Understanding the Brand Extraction Process as a Transitioning Brand

July 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Reach

Branding has never been more important than it is today. There’s just too much noise out there, too many people jostling for the same position, too many brands competing for the same market. As a personal brand, you may have found your small, little niche as an employee at a company. You were happy with that… for a while. But then you started wanting more. You decided you want to make that leap from employee to employer, to become your own boss and start your own small business. It can be tricky, however, to transition your brand from a personal to a business one. You may already have a good personal brand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have a successful business one. Being an entrepreneur is a lot different from being an employee or working for someone. This is why if you’re looking into transitioning your personal brand into something more, Reach’s personal branding methodology can help you. It is a comprehensive process involving three steps … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Discovering Your Brand, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs Tagged With: , ,

$2 billion+ losses, thoughtless tweets or resume lies – it’s all about personal brand leadership…..or not

May 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Everest

When you set out to go mountain climbing, as in business, there are a number of factors that increase your chances of success, but if not can cause a fall. Knowledge - past experience, having all the right equipment packed, planning your route, practicing the more difficult traverses ahead of time. Teamwork - having the right team with you, knowing everyones strengths (and weaknesses), understanding you do not have all the answers. Realism - not living in the clouds thinking whatever happens that it's all going to be great. Having dreams yes, but ensuring your feet are set firmly in reality so that you make clear headed decisions. This past weekend's deaths of four climbers on Mount Everest, highlight the continual human drive to achieve the ultimate pinnacle. People with the drive to fulfil lifelong dreams and goals, willing to pay the ultimate price. Without knowing all the details and what they faced you do wonder if they stuck to those three principles. Recently we … [Read more...]

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

There are lies, damned lies and resumes

May 16, 2012 by 2 Comments
Scott Thompson

Well it was only a matter of time before we saw it again. People seem to easily forget that celebrities and CEO's are human too. That means a small percentage will also do things that surprise the rest of us. This time it was Scott Thompson, now former CEO of Yahoo, the beleagured internet company, uncovered as having lied on his resume. His claim was to have a double degree, when an unhappy investor discovered that one of those degrees was not even offered by Thompson's school until after he had graduated! Three things that Thompson did that accelerated his downfall; 1. He first of all pleaded ignorance. 2. Then he lied, blaming it on of all people his headhunters. 3. Finally he did not apologise It now has been reported that Thompson may be suffering from thyroid cancer, my empathy to him if that is the case. But his actions have now damaged a leadership brand that previously had been held up as a technology success and likely a strong factor in his being hired … [Read more...]

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

Let Your Personal Brand SOAR!

March 8, 2012 by 2 Comments
SOAR-picture

  The SWOT analysis continues to be one of the most widely used strategic planning tools. Organizations use it all the time to analyze how to remain competitive by looking internally at their 'Strengths' and 'Weaknesses' and externally at 'Opportunities' and 'Threats.' When it was first created it was actually called SOFT - satisfactory , opportunity, fault, and threat. In 1964 the originators changed 'satisfactory' to 'strength' and replaced 'fault' with 'weakness.' Over 40 years later SWOT has remained unchanged, and is even being used by individuals to strategize about their own life and careers.  Some career coaches advocate using the framework as a way to identify what separates you from your peers and develop the talents you need to advance your career. SWOT can be very useful in the personal branding process as it does focus on our strengths. However, once weaknesses enter the equation it tends to dominate our thinking and we fall into a trap. Our focus turns to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Brand Activation, Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Strong Personal Brands Tagged With: , , , ,

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

November 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
idea man

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 … [Read more...]

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

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

August 8, 2011 by 3 Comments
oops key

Several months ago, I read an article about “How Social Media Can Hurt Your Job” by Rachel Zupeck, and it gave me pause. Why? Because I have had people ask me who can read their tweets. If you have your tweets on a public timeline, then everyone can read your tweets. Companies have taken proactive measures to “listen” to their brand being discussed on social media platforms. It’s really quite easy for them to know if you are talking about them or not. Tweetbeep, Google Alerts, Radian6, Company Buzz (LinkedIn application), etc. makes it very easy for them to “hear” when their name has been mentioned on a social media platform. So, before you decide to give negative press about a company or its’ people, remember that it’s quite possible they are listening with one of these tools and will discover it. Remember, once you click “submit,” the tweet has been seen. Sure, there is a trashcan icon where you can delete a tweet, but … [Read more...]

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

5 Quick Tips for Using Twitter in Your Job Search

August 1, 2011 by 2 Comments
theory into practice

Twitter is a growing platform for recruiters and employers to identify and recruit potential employees. In fact, Twitter has exploded in growth, experiencing a 5000% surge from 2008 to 2011! Twitter is a great place to increase personal brand awareness by following these simple steps: 1. Complete your profile thoroughly! I cannot stress this point enough because, many times, I run across profiles with just the Twitter name and worse, no picture. Your profile should be filled with keywords that are applicable to your background and experience. Also, upload a nice headshot of yourself—people like to see a picture of the person with whom they are connecting. 2. Use keywords. One useful tool to locate keywords that employers and recruiters might be using in their search parameters is job postings in your career track. Go through several postings with a highlighter and highlight noun and noun phrases. What are commonly used keywords? If they apply to you, make sure … [Read more...]

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

Expat & International Careers: When Was Your Last Personal Brand, Career & Job Search Check Up?

July 24, 2011 by 2 Comments
Megan Fitzgerald, Expat and International Career Coach

WHEN WAS YOUR LAST CHECK UP? Doing regular check ups for your personal brand, career management and job search is important. First and foremost, check ups allow you to see what is working and what is not.  You can make adjustments and stop wasting time with things that are not supporting your brand, career or job search goals. Secondly, taking the time to revisit your strategy and goals based on current accomplishments is also critical for being able to successfully search out and capitalize on opportunties when they arise. Depending on how much time and energy you are dedicating to your brand building, career management and/or job search, your strategic plan can remain much the same or change almost entirely. I recommend doing check ups quarterly for your personal brand and career management and monthly or even biweekly for someone in active job search. If you have not done one before, starting off with a biannual check up for brand building and career management is still a … [Read more...]

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

3 Twitter Tools to Accelerate Your Job Search

July 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Find Job on Keyboard

According to the 2010 JobVite Study, Twitter is one of the Top 3 social media sites for employers and recruiters to use to identify and source potential job candidates. Twitter is also a platform for someone in a job search to find job advice and job openings. My Top 3 Twitter Tools for a Person in Career Transition 1) Hashtags: Hashtags has the # sign preceding the words. Most commonly seen is the #FF / #FollowFriday where people on Twitter recommend some of their favorite people with whom they follow on Twitter. Essentially, hashtags create a filing cabinet. Type a hashtag in the Twitter search box and you will arrive on a page that is filled with tweets containing that hashtag. I recommend for people to find the most commonly used hashtags at a website called hashtags.org. You can type in your keyword and find the most commonly used hashtag for that keyword. If you are looking for an IT job, you could type #ITjobs in the Twitter search box and yield job postings for … [Read more...]

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

#1 Job Search Strategy – Focus, Focus, Focus

July 11, 2011 by 1 Comment
Focus - Man with hands in front of eyes

Today, I wanted to give you a starting point for your job search. You can research industries and the companies on many different search type engines, but one of my favorites is LinkedIn (if you are just getting started on LinkedIn, read “Does Your LinkedIn Profile Get a Passing Grade? 5 Tips for a Captivating Profile”). I am going to walk you through the initial steps of how you can start your job search by compiling a prospecting list. You want to develop a list of your Tier A, Tier B, and Tier C companies, so you can better organize your job searching efforts. 5 Steps for Developing Your Job Search Prospecting List via LinkedIn 1) Go to LinkedIn.com and sign in. 2) Click on the “Companies” Tab. 3) In the “Company Name or Keyword,” type in the Industry keyword. If you want to narrow your search, include the postal code. For example, I typed in “Aerospace” for the industry and my zip code to narrow my search results. 4) Click “Search Companies.” 5) On … [Read more...]

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