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 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: , , , ,

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.

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

Cast Your Networking Net Far and Wide

June 27, 2011 By 2 Comments

LinkedIn offers various ways to connect with people to network, even if you don’t know many people. College and university students can benefit from these tips to broaden their networking contacts.

Email Connections

One strategy is to import your e-mail connections to LinkedIn to see who is already a member. Hotmail, Yahoo, Aol, and Gmail are supported platforms on LinkedIn, and you can enter your e-mail and password information, and LinkedIn will populate a list of your contacts presently with an account on LinkedIn. If you don’t have one of these supported e-mail platforms, you can also go to your webmail server and export a CSV file of your contacts (CSV-comma separated value or an Excel spreadsheet). Once exported, you can upload this file to LinkedIn to generate a list of potential connections.

People You May Know

Complete your profile with education and work history, listing the schools and companies to which you are associated. On your Home Page on LinkedIn, you will see a box on the upper right-side that says, “People You May Know.” LinkedIn populates this information based upon the connections you already have, school you’ve attended, and companies where you’ve worked. So, if you complete your profile information, you may be able to reconnect with past colleagues and classmates with whom you’ve lost touch.

2nd and 3rd Degree Connections

As you connect with people, look at their connections – is there someone with whom you’d like to connect on their list? A word of caution: Replace the generic, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” with a more personal message letting them know how you know them and why you’d like to connect. Remember, if 5 or more people click “I don’t know this person” on an invitation that you’ve sent, then LinkedIn will require that you have the email address of any person with whom you want to connect with in the future.

Industry-Specific Groups

Join groups within your industry on LinkedIn. You can search groups in the Groups Directory to find not only industry-specific groups, but also groups located within your geographic location. Take advantage of advanced search features to narrow your focus to groups that would be beneficial for you to join in a job search or career management.

What’s Your Objective?

In career management, decide upon your objective and why you are using LinkedIn. Is it to advance your career, collaborate on projects, re-connect with people in your network, etc.? Connect with people with whom you will add value and remember networking’s number-one rule: G.I.V.E. Always looks for ways to connect people with other people who can facilitate opportunities, send articles that might interest them, provide resources for projects that you know would help streamline what they are doing, and more.

The Power of LinkedIn

When my husband was in his first job search after his company off-shored manufacturing, it was through a networking contact that he landed his next job. When we moved to South Carolina, I didn’t know anyone, but had researched companies where I thought I might like to work. I reached out to a first degree connection who had a first degree connection with the hiring manager at one of those companies. He e-mailed her on my behalf, and within one week, I had already had a phone interview and lunch with her. The power of LinkedIn and networking became crystal clear to me.

How will LinkedIn help you in the future? Find connections, stay-in-touch, help others fulfill career objectives, and more. As long as you give, it will come full circle. Both times my husband found himself in a job search (one job was off-shored and the other company closed its doors two years after he was hired), it was a networking contact that facilitated the next job opportunity for him.

Kristen Jacoway is the founder of Career Design Coach, providing professional speaking, training, and one-on-one consultation focused on next-generation career marketing services. She wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” and the book has frequently ranked in the Top 100 in its’ category on Amazon.

Filed Under: Social Media, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Top 3 Apps for a Stellar LinkedIn Profile

May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With your new, stellar LinkedIn profile, you will want to add apps to showcase your expertise. Used strategically, adding apps contributes to the functionality and depth to your profile. Only add apps that facilitate personal branding efforts; otherwise, your profile will appear unfocused.

Blog Link or WordPress Application

My first favorite app is the “Blog Link” or “WordPress” if you are blogging in your area of thought leadership. This app allows for  your blog to automatically feed into your LinkedIn profile. The feature I appreciate is that it gives a teaser to your blog post; however, for a person to read the entire post, they have to click the title to continue reading it on your blog thus driving traffic to your website.

One piece of advice: If your blog is about your cooking passion and you are trying to build your brand as an IT expert, then feeding your cooking blog into your LinkedIn profile will confuse the brand you are trying to build.

Google Presentation Application

My second favorite app is “Google Presentation.” I use it to showcase video presentations I’ve done. I also know a number of people who have had a videoBIO (to see a videoBIO  visit http://www.videoBIO.com ). Utilizing videos in brand-building is a cutting-edge technique not widely done at this time, so it can really set you apart from your competition.

10 Quick Steps on How to Add Video via “Google Presentations”

1. Once you sign in your LinkedIn account, go to the toolbar and find “More.” Select either “Applications” or “Get More Applications.”
2. Choose “Google Presentations.”
3. Once you install the Google Presentations’ application, select “Go to Application.”
4. From this page, you will be prompted to go to your Google account sign-in page.
5. On the left-hand side of your Google Docs page, select “Create New” and then select “Presentation.”
6. Select “Insert” and then click “Video” (your video will need to be uploaded to YouTube).
7. Search for your video and select to be inserted into the slide.
8. Title your video and save.
9. Return to LinkedIn and select the hyperlinked title of your presentation to share.
10. Lastly, click “Post to Profile.” Voila! You now have the ability to showcase your video presentation directly on your LinkedIn profile.

Tweets Application

The other app I have found very helpful is “Tweets.” You can display your most recent tweets on your LinkedIn profile. You can check the box that say “Twitter” when you post a LinkedIn status update and automatically update your Twitter status. Consider your audience when posting updates — make sure it applies to both your Twitter and LinkedIn audiences.

If you want to add other applications to your LinkedIn profile, sign in to your LinkedIn account. On the toolbar, select “More” and either select “Applications” or “Get More Applications.” At this writing, there are 19 apps available, including SlideShare Presentations, Reading List by Amazon, Events, Polls and more.


Kristen Jacoway is the founder of Career Design Coach, providing professional speaking, training, and one-on-one consultation focused on next-generation career marketing services. She wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” and the book has frequently ranked in the Top 100 in its’ category on Amazon.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Does Your LinkedIn Profile Get a Passing Grade? 5 Tips for a Captivating Profile

May 23, 2011 By 1 Comment

LinkedIn is a robust social media platform where you can connect with professionals within your industry and beyond. LinkedIn can also help people find you for potential networking, job, and/or consulting opportunities. I’m often surprised when I find well-established people’s profiles that are neglecting the most valuable part of their LinkedIn profile real estate — above the fold.

Above the fold is a term used in the newspaper industry to describe what a consumer normally sees at the newsstand. The newspaper is folded and you make a decision to purchase based upon compelling copy that’s above the fold. Similarly, on LinkedIn, people are making a quick decision to learn more about you without having to scroll down to view your entire page. So, what’s included above the fold can captivate someone to want to learn more about you and therefore, becomes valuable real estate for your LinkedIn profile.

Five Quick Tips to Brush Up Your Profile

1. Upload a professional headshot of yourself. You can go to a local department store that has a photographer or find a local photographer. People want to see to whom they are connecting, and it facilitates your personal branding as people begin to recognize your face with the expertise that you possess.

2. Write a branded headline. This is an often neglected area, but it is one of the most vital parts of your profile. Why? This is your personal brand statement, showing who you are and what you uniquely deliver.

One of my favorite tools is 15 Second Pitch. The tool walks you through a series of quick, easy-to-answer questions and then helps you to formulate your 15 Second Pitch (also known as an elevator pitch). Use the information you generate to complete your LinkedIn headline.

3. Location, location, location. Where are you located? Occasionally, people are looking for someone who delivers a product or service in their geographic region. Also, recruiters and employers sometimes use geography as one of their search parameters.

4. What are YOU doing? Status updates have been a feature for a couple of years and they introduced the ability to comment on status updates just prior to my book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” being published, so I was able to make this last-minute addition to the book. Strategically used, this can be an area that captures the interest of a potential reader of your profile.

5. Work history and education. Fully completing this area can help you locate connections from previous places of employment and your alma mater(s). LinkedIn will make recommendations of possible connections based upon this information (as well as other factors).

My top advice? Do keyword research for your industry–are any of these industry keywords applicable to your experience and training? Someone in the Marketing industry might find keywords such as social media, integrated communications platforms, brand strategy, budget administration, event management, Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and more. Make sure your profile contains keywords in a readable format. Keyword density can be helpful, but not if it takes away from the readability. One last tip? Use abbreviations AND the spelled-out word — i.e. Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.). Using these tips to complete the ‘above the fold’ information will dramatically increase your success with LinkedIn.

In my next article, I am going to focus on some must-have LinkedIn apps to add a dynamic dimension to your profile.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Kristen Jacoway is the founder of Career Design Coach, providing professional speaking, training, and one-on-one consultation focused on next-generation career marketing services. She wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” and the book has frequently ranked in the Top 100 in its’ category on Amazon.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

Working Your Passion

May 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As an entrepreneur, I actually thought I would have more time to myself by working for myself. OK- there you have it- the largest misconception I personally had while going into business for myself. I ‘work’ all the time. Yes, frequently even in the middle of the night when needed. There is a lot of strategy, input, resources, creativity, detail, and follow up that goes into making my business ‘happen’. It needs to be done the ‘right’ way. And it takes alot of time.

Sometimes, I get tired, but not usually. Why is this?

It’s is very simple; I am passionate about what I do, which fuels me. It keeps me raring to go constantly. This shows in my personal brand statement:

I am passionate about revealing the professional uniqueness and strengths of others; I coach and inspire them to find renewed energy and interest and strive for creative successes without boundaries.

None of us is driven if not for passion or necessity… how can YOU make your career goals something you are passionate about? Know yourself and your audience. Here’s a simple equation:

Know yourself (what do I do better than anyone?) + Know your audience (what problems do they need solved?)

For the first part, ask yourself: What are 3 things people say about me? The first words that come to your mind will go a long way toward cultivating the very foundation of your personal brand and truly reflects your authentic self.

For the second part: what issues or pain points does your target audience have that your strengths can solve?

The answers to the above will form your Unique Proposition of Value (UPV).

Within your current role or even in transition, know yourself and be yourself.

As Anne Morrow Lindbergh said, “The most exhausting thing you can be is inauthentic.”

Let’s recap:

Become empowered by discovering who you are and whose problems YOU can help solve.

Understanding yourself through personal branding and being authentic will energize and fulfill you to do things better and greater than you ever dreamed possible…

Isn’t it worth a try?

Kelly Welch from YES Career Services is a veteran HR professional, Certified Personal Branding Strategist, Professional Resume Writer, and Leadership and Career Management Coach. Resourceful and creative, she is reputed for her dynamic insights and passionate commitment toward helping her clients rebrand and position themselves for career success.

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

Top 5 Social Media Platforms for Career Management

May 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

How Social Media has Changed the Job Search

I created this video (click hyperlink “How Social Media has Changed the Job Search” to view) originally to demonstrate some pretty fascinating statistics about the power of social media in a job search. However, this information is equally relevant to career management. One of the strategies for establishing your personal brand online includes building profiles on professional platforms. Naturally, if you are working within a company, you will want to adhere to the company’s social media policies.

Top 5 Social Media Platforms for Career Management

How is building and participating on social media platforms helpful in career management? Networking and showing your expertise/thought leadership! Laurie Smith stated in her article, “Using Social Media as a Career Management Tool,” there are five main tools that are especially effective for business owners, executives, and professionals looking to manage their career. They include:

  1. Facebook
  2. YouTube
  3. LinkedIn
  4. Blogging
  5. Twitter

Key Ingredient BEFORE Building an Online Presence

Remember, unlocking and leveraging your personal brand is the critical step prior to building online results. Why? Simply, you want to establish your expertise in the area(s) that best match your long-range goals.

Interestingly, Kelly Global Workforce Index™ reported on Nov. 11, 2010 that Americans say personal “branding” is key to employment opportunities. The traits individuals identified as most important in this article include:

* Verbal Communication Skills
* Technical Knowledge
* Resumes
* Written Communications
* Personal Attire
* Use of Social Media

During the next several articles, I will take you through steps to establish yourself and build your presence on these five platforms, giving you resources along the way. We’ll start with LinkedIn and look at building a stellar profile, importance of keywords (and a little known tip for a keyword-rich profile), must-have apps for your profile, building your network, and many more.

This article first appeared on Classroom to Cubicle and is cross-posted at Career Design Coach.

Kristen Jacoway is the founder of Career Design Coach, providing professional speaking, training, and one-on-one consultation focused on next-generation career marketing services. She wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” and the book has frequently ranked in the Top 100 in its’ category on Amazon.

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

How to Achieve Your Big Picture Vision for Your Life

April 20, 2011 By 2 Comments

Joel Osteen once said the reason your rear-view mirror is smaller than your windshield is because what is past cannot be changed and is small in comparison to what lies ahead. The big picture, aka your vision, is a large piece of the personal branding process. What legacy do you want to leave and what are the goals for achieving that vision?

How to Determine Your Career Values

First, define your values and determine your values. Are they:

  • A must
  • Something you can tolerate, or
  • Something you will NOT tolerate

A free tool to help you to determine your career values can be taken at myPlan.com.

How Goals Can Help You Achieve Career Success

As William Arruda, CEO and Founder of Reach Communications, states in the video, “Turn Your Goals Into Gold,” you want to establish short-, mid-, and long-term goals. If you have just launched your career as a Marketing Assistant, but your long-term goal is to be the Chief Marketing Officer for a Fortune 500 company, what are the in-between steps you will have to achieve to reach this goal?

Defining your vision will ultimately help you to establish this long-term goal. Again, what is the footprint you want to leave? Where can you work or what can you do to support this vision?

5 Steps to Writing Dynamic Goals

Most experts agree that your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. -  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timeframe Specific. For example, when I wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” (part of my ultimate vision in educating people about today’s job search techniques and how online identity plays a pivotal role), I followed the S.M.A.R.T. principles:

  1. Specific: It was specific because I knew the title and the ideas I wanted to include.
  2. Measurable: The book was measurable because I broke down how many words I would write per day (my contract called for a certain number of words).
  3. Attainable: The book was attainable because I have many blog posts, reference files, email answers, and years of experience as a career counselor. Also, I secured the publisher’s contract prior to writing the book.
  4. Relevant: The book’s topic was relevant in the face of today’s job market conditions.
  5. Time-frame Specific: My goal was time-frame specific because I imposed a due date to submit the first draft.

Key Ingredient for Ultimate Success

What’s the one key ingredient to achieving your vision and your goals? Find an accountability partner – a friend, a colleague, a family member, or a coach with whom you can do routine checks and will hold you accountable to the short, mid, and long-term goals you have established. Setting and writing goals is one critical piece in reaching your vision, but if you never take action, you will never reach your goals.

This article first appeared on Classroom to Cubicle and is cross-posted at Career Design Coach

Kristen Jacoway is the founder of Career Design Coach, providing professional speaking, training, and one-on-one consultation focused on next-generation career marketing services. She wrote the book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” and the book has frequently ranked in the Top 100 in its’ category on Amazon.

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

Expat Careers & Businesses: Storytelling about Your Brand Online and Offline

April 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For today’s post I’ve interviewed friend, colleague and fellow personal branding strategist Bernadette Martin about her new book Storytelling about Your Brand Online & Offline. The book explains how storytelling can help executives, entrepreneurs and professionals to message and strengthen their personal brand.

I had the honor of penning a chapter in the book entitled, “How to Internationalize your Bio”.

I want to thank Bernadette for taking the time to answer a few questions regarding storytelling and personal branding.

• So Bernadette, how do you define the word “story” and why are stories so powerful?

I believe a story is an expression of real and imagined experiences, crafted and woven by the storyteller in a sensory fashion. This can play out in an oral, written, visual or tactical context in a book, movie, poem, song or dance. Stories can be expressed online through vehicles like YouTube, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Second Life and more.

Stories capture and hold our attention. They are an extremely powerful form of communication because stories combine facts, figures and details with emotions, colors and imagery, creating synapses between the left and right halves of your brain. Stories not only allow us to process information and store it effectively in memory, but also, perhaps most importantly, allow us connect emotionally with another person.

• What makes a “good” story?

A story can meet the above criteria and definition and still not be a good story. Ideally, a story would have a stimulating beginning, an engaging middle, and a decisive yet compelling ending that leaves the listener wanting to hear more. A powerful and memorable story would trigger the senses and evoke emotion, creating a connection between the narrator and the listener. But it is in how the story is told and unfolds that makes it memorable.

A way to make your personal story powerful is through the use of GEMS, meaning captivating memorable “touch points” sprinkled throughout your bio or narratives that delight the listener. These can be quotes, analogies, humor, childhood memories, references to heroes, mentors, favorite authors, musicians and idols. GEMS are a way to strengthen your story’s message.

• How does storytelling factor into to the personal branding process?

Personal branding is the process of identifying, clarifying and communicating what is unique about the “Brand Called You”.  Telling an effective, clear and “on brand” story is an important element of the personal branding process. Stories can make your personal brand come alive by allowing you to express your key attributes, values, passions, talents, emotional intelligence, leadership skills and accomplishments in a relevant and compelling way. One of the most important ways this is done in through your bio. Building and crafting a body of stories, both written and oral, is key to success.

• How should expats be using storytelling to support our career goals?

As professionals we are constantly telling stories to our stakeholders such as clients, partners, staff, media, the public and recruiters. This can be in interview situations, at staff meetings, dinner parties, social functions, networking events, presentations, sales meetings, even around the water cooler. For individuals in career transition, recruiters in particular are begging for good stories. The interview offers an ideal opportunity to tell some good stories and of course it usually starts with the most frequently asked question “Tell me about yourself”.  You want to be able to showcase your story and provide a dynamic and engaging 3D picture of your experience and potential.

• What is 2.0 or digital storytelling?

It is no longer around the fire, huddled after a day of bison hunting, that we tell our stories.  Now we can choose from countless affordable, sophisticated, and easy-to-use platforms to get our story out to the virtual world.

Digital storytelling is sharing one’s story through the multiple media of digital imagery, text, voice, sound music, and animation. Web 2.0 and technological innovations are changing the way we interact, connect and communicate. There are so many ways to connect with our target and build a relationship across media. Some of these powerful communication tools include FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

• What is one critical thing every expat should know when using storytelling to express their brand?

I suggest finding and selecting with intention and a strategy the channels of storytelling media that you can relate to and more important, relate to your target. Storytelling is a key development skill and executives and professionals throughout organizations and across all industries. We all need to become adroit storytellers and expert at using the right tools for getting those stories to their target audience in a compelling way.

For those expats who want to learn more about storytelling to build your brand can read Bernadette’s book, Storytelling about Your Brand Online & Offline.


Megan Fitzgerald, Expat Career and Personal Branding CoachMegan Fitzgerald, Expat Career and Personal Branding Coach, helps expats use their personal brand to build careers and businesses to support their life abroad. 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: Books, Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts