate on the subject. At the same time we still relate this to ‘good communication’ because we are getting the message out and letting people know what we think and what we require.

We all agreed that modern society (or a big piece of it)  is lacking the skills of good conversation and online media such as email, sms and Twitter has reduced us to snippet communication rather than a commitment to better understand the person and the message.

From a personal branding perspective most of my clients state they are good communicators but few have ever branded themselves as great conversationalists. Why is this?

A great conversationalist is a unique brand attribute that defines someone as having more than just communication skills with things like empathy, emotional intelligence and strong networking ability added to the mix.

What do you need to do to move from being a communicator to a great conversationalist and is this something you see value in?

Richard Anderson, Managing Partner at Point Ahead delivers Personal Brand Strategy for mid-career executives wanting to take control of their careers. Richard works successfully with Australian organizations and individual clients in navigating the emotional and practical challenges of developing an engaging personal brand for both personal and organizational success.

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Filed Under: Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: ,
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