Re-imagining Personal Brand

July 20, 2012 by 2 Comments
Re-Imagine Personal Brand

“Differentiation is a way of thinking. It’s a mindset. It’s a commitment. A commitment to engage with people–not in a manner to which they are merely unaccustomed, but in a manner that they will value, respect, and yes, perhaps even celebrate."  ~Youngme Moon   Harvard Business School professor, Youngme Moon, in her remarkable book Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd, discusses the ways in which many brands have adopted a herd mentality as they compete in the marketplace. In accounting for a “proliferation of sameness,” she says: "In category after category, companies have gotten so locked into a particular cadence of competition that they appear to have lost sight of their mandate – which is to create meaningful grooves of separation from one another. Consequently, the harder they compete, the less differentiated they become.” So, increasingly, we live in a world where we don’t see meaningful differences between offerings like cars, cereals, or … [Read more...]

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Is Your Personal Brand Walking its Own Walk?

April 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

Your Brand Needs to Have its Own Walk Do you find it a challenge to maintain your unique value in the face of others?  Are you simply conforming to the norm?  Conformity is the kiss of death for your personal brand. By conforming you are simply disappearing into the herd of all others with similar skills and background.  Your are invisible, or in the words of Seth Godin you are not a 'purple cow'. In the new world of work you need your own walk. By walking your own walk you are adding to the diversity and creativity your organization needs to be innovative.  As William Arruda says "conformity stiffles innovation."   This scene from The Dead Poets Society is an excellent example of  the important distinction between conformity versus consistency. http://youtu.be/SnAyr0kWRGE Often we do not walk our own walk because we fear what others may think.  Robin Williams puts it perfectly in this clip when he says: "You must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, … [Read more...]

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

Ten Things You Probably Don’t Know About Reach Personal Branding

October 28, 2011 by 4 Comments

1.  Reach was founded in 2001 while I was living in Paris – making it one of the first five personal branding companies in the world, and the first in Europe. 2.  The Reach logo is comprised of two parts: The ® symbol, which acknowledges that we are all unique brands. The word ‘each’ - a further reminder of our individuality - speaks to the customized solutions we develop. Together, they spell Reach: To touch or grasp by stretching out or extending.  The logo was designed by award-winning creative director, Vartus. 3.  750,000 people have experienced 360Reach - the first and leading personal branding assessment. We are now running Version 5.0. 4.  More coaches in the world use the Reach personal branding methodology – 1-2-3 Success!™ - with their clients than any other. 5.  We have Reach-Certified Personal Branding Strategists in 30 countries on five continents. 6.  Our most popular video “What Color is Your Brand?” has over 100,000 views (over … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Executive Branding, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Reach 10th Anniversary Celebration Tagged With: , , ,

Seth Godin Shakes Things Up At September Reach Interview Series

September 13, 2011 by 1 Comment
Seth Godin

What would the world look like if more people started projects, made a ruckus, and took risks? This question was asked by marketing legend Seth Godin in his recent best-seller, Poke The Box. This question stirs the soul and makes you think about a world without fear or crippling doubts. How much greater would our world be with the book you were meant to write, the business you were meant to establish, or the invention you have on paper but never pursued? Are you ready to be pushed beyond your comfort zone? Are you ready to reach your highest potential? Are you ready to learn how to "poke the box?" Seth Godin is our honored guest for the Reach Personal Branding Interview September 15, 2011 at noon EST. Seth will be having an interactive, one-hour long conversation with William Arruda, the founder of Reach Personal Branding. During the discussion, Seth will teach you how to poke the box, lead a tribe, and become a linchpin. Success is never a straight line and as Seth … [Read more...]

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Your Best Job Search Resource? You!

September 26, 2010 by 1 Comment

Normally, when people ask about resources for job seekers, they mean something that will be useful in helping the job seeker successfully secure new employment. It could be a book, a website, an article, an assessment, a contact management tool, or a networking or professional organization. There are lots of possibilities. And all you need to do is launch your web browser to find them. So, this post isn’t about any of those. When all is said and done, success in a job search is meeting a short-term objective on a longer journey of career success. So, as I see it, the best resource for a job seeker is his or her own good judgment in making choices that lead to successful career management. Individual choices will be different for everyone. However, there is one common theme: developing the self-knowledge to be able to recognize the right kinds of opportunities, and then exercising the discipline to get out there to meet the people who can help connect you to them. Frankly, the … [Read more...]

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Getting Beyond “My Brand”

August 12, 2010 by 6 Comments

These days, it seems that personal branding has faced increasing criticism. Much of it, I think, is driven by people who don’t get it, or at least who don’t get the concept that we advance at Reach. And, let’s face it, social media and the prevalence of internet marketers has allowed for the idea to be hijacked in the interest of “driving traffic.” Lot’s of people out there pushing “my brand” opens the door to the perception of personal brands as contrived or fake.  Frankly, I think the dialogue about personal branding is a good thing, and that we need to participate. I think that addressing these criticisms gives us a platform for creating more clarity, and perhaps even evolve the concept of personal brand further. So, here’s my contribution. * * * Think about it. When you were growing up, did your friends ever ask if your brand could come out to play? Not likely. What they wanted was you and what you brought to their experience. Fast forward to the present, … [Read more...]

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Self Absorbed is Not a Personal Brand

January 15, 2010 by 4 Comments

Recently, I happened upon a Twitter conversation in which there seemed to be agreement that personal branding is flawed and self-centered. Since there were resume writers in the conversation, I wanted to add my view that obsessing about getting one’s resume right can also be self-centered. But I didn’t. The fact is, I could actually see their point. When personal branding is used merely as a self-promotional tool, it does come across as egotistic.It is an unfortunate misconception that personal branding is “all about me,” when virtually all brands put emphasis on some promise of value delivered to a target audience. As I observed in a prior post, if you work at defining your brand without considering the people to whom you can deliver some clear benefit, you don’t really have a brand. Put another way, if you promote yourself in ways that don’t show your relevance to a specific brand community, then you’re simply being narcissistic. My reading over the past year, has … [Read more...]

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