Expat & International Careers: Your Brand DNA is Critical to your Career Success Abroad

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment


Personal Brand DNAIn today’s competitive global marketplace, you cannot afford to not set yourself up for success or jeopardize your performance with poor role and environment choices. Being able to compete with top talent requires demonstrating a history of results that comes with performing well at work.

By positioning yourself using your true strengths and unique qualities – what I like to call your Brand DNA – for best fit roles and environments, you will not only naturally stand out in a highly qualified global talent pool, but you will set yourself up to perform at your best by being your best self.

 

Using your true strengths leads to optimum performance

 

True strengths are defined by one’s natural ability to make choices that lead to optimum performance. A person can’t help but express their true strengths when a situation calls for them to be applied. Hence leveraging your true strengths sets you up to perform at your best and can be done with ease rather than the energy, work and additional focus required when leveraging other talents and skill sets.

A person’s true strengths are part of their Brand DNA – they help drive their performance, their fulfillment, their differentiation and are part of their ultimate competitive advantage.

With an awareness of their true strengths an expat can fully capitalize on their power to generate value in the world – as well as communicate this value to employers or clients who are seeking it, increasing their chances of success in their career or business.

A lack of awareness of these important assets reduces a current or aspiring expat’s ability to: 

  • understand what drives their performance, their satisfaction and how they can perform at their best with the greatest ease
  • see when their role and/or environment choices are affecting their ability to perform and enjoy their work
  • identify and position themselves for roles and work environments that would set them up for success
  • communicate their unique value and stand out from their competitors in the global talent pool
  • influence decision makers and translate interviews into job offers, new assignments or new clients

Given we spend at least a third of our waking hours at work and the current competitive global marketplace, you cannot afford to unnecessarily inhibit your ability to perform, compete and thrive at work.

 

Identifying your true strengths can be a challenge

 

High achieving expats are usually aware of many of their strengths. But some natural talents come so easily to them they don’t see them as a strength. Or they don’t see how they contribute to their peak performance. Sadly this can result in some of their true strengths being underutilized or even untapped completely.

As well as being unconscious of some of their strengths, high achieving expats can also mistake a skill they’ve mastered to perform well at a job as a true strength. True strengths can be leveraged effortlessly, while skill mastery requires focus and practice – and can sometimes be draining rather than motivating. Hence roles dependent on skills not rooted in one’s true strengths require more energy and effort to perform well, as well as potentially being much less satisfying.

Identifying true strengths can also be challenging when a high achiever is in an environment that triggers their blockers and weakens or neutralizes those strengths. For example, someone with strengths in innovative thinking and visioning has the potential to help an organization become an industry trendsetter. However they could also possess the blockers of unrealistic goal setting and the inability to respond to challenges to their ideas without anxiety or frustration – both which can affect the power of those strengths.

Using those true strengths in an environment that plays to those blockers may result in those strengths being seen as blockers or weaknesses - and work against them generating desired results. If this person worked in a team, organization or culture that was risk averse, their innovative ideas would be less likely to be adopted. They may be seen as reckless and untrustworthy rather than an innovator. Without trusted advisors from whom they could calmly receive and internalize honest feedback about their ideas, they could take an “overly creative” approach to an important project that could have disastrous consequences.

 

Impact of not using your Brand DNA to drive your choices

 

In this example the expat’s lack of awareness of their true strengths and the environments in which they can actually use them could result in reduced performance, lack of advancement or even dismissal, as well as a loss of confidence in their ability to perform. This expat’s choice to take on exciting work in another country could quickly turn from a dream to a nightmare.

But this is not because they didn’t have the ability to be a top performer. It’s simply because their choice of role and work environment – meaning the organization, project or culture in which they worked – inhibited their ability to leverage their true strengths and succeed by being their best self.

Hence when high achievers don’t build their personal brand or value proposition around their true strengths and unique qualities – or their brand DNA - but rather around mastered skills and qualities they associate with top performance, they are positioning themselves for less than ideal fit roles and environments that:

  • don’t leverage all of their natural talents that drive their success and how they generate value in the world
  • may trigger their blockers and inhibit their ability to perform at their best
  • may force them to struggle or work harder to meet objectives
  • can drain them of energy and confidence in their abilities
  • may allow them to accomplish great things but they will enjoy them less
  • can have a very negative impact on their ability to advance or realize their career or business goals

It’s clear the price for not using your Brand DNA to guide your career or business choices can be high - some might even say crippling for the normally high achieving expat professional, executive or consultant. And yet many seem willing to pay it – which is why there are millions of unfulfilled, unhappy, unengaged, under performing and even unemployed people in the world right now.

 

Stand out and succeed by being your best self

 

By positioning yourself using your true strengths and unique qualities for best fit roles and environments, you will naturally stand out in a highly qualified global talent pool. Your true strengths and unique style will help you develop a compelling, differentiated message of value and give you a competitive edge over those competing for the same roles.

This approach will position you as the candidate of choice for the opportunities that allow you to perform at your best by leveraging your true strengths and being your best self.

 

Expat & International Career Success Tip: Are you an current or aspiring expat and unclear about the jobs or roles and work environments that would set you up to be successful by being your best self? Historically have you been a high performer but are now struggling in your current role and are not sure why? Are you uncertain what your true strengths are?

If so, reflect on times when you have performed at your best and truly enjoyed your work. What were you doing and how would you describe the environment in which you were working? Identify ways that you can use these insights to help identify your true strengths – and how to make better choices in your career or business. Commit to doing at least one of these things and being more strategic in your choices to support your career success abroad.

 

Megan Fitzgerald, Expat Personal Branding CoachMegan Fitzgerald, Expat Career and Personal Branding Coach, helps expats land fulfilling work abroad by becoming highly visible, sought after experts and leaders. Named a top 50 personal branding consultant, she’s been featured in Fortune, CNNMoney.com and WSJ Online. She writes about expat career success at: www.careerbychoiceblog.com

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

You Are The Product

February 16, 2012 By 5 Comments
In today’s highly competitive world, everyone claims to be the go-to person in their chosen niche. So-called “gurus” are a dime a dozen. This is why it can be tricky to stand out among all the competition. As a personal brand, you need to understand and utilize different platforms well in order to separate yourself from the crowd.

Social media is definitely one of the things that you need to use effectively in order to position yourself as the expert in your niche. Establishing a presence there is not enough – you need to know how to communicate and engage with your audience well.

Simply put, it is not enough to simply be yourself. You need to realize that you are the product – you need to be able to sell yourself to people, to keep them coming back for more. Otherwise, you are just going to be another faceless, nameless voice in social media, trying to get yourself heard over all the other noise.

So how do you become the product? What are the things you can do to engage your audience and keep them interested?

1.   Know your audience

In order to effectively sell yourself, you need to know and understand your audience. You have to find out what they like and what interests them, and then figure out how to build a relationship with them through the things you’ve discovered.

A simple thing you can do is to ask questions. People in social media enjoy answering questions, especially when it’s relevant to them. The more answers you get, the more you understand your audience and what you can do to engage them. Social media has really made things easier since it lets you communicate with your audience directly and get inspiration from them.

2.    Get the conversation going

True product engagement means that people are talking, debating and arguing about you. In social media, the more people who are talking about your brand, the more that they will attract other people who are likely to be interested in following you as well.

How exactly do you do this? Create polls, host contests, get your audience’s opinion, and always remember to reply to comments and mentions of your brand. Basically, you need to pay attention to your audience and communicate with them through social media. Don’t let any response to your brand be ignored. Even a mere thank you or show of appreciation can help the conversation get started about your brand.

3.   Remember to include a “call to action”

Sometimes, your audience needs a little nudge to start commenting and participating in your social media discussions, so don’t be afraid to ask them to like, re-tweet or comment on your posts if they enjoyed it.  Of course, remember not to do this on every little post of yours, since that can become annoying. But occasionally, it really helps to tell people to comment or like what you’ve written to get things going.

4.   “A picture equals a thousand words”

There’s a reason why this saying exists, and it’s because the majority of people are more drawn to visual images as compared to written words. Think of Facebook and how people who post interesting, intriguing or even shocking pictures get the most number of comments and likes. Of course, as a personal brand, it’s important to stay away from posting anything offensive. But the point is, pictures typically evoke a sharper reaction from people as opposed to written words.

Since you are the product in social media, posting interesting pictures that represent you and your brand can help you stand out and be noticed. Remember to make sure that they’re relevant to your niche – don’t simply post things that are intriguing but have nothing to do with you, since this wouldn’t help your personal brand.

It’s all about engagement

When it comes to social media and personal branding, it’s not just about you. There has to be something about what you do that makes people connect and relate with you.

The key here is engagement. As a personal brand, you are the product – so you have to offer your audience something that makes them want to “buy” you or listen to you.

Think of the well-known personal brands out there. What makes them stand out? What makes them so special? These people know how to sell. They know how to convince others of their expertise. Their personal brand has become a product that people want.

So make sure you know your audience, get the conversation going about your brand, contribute with value in a meaningful way, include a call to action, and utilize visual images to engage your audience. By always remembering that you’re the product, you can learn how to sell yourself so that people will stand up and listen.

Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks “work” and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops – taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy.

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

Does Your Brand Suffer From These 5 Email Mistakes?

February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Email is an extension of your brand.  It counts as a conversation.  Sometimes people even refer to it as “having a conversation” with someone.

As the manager of our personal brand, we must be diligent in insuring that this tool shows our best side and gives that great first and lasting impression.

Are you guilty of….

Long and unclear messages – with the volume of emails that people are receiving these days, we have one chance to get their attention. When they open their mail and see that it’s long, there’s a big chance that they’ll scan it a little before deciding to save it for later reading. This is fine but there’s also a great chance that they’ll never get back to it. What you can do is make it clear and concise. Use bullet points to highlight your ideas to make your message easier to understand. Make it short and direct to the point.

I’m personally guilty of this. It comes from many years writing formal letters. Email is such different animal. I recently read a recommendation that we need keep emails to three sentences – anything more than that then we need to pick up the phone. There’s a challenge!

Sending without checking for errors – it is important that we check and double check our message before sending it out. Readers are taking their time to know us; we don’t want bad grammar and misused words to get in the way because this will reflect back on our brand. Tt makes us unreliable. Take that extra time to reread the message before sending it out because once you hit send, there’s no way to get it back for corrections.

Inaccurate and unclear subject lines –this is important because this line is responsible for attracting our readers to open our message. If we give them generic and a poorly worded subject line, there’s a big chance that they won’t open the email. The subject line should be a sentence that describes your message, like a teaser and what to expect when they open their email. Writing specific subjects will also save your message from being marked as spam.

Shortcuts and abbreviations – never use shortcuts or abbreviated words for business messages. Not everyone can understand abbreviated words or shortcuts, like those that are used for text messaging. Use of such a style is also too informal and can be misinterpreted as unprofessional or unreliable. Make sure that you spell all words out correctly and eliminate grammatical errors. Any email message that has no shortcuts or abbreviated words is more appealing to readers because it displays professionalism and makes our brand trustworthy.

Not being careful with your content – it is important that we review our message and think about the content that we are going to include. If we are going to include links in our message, let’s make sure that we link our customers to the right site. If we are going to attach an image or video, let’s make sure that it will greatly benefit the receiver.  And, leave the animated images off of any email.

These five common email mistakes can be avoided if we take the time to review our messages properly before sending them out. Ask someone how you can simplify your message so that readers will have an easier time understanding it. Then make use of bullet points to make your ideas clear. Read and reread your message.  Use your Twitter skills to make the message even more concise!

Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks “work” and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops – taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy.

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

Media Trends and Your Personal Brand

February 2, 2012 By 4 Comments

Media is changing and it is changing fast. Just when you get the hang of using one tool to use for your marketing strategy and to get you closer to your customers, a new one is introduced. Consumers like media and when something new is introduced they get into it.  As a business owner, you are sometimes pressured to try the latest as well, to catch up with consumer trends. If you want to get consumers, you have to be where they are.

Here are some media trends that will hit big this 2012. Take a look at how these media types are going to help your business:

SMS – people like being mobile, we prey on convenience. In the last decade, mobile phones changed the way people communicate and because most consumers have mobile phones, text messaging as a marketing strategy is going to be big this year. By texting, you reach out to your consumers faster. When they hear the beep, they read your message. As per email, it might take a while before they can read your message, especially when they don’t open their emails on a regular basis.

Mobile compatibility – if you have a website, you want to make sure that it is mobile compatible. A lot of people are jumping into using smartphones. They want to be able to access their social media accounts even when they are on the go. They want to be able to read their emails and browse websites without having to pull up their computers. When your website is mobile compatible, this means that you are not giving your customers a hard time accessing your website. Again, convenience. You also increase your chances of making a sale.

Facebook – Facebook is not going anywhere, as a matter of fact it’s still growing. It’s still a great place to connect with your audience and a chance to convert them into customers. Make sure to strategize on how you can make the site work for your business needs.

Pinterest – this is a new site that has great potential for businesses. The concept is to “Pin” images that interests you. Your followers can see what you are pinning and they can like, comment, and “Repin” your image. You can even organize your interests into “Boards”. The “Board” is where you can pin images depending on each board topic. It’s a place where you can post images of your products or services and let your customers see what you are offering.

Gamification – consumers like to participate in games and if you gamify your business, you have more customers getting involved. The concept of gamifying is earning something, like points and prizes. FourSquare is a good example. Companies are integrating FourSquare into their business by rewarding those who checked-in with points and badges. When you reach a certain number of points or a certain badge, you get discounts on products or services.

Using video – videos can help your business in a lot of ways. You can use them to educate and train, and as a means to communicate with your customers. Learn how to make use of videos as web content. Instead of articles, why not make short videos to give out tips? They don’thave to be long; you can do something instructional in less than 3 minutes. Consumers like watching how things are done. This is also their way of seeing you and getting to know you more.

You don’t have to be on everything but you can try to mix these options up and see which combinations give you the most benefits.

What combos are you using?

Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks “work” and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops – taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy.

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

Is Your Personal Brand Stepping Out of it’s Comfort Zone?

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

While waiting for his owner to return from some local shopping, Bernard here knows where his boundaries are and he is not going to stray at all, he has become too comfortable in his surroundings. Of course perhaps he knows (or has experienced) that if he were to jump out of the back of the truck he might be placing himself in danger.

Unfortunately, at work, this is something we are all a little guilty of. Perhaps on occasion, it’s not going to be life threatening, we need to take a risk or two and leap out of our comfort zone – or maybe just a gentle step will do.

Three simple things to consider as a way to step out of your personal brand comfort zone at work;

1. Bring a little more of your personality to work. Choose something from home that you are passionate about or that means a lot to you and add it to your desk, cubicle or office space. Perhaps a favourite picture, photo or desk ornament.

2. Consider adding a piece of jewellery or favourite coloured accessory and making it a regular part of your wardrobe. It does not all have to be navy and black.

3. Identify a skill or strength that you are well known for, that you have a reputation for delivering on consistently and mention it in your outgoing voicemail message. If you pride yourself on returning calls promptly, say so in your voicemail. BUT if you are not good at getting back to people do not date your voicemail either!

What can you be doing with your personal brand to step out of your comfort zone?

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 helps employees in leading Fortune 500 corporations realise they can be more successful and productive at work by NOT checking their personalities at the door.

Filed Under: Employee Brand Activation, Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Is Your Brand LinkedIn?

January 29, 2012 By 3 Comments

LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with a current membership of over 135 million.  Close to 60% of these members are located outside the US. The latest data shows that professionals are signing up to join at a rate that is faster than two members per second! Clearly LinkedIn has become an essential tool for professionals all over the world to network, share business expertise, find jobs, advance professional knowledge, and build personal brands.

5 Quick Tips to Brand Yourself on LinkedIn

Here are 5 tips to effectively use LinkedIn to build and promote your brand.

1) Have a headline that sells an experience

When people visit your profile the first thing they will see is your name and headline at the top of your “profile box”.  This is the most visible part of your page and you want people to continue exploring your profile.  People often fall into the trap of identifying themselves in their headline by a job title (“Accountant”) or label (“Business Major”). While this is a valid representation of what we do, it actually groups us into the same category as everyone else doing the same type of job or studying the same subject matter.

You have 120 characters to describe who you are.  This is the first place to stand out. Consider your target audience and sell an experience not a title or label.  Instead of saying you are a “psychiatrist” tell others you are “The Shrink for Entrepreneurs who want freedom, wealth, and sanity.”

2) Get a Professional Headshot

Absolutely do not leave out a photo and make sure that the photo you use is professionally done. Take the time to invest in high quality headshots as you will use them everywhere. Remember, LinkedIn is a professional business network. Your credibility is at stake so avoid photos of you at college parties or with groups of people where it is not clear which person is you!

3) Edit your LinkedIn URL to include your name

For example, www.linkedin.com/in/yourname

Do not overlook this critical branding point.  Beyond the power of simply having a profile on LinkedIn is the fact it is highly optimized on Google.  Once you adjust the URL to include your full name, your profile will always show up at the top or near the top of the first page of your Google results.   This presence on the first page of search results will reinforce your online brand identity so that opportunities do not pass you by.

4) Write your ‘Summary’ in the first person and tell a story

By using ”I am….” or “My name is…” you are speaking directly to those looking for you on LinkedIn.  While the summary is not immediately visible unless someone views your full profile, it is probably the most important area on your profile.  Treat this summary box as if it were your ‘elevator pitch’.  Convince the readers of your LinkedIn profile that you have something unique to offer. Differentiate yourself from everyone else who seemingly offers the same service or who have similar skills, experience, and background.  Michael Margolis, founder of Get Storied, tells us that “character trumps credentials”. There is plenty of space to show your credentials in the ‘Experience’ section of your profile.  Use the Summary section to tell your story and show your character!

Also, your name is a key word and by using it in your summary you are improving the appearance of your name and profile when other search for you online.

5) Ask for recommendations (and recommend others!)

Build your credibility and validation for your brand and experience by having people who know you well write recommendations on LinkedIn. Once you start adding people to your network, LinkedIn makes it easy for them to write you a recommendation.  You also have the power to review the recommendation someone writes and decide whether to add it or ask for edits or a different spin on what they wrote.  Even as a student you can request recommendations from professors, classmates, internships or virtually anyone with whom you have shared an academic experience.  Make sure to return the favor and write a recommendation for those who have taken the time to write one for you.

 Do you have any quick tips to brand yourself on LinkedIn?  Please share below.
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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

You Are What You Text

January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Everything we say or do represents our brand. We make an impression on others when we communicate with them, whatever way we do that. When you post your contact details on your webpage or people find them on your social media site, they will try to reach you personally. Some customers would prefer to text message you to ask about basic things. Your reply is going to be crucial because it may be the only chance you have with that person. You want to make a strong first impression even when it’s through text messaging.

When you decide to place your mobile number out there for your customers, you have to be ready to communicate with them effectively. Keep in mind that all those who reach you are potential customers. A mobile phone is different from a computer – it’s harder to write messages on smaller devices, especially without the keyboard. Make sure to use it wisely.

Here are some tips on how you can make an impression through text messaging:

Turn off your auto correct – all phones come with auto correct; it’s a feature that is supposed to help a user text faster because of the predefined words saved on the phone. However, auto correct jokes are becoming a form of entertainment today because of how wrongly the words are placed in the text. Since you are doing business, it’s better to turn your auto correct off so you don’t risk saying the wrong things to your recipient. But be sure to still spell your words correctly, no shortcuts because this can be really annoying to someone who is isn’t especially experienced in using “text language”.

Keep it short and simple – typing is hard, and since your auto correct is turned off, keep your message short and simple. It will save you and your recipient time and energy. Give them what they need, or you can ask them if you can call to further explain your answer. Make sure to review your message before you hit send. You don’t want your customer to be misled in any way.

Check the recipient – after checking your message and you’re ready to send it, check the recipient. Sometimes we’re busy thinking about other things that we send messages to wrong recipients. It’s an easy away to keep a good impression with everyone you’re connected with especially when you have numbers of your customer saved on your phone. You don’t want them getting the wrong message. If you are the one who receives a wrong message, respond to that message to inform him/her that they sent a message to the wrong person.

Be courteous – at all times. Take note of your tone when you are composing a text message, make sure that your recipient doesn’t get a chance to misinterpret it. When you know that they don’t have your number, do introduce yourself before proceeding with your message. Also, when you’re in a face-to-face conversation with someone, text messaging is as rude as taking a voice call. Choose a proper time to respond.

Time of response – Watch the time you respond to a text message. Waking someone up or texting late comes with a lasting impression on who you are as a person.

Don’t depend on text messages – text messaging is informal. And, don’t deliver bad news using text. Or, anything that could be misinterpreted – the smartphone can still be used as a phone.

Be patient – when you send text messages, don’t expect your recipient to receive your message right away. Just like you, your recipient might be busy with their daily tasks. There are a lot of factors that can prevent them from responding to you quickly. It’s either they haven’t received the message because of their carrier, or they are out of coverage, or it’s your network that’s not pushing the message to your phone. If it’s an urgent matter, try other means.

Texting and forms of it will be here for a while.  Master it so that your brand expression matches your brand.

Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks “work” and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops – taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy.

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

Substitute

January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

But I’m a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated, yeah

                                                               ~ The Who

Back in the day, when I first became a certified Personal Branding Strategist, I learned that personal branding was about having permission to be yourself. And personal brand was synonymous with your reputation.

Actually, it still is. 

To be even more specific, there are still many people who use the term personal brand to refer to an authentic expression of who you uniquely are in terms of the attributes, vision, purpose, values, and passions that you bring to what you do. It is the you-ness you add to your professional competencies that makes you more valuable to your clients, and your broader professional community.

In many ways, then, your personal brand is the experience you provide while you are doing what people hire you to do. So, the skills that you bring to your work may be the same skills that others in your profession use, but your approach is unique to you. For example, I have a friend who injects her fun, vibrant personality into meetings where she is delivering accounting and tax advice. She brings who she is to what she does. She didn’t cultivate a personal brand. She is just being herself, and her clients love her!

Today, however, there seems to be a lot of personal branding advice that tends to overlook the you-ness element and treat “your personal brand” as a distinct entity that you have to care for and manage. Kind of like a bonsai tree. So, we get articles and blog posts that provide advice on building, revamping, or reinventing your personal brand!!

While much of the advice these authors provide is actually useful, it has little to do with who you are. It is much more focused on tactics for gaining visibility and attracting clients. In fact, there is much great business information for promoting yourself right on this blog.

Yet, in my opinion, you need to make a very clear distinction that changing how you express and exude who you are is not the same as revamping or reinventing “your brand” – but just the way you communicate it. Indeed, it is only the first stage of the Reach 1-2-3 Success process that gets to your brand…to your you-ness. So, to engage in any exercise that is construed as “working on your brand,” but leaves out YOU, is akin to caring for some abstract entity. It’s like creating a proxy. A substitute.

I think it’s really important to be clear on this – and even more so, today!!

Seeing the notion of personal brand become more mainstream is a good thing. It signals the end of mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Even more it supports the growing recognition that we all have the capacity to serve specific tribes. It helps us see that our true value comes not merely from the commoditized functions our skills are based in, but from the very weirdness that makes us appeal to our niche.

Of course, personal brand has also become subject to criticism. And frankly, based on the approach of many “personal branders,” it’s criticism that is well deserved. If you have any doubt about this, you should read Olivier Blanchard’s very well-argued critique of personal branding. Blanchard notes, “People are people. They aren’t brands.” And ironically, one of the tips he offers is, “Just be you.” I think this is great advice! It’s a great post, actually; and if you haven’t read it, you should!

As you might surmise, I reject the idea of personal “reinvention.” This does not mean, of course, that I believe who we are and the reputations we develop don’t evolve. They do. Yet, they change because we have gained new insights into who we are, what we want to do, who we want to serve, and the difference we want to make for others – and impact that has on how we do what we do. This is very different from throwing out a new value proposition to see if it sticks.

So, insofar as our “brand” is concerned, the real task is the application of introspective insights to our work. And often, it is a process that is best done with a well-qualified coach who can help identify the themes that matter to you and to your audiences. Investing this kind of effort fosters a personal clarity that can help align what we know about ourselves with a communications strategy that will bring meaningful visibility and credibility.

Frankly, as I see it, bringing anything less than who you are to what you do means you may as well have been born with a plastic spoon in your mouth.

 

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.

 

Filed Under: Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers

Is your career facing a Kodak moment?

January 20, 2012 By 1 Comment

No doubt the business school case studies in years to come about the sad demise of Kodak and it’s brand will raise many questions about the effectiveness of it’s leaders. The filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Kodak this week has many lessons for all businesses, but what can you learn from this and be sure that you are not facing the same in your career?

1. Don’t underestimate the impact your ideas have.
It was the mid-70′s when Kodak actually developed for the first digital camera. Can you imagine how far ahead they may have been in the market place and for how long had they moved on this revolutionary idea.

Personal Brand Lesson - just because your industry or vocation has done it the same way for a long time and everyone is comfortable with that way does not mean an idea out of left field is not a better one. Be willing to challenge the status quo.

2. Don’t be complacent or greedy.
Kodak leaders decided to shelve the digital camera because they felt it was going to do too much damage to their highly lucrative and profitable film business.

Personal Brand Lesson – it makes sense to maximise your value with the core strengths you have. But know that you need to continually develop yourself and add new skills. Demands and markets change, so your brand has to evolve over time. Anticipate demands and start adding to your skill set now.

3. Be Prepared to Re-brand
The plan for Kodak is to sell it’s $2 billion worth of patents and emerge as a more agile company in the printer business. They see revenue and profit in ink (HP generates $9 billion a year in ink cartridges). But does the tagline of the “Kodak Moment” still apply? Likely not, as they become less and less synonymous with photos a re-brand of the company would almost seem inevitable.

Personal Brand Lesson - the experts tell us that the workforce of the future might well be in many different vocation, not just jobs, in their lifetime. The foundation and core of your brand might remain the same, but sometimes the message and your target audience will change and a re-branding is necessary.

How do you see business the lessons from the likes of RIM and Kodak apply to your career and personal brand?

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 helps employees in leading Fortune 500 corporations realise they can be more successful and productive at work by NOT checking their personalities at the door.

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Everything is a Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips, Recession-Proof Your Career Tagged With: , , , ,

Do You Make These 5 Social Media Mistakes?

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Personal Brands are taking their brands online as a marketing strategy. It’s easy to set up and is designed to be user friendly. The space is really enticing but there are hazards when taking your brand on social media sites.  If you have social media sites, check out this five common social media mistakes that businesses are committing when taking their business online.

Flooding/Spamming – it’s great that you are sending out helpful messages but don’t overdo it. Customers hate it when you flood their emails about promos, or flood your Twitter or Facebook account about everything and anything.  We don’t need another quotable quote.

Often, the mistake is not purposeful spamming, rather it’s that we get so busy and then remember our social networks and flood them with a series of posts that occur all in the same day, or worse yet, within the same hour!    Avoid posting them all in a day and then being idle for days at a time. Create a calendar to schedule your posts if you have to. This will make your social media site active at all times and your connections will see you as consistent and engaging.

Posting inappropriate content – this is common sense. You wouldn’t want your customers, clients, supervisors or colleagues to see things that can destroy your brand reputation. However, there are things that may arise like a colleague posting a video about the crazy things they do at work or post comments on Twitter that other connections might not get (like inside jokes with other employees). Keep a forever vigilant “brand listening station” set up so that you’ll be aware of any posts that show up with your name associated with it.

No social media presence – it’s great that you now have social media accounts and you did well in gaining followers – now what? A common mistake is to  get into the social media platform just because others are doing it. Posting on Twitter or Facebook every once in a while is alright depending on the purpose and strategy that you have in utilizing the social network,  but being idle and posting once a month is not. Before getting a social media account, plan how you’re going to use it and what you would like to gain from additional brand awareness.

Deleting comments – social media sites are a good place to get feedback and ideas on how you can improve your brand. If someone voices a sincere dislike or concern about something you are doing or you are associated with, as long as it doesn’t infringe upon privacy,  do not delete their comments.

Mismanagement of site – remember that your social media site is a platform for your brand. Whatever is posted or talked about there reflects your brand. If you are going to let someone handle your Twitter or Facebook account, make sure that you train them well. Teach them how to use the sites and let them read about good customer service practices (even if you’re not online to gain customers – customer service principals deliver vital communication and listening skills that will be an asset).  Educate them that it’s not just about posting anything to make your site active. They must know how to address connections when interacting with them.

Your online first impression is even more lasting than your offline first impression.  What do you do to ensure that you manage it well?

Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks “work” and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops – taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy.

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