Individuals are Using Pinterest to Showcase their Personal Brands

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Pinterest

A lot of small business owners use Pinterest mainly as a tool to socialize while getting creative, not realizing that the social media site also offers a lot in terms of positive business exposure that can help them expose their creative talents to the world. Much has been said about the commercial potential of Pinterest for the small business owner. In most cases, business owners use the site as a virtual gallery for products and services. However, Pinterest can also be used on a more personal level, as a way for you to expose your brand to potential customers. It is easy for small business owners to showcase their personal sides through their talents. While these talents may be unrelated to the business, they can reveal a brand’s deeper side that may be attractive to potential customers and even investors. Pinterest serves as a great platform for artwork, crafts, and other interests that reveal to customers another side of your creativity. Marketing in the internet always … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

The F-Bomb Loses More than it Gains

May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
How profanity affects your personal brand

Have you ever been tempted to use the “f” word in the office, a meeting, or in a presentation? Even if a select few think you're cool or entertaining because you dropped the f-bomb, it’s guaranteed that the majority of onlookers will judge you harshly. Here are just four reasons why you should never use the f-bomb in a business environment. You come across as inarticulate A good number people use profane words when they can't think of a suitable word or sentence to express their point. When you drop the f-bomb, people may assume that you cussed because you have a limited vocabulary. If your colleagues or boss label you as inarticulate, they'll be unlikely to trust higher level work to you or let you give important presentations. People label you as immature If you think dropping the f-bomb is cool, people will think that you have an immature sense of humor and don't take your career seriously. Remember, you're not a teenager anymore and swearing in a business … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Turning Negatives into Positives

April 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
negatives to positives

Experience negative situations is a challenge for all of us. We focus on what could go wrong rather than looking at what will go right. This tends to break the focus from working to achieve a goal to trying to avoid failure. Unfortunately, this is exactly what leads to failure. Consider yourself driving down the road. Off to the side, a plastic bag floats by and offers a distraction from the road. More often than not if you follow the plastic bag, you start subconsciously drifting towards it rather than keeping your eyes on the road ahead. The same applies to life and business; focusing on what could go wrong will lead you off the road to success. Negative thinking Seeing or anticipating the worst in every situation, leads you to focus on what needs to happen for a project to fail. Small issues that lie ahead could pose a threat, but how you handle them makes all the difference. Often, a negative individual will complain about the problem. Perhaps there’s too much to do and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Keeping Yourself Top of Mind

April 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
no1

One of the greatest challenges faced is constantly being able to keep yourself top of mind to those you would like to connect with, work with or do business with. Due to the vastness of the online world, keeping your personal brand on the minds of your audience takes great skill and employing the right techniques. Get under the spotlight First of all, you need to know where the limelight is at the moment, because that’s where you want to be. The ideal method is to utilize keyword searches to uncover new trends, primarily through social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+. These sites constantly update the latest information and the hottest topics being discussed. You’ll have to do a round-up of the news from around the web. After that, consider what topics the industry leaders are covering at the moment and how you fit into those emerging trends. Consider what unique experiences you have that would blend with such trends. Can you apply your brand to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Organizing Your Job Search Just Got a Lot …Cheaper

April 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
jibberjobber

Career management service JibberJobber just announced that it’s moving lots of its premium features to the free, basic level. This NEVER happens! In a world where everything seems to be shrinking or costing more, this is a breath of fresh air! And, it means you can spend your job search budget on things like personal brand coaching or creating a video bio or developing your own personal brand identity system. Great news from the folks at JibberJobber. Jason Alba, the CEO of JobberJobber, is a Reach-certified Personal Branding Strategist ... and clearly a generous guy! If you don’t already have a JibberJobber account, check it out: www.jibberjobber.com … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Web/Tech Tagged With: , , , , ,

Spring Clean Your Personal Brand

March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Spring clean your social networks for personal branding

With spring here, many of us are going to be doing some cleaning around the office. Perhaps we’re focused on getting rid of a little clutter or even searching for some of those important tax-receipts and documents. But, there’s another area of your business that should be focused on as well. In truth, the online world has a great deal of clutter associated with it. With all the social networks, widgets, apps, and other online tools available, it can be easy to incorporate them into your brand, and then forget about a few on occasion. And, not all of them are forgotten, since some can become obsolete or even inactive. But, the online world remembers everything, and there are undoubtedly a few things that need to be cleaned up this spring. Online devices and services One of the focus points of your cleanup process should be the tools you don’t use anymore. Your brand is still associated with them, and they could even be costing you financially as well. Check out what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Social Media, Web/Tech Tagged With: , , ,

Efficient with Things, Effective with People

March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
time management

Businesses are constantly on the search for more ways to increase their efficiency. Can they network with more people in less time? Can they consolidate resources? Can they eliminate unnecessary costs, both financially and with time? Being efficient doesn’t mean that you can’t still invest in your audience. In fact, it actually offers you more time to invest with customers, clients, and advocates for your brand. Time is a resource that few can afford to waste, especially when working towards your goals. But, time isn’t always wasted. Sometimes, it just happens to be misplaced. Luckily, there are certain practices that can help you become more time-efficient. Understand your market One of the most effective ways you can save yourself an abundance of time and effort is by starting off in the right direction. Before jumping right into managing your personal brand, you need to have an understanding which direction to go in. There are certain topics one should consider … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Might Be Yours, But Is It Really A Story?

March 12, 2013 by 2 Comments
Your Story

Have you ever stopped to think about all it took to become you? Like others, it’s likely that your teenage years launched you on a quest for identity that probably brought a fair amount of disorientation, experimentation, and even fear. And that was just the beginning! As you matured, you may have developed a sense of identity, but never quite shook the fear of not fitting in. Yet, somehow you ended up with a sense of identity that supports you. And if you’ve ever been through a structured assessment and introspective process you’ve probably attained even more clarity and confidence in your sense of self. Well, at least until confronted with the need to tell your story. At that point, self-knowledge probably seems to evaporate! Still, in today’s social media-driven world, if we want to connect with our audiences, we are increasingly challenged to tell our story. That’s a good thing. However, what is not so good is the kind of guidance that suggests we create our … [Read more...]

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

Why Did I Do MySpace and How Do I Undo It?

March 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
myspace

With the advancement of the social world, we’ve been introduced to networks such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. But often, we neglect the older ones that may have gone overlooked and forgotten with time. One such social network is MySpace, which was once a very prominent method of individual interaction. Users posted crazy pictures of themselves, decorated it with wild content, and weren’t as concerned with it becoming a part of their lives later on. But as a brand, a site like this can become something you don’t want hurting your image or reputation. It may be a matter of failing to provide the right image, or it could be that you no longer have access to the original email used to set up the site. Regardless of what reason, the fact that MySpace pages aren’t easy to delete without any access means you’re stuck with it on your rankings. Locate the problem This is one of the most difficult issues to confront in the online world, especially if a link carries … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything is a Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Focus on Your Connection and Conversation

February 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
business talk

The number one networking strategy I recommend?  It’s the conversation.  After all, most of the influence you will have on your connections is not just what you say it is how you say it and how well you listen. Be prepared If you’re going to have something good to talk about, you’re going to need to be prepared for the event. Questions and answers aren’t simply going to fall into your lap, so arrive with them beforehand. What are you going to talk about? What do you want to talk about? How will you encourage others to speak? What will others talk about? I recommend that you have a set of questions you feel comfortable asking new contacts in a way that’s conversational (not at all like an interrogation).  I also recommend that you have some “set” answers or responses on your own.  Answers to questions like, “what do you do” or “what’s new” or “what’s been happening in your life lately”?  I encourage you to have those answers prepared,  not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,
«Older Posts