Personal Branding Tips: Be Yourself

(First posted by Nick Nanton & JW Dicks on Fast Company this week.)

It sounds too simple, doesn’t it?

Personal branding  doesn’t have to be difficult.
So why do we keep wanting to make it so hard?

The best way to knock your brand out of the ballpark, is to blend your personality into everything you do.
Yep, just be yourself!

If you are a passionate local foodie, then let that be a part of your brand. Are you fanatical about travel? Then tell your story.
When you’re true to yourself, you will begin to attract and connect with your audience.
And you’ll have a lot more fun!

Nick Nanton & JW Dicks,  shared these 3 tips to incorporate your personality into the personal brand you are building:

1) Make your hobby a visible part of your brand.
Take those things you love, whether it’s fitness, fashion, or maybe an extreme outdoor adventure, and use them to bring your brand to life.
People that connect with those same things, will connect with you, and you will stand out.

2) Show off your family.
Share pictures and posts of your friends and family – they’re a major part of your life.
You’ll appear more “real” than one-dimensional.

3) Don’t be shy.
Many people are afraid to share opinions, ideas, or even their sense of humor. By all means, don’t be offensive or inappropriate, but you don’t want to be boring or pure vanilla either.

Don’t make the mistake so many people do.
Bring your personality into your brand.

The weekend is a great time to start.
How can you let your brand shine through?

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Celebrating Brand George

We love  a celebration!

On Sunday, George is 60.

So in honor of him, we put a few words together.
Things that George means to us. 60 to be exact.

Happy, happy birthday to George!

Do you want to put a few words together for someone?
Try it at wordle and show me what you come up with.

Is “WE” bigger than “ME”?

You’ve heard this before.

It’s not about you. Or is it?

Bill Taylor argues against self-fulfillment and personal happiness.

What about building your personal leadership brand?

He writes, “Don’t find yourself” but “lose yourself” in a cause that matters or a company in which you believe.

Reach his take over at Harvard Business Review.

What do you think?

photo credit: kira.belle

2 Compelling Reasons you Can’t Say NO Anymore

The question keeps coming up.

Do I really need a personal brand?

Francisco, of SocialMouths, answers it perfectly.

The 2 most important reasons you need a personal brand:

1. Personal branding sets you up as an expert in your niche. Whether or not you are, that’s a whole different animal.

2. Personal branding gives you a competitive edge. There is only one thing your competitor will never have, and that’s YOU.

I couldn’t say it better.

YOU are the secret sauce to your success.

If you’d like to learn how to build your brand, sign up for my 10 part FREE e-course: How to Build your Irresistible Personal Brand.

3 Pivotal Personal Branding Lessons from our Heroic Soldiers

Memorial Day 2011

It’s so much more than picnics and potato salad.
Or a day off work.

Ask those who have lost a comrade or loved one in combat.
Our freedom isn’t free.

Here are 3 brand lessons we can learn from our valiant American soldiers:

1. Stand for something.

Don’t try to be all things to all people.
Be brave enough to stand for something.

Not everyone will like you, but they will respect you.

I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God. – Confederate General, Robert E Lee

2. Be clear about what you want.

Know where you’re going, and point your life compass there.

WIthout that direction, you will flail about.

Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.
-Ronald Reagan

3. Fight for what you believe.

Your values and passion are the core of who you are.

Don’t waiver, and don’t give in.

Never, never, never give up. - Winston Churchill

Thank you, to all who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

photo credit: Mark Sardella

The Secret to Captivating your Clients in 5 Seconds or Less

You only have one first impression.
One chance to intrigue and capture their attention.

It’s all in your words.

Can you add some sizzle to your personal brand with different words?

Personal Branding Advice from my Mom

As I think about personal branding and what it takes to build and communicate a distinct personal brand, I can’t help but reflect back on all of the valuable advice I learned from my mom.

So on this Mother’s Day weekend, in her honor, I want to share her words of wisdom.

Be yourself.

Personal branding is all about authenticity. My mom lived that, and she stood proud and firm in who she was. She didn’t hop on every trend that came by, or waiver in the wind. You always knew what to expect from her and you could count on it every time.

Make music. Your personal brand is all about following your passion and living your purpose. My mom’s love was music, and she found a way to tie that into everything she did.

She inspired me with her music, but she encouraged me to find and follow my own passion, because she knew I was unique.

Dream Big.

My mom would always say, “If you believe it, you can achieve it”

Everything starts with a goal. Your goals give your personal brand direction. You need to define what success looks like to you, before you can start to build your brand. Only then, can you direct all your energy to achieving it.

Share.

You are born with unique talents and strengths, wrapped up in your distinct personality, and you need to use that to help others with their challenges.

People need you, and if you don’t step out with what you have to offer, the world is missing out.

Be nice. Make friends.

My mom would take me along to all of her meetings and business appointments, but I was always a little shy  going into these “big groups of grown-ups” that I didn’t know.

She held my hand as we walked in, and she would stand tall with a smile and say, “Now look at all these friends you haven’t met yet.” In her eyes, there was no such thing as a stranger.

Life is not a dress rehearsal; make each day count.

My mom’s personal brand clearly stood for fun, and she reveled in the fun, simple pleasures of life.

She used the good china, even on weekdays.

She loved to entertain, even though she often burnt the dinner.

No matter how busy she was, she’d  always stop for lucky pennies.

Her roads led to the water,  and she used any excuse for a spontaneous picnic or adventure in the boat.

My mom wasn’t afraid of getting her hair messed up. That was her mark  of a great day of fun.

Even in the hard times, she focused on her blessings.

A day in the ballpark, barefoot on the beach, dinner under the stars,  the joy was found in the simplicity of it all.

Thanks mom!

You taught me how to live, you believed in me, and you showed me how incredible my own personal brand is.

Happy Mother’s Day!

3 Steps to Create Massive Demand

Are you a small business owner, overwhelmed by the constant chase to get more customers?

Or maybe you’re a job seeker, wondering what it takes to get them to notice you above everybody else?

Paul Anderson, of prolango.com shares his solution to create massive demand.

It’s not a silver bullet or a get rich quick scheme. It takes effort and hard work. But if you’re willing to put the time in, it works.

What is the secret to massive demand?

There are 3 key ingredients:

• Differentiation
• Strategic partnerships
• Massive visibility

Step 1. Identify the players

You’ve got to do a little competitive analysis here. Your teachers taught you to do your homework. This is where it really pays off.

Who are you up against?

Start with your industry celebrities. Look at both the national and local level.

• Who are the best selling authors? An easy way to find out, is to go to amazon.com and do a book search on your expertise.

• Who are keynote speakers? Check out conferences or trade associations and you’ll quickly see who is recognized as an expert in your field.

• Who is mentioned in the media? Look at WSJ and Business Week, as well as your local Business Journal to see who they see as the authority.

Now you’re going to do a little detective work, and find out everything about them.

Go to their websites, and read the “about me” page.

Google them, and look at all of their online profiles.

Where are they? Do they have a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn account? It won’t take long to have a pretty good understanding of who they are.

How do you stack up?

Which area can you become “the expert” in?

Listen to the conversations. Really, really listen. Follow what is being said online.

Go to Google alerts and put in the keywords in your field, and you will get emails every time that topic comes up. What are the challenges and problems people are facing that these experts are solving?

What’s not being said?

You can be the expert in this area!

Takeaway:

Make a list of some attributes and strengths that make you unique, and some untouched areas that you can focus on as “the expert.”

Step 2. Who has the power?  

These are the people you want to connect and build relationships with:

• Industry leaders
• Aspirational contacts
• Super connectors

The secret here, is connecting with them without being annoying! You know what that feels like. Those people who constantly hound you for something. They are bothersome, and  you avoid them like the plague. Don’t be one of them.

Instead, be helpful. GIVE. You’ve done your research so you should know what they need. You know their company, you’ve learned about their professional history, and you probably know something personal about them from their personal profiles.

If you look at their LinkedIn profiles, peruse through their network and look for a mutual connection. Look at their recommendations. Do you know anyone there?

Try to find someone that can make the introduction for you.

Takeaway: Make a list of 10 people you need to connect with. Strategize the best way to get introduced.

Step 3. How do I create massive visibility?

It’s all about promotion, and getting the word out in a BIG way to attract them:

• Traditional media
• Social media
• Strategic partners

Your goal is to position yourself so you are always in the mind of your audience. Get noticed and engage in conversations. Offer insight and solutions to their problems, which will position you as the expert.  Don’t overwhelm yourself here. Start with doing one thing well, then add another.

Volunteer with an organization that allows to you use your strengths and talents.

Public speaking is a great way to increase your visibility. Many chambers and groups are looking for a speaker, and you just have to reach out to them. This gives you instant credibility. If you create a powerpoint presentation, upload it onto Slideshare when you’re finished. Videotape your talk and upload several small segments of it to YouTube.

Go into LinkedIn and answer questions for people.

If you enjoy writing, start a blog. If that’s too much, then comment on the top blogs in your field.

Share valuable information. Learn to use Twitter and focus on short tips that your audience needs. Become dependable and known for offering great answers and advice in one area.

Partner with others that are going after the same audience as you are, and think of creative ways to reach them. Yes, you can be creative!

Did you hear about the architect and designer that set up a booth at the local farmer’s market, offering 5 minutes of advice for 5 cents? So clever, and it worked!

Whatever you choose, you have to get the word out in a BIG way. You can’t be an expert and be invisible.

Your success isn’t JUST about being the best at what you do . . .

. . . it’s making sure that LOTS of the right people know about you, so when they need what you are offering, you are their only choice!

What steps can you take right now?

Questions? Thoughts? Post them below and I will be happy to answer them for you.

Would you like to learn more? Sign up for my FREE 10 part Personal Branding 101 email course  to learn how to get noticed, get talked about, and get business.

Photo credit: Toni Lynne

Things We Might Have in Common

We all love spending time with others that have deep similar values and passions. You delight in the same things, and you can somehow read inside the minds of each other, without any words being spoken. You’re true kindred spirits.

That makes me wonder, what common bonds might you and I have?

Here’s how I see us:

We are creative and passionate, and want to live life to the fullest. Some call it intentional living. We want to make a difference.

We view the world through rose-colored glasses, because we want to see everything as the best it can be.

The word “fine” doesn’t exist in our vocabulary. We substitute words like amazing, outstanding, extraordinary, and do so with abounding energy.

We read books online, but will never give up our library card. We send emails, but still make time to pen hand written notes on a luxurious paper.

Challenges attract us, because we truly strive to be the best we can be. Not for selfish purposes, but to have more to offer the world. A favorite motto: Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

It’s more fun to do it together, than to do it alone. We’ve learned the power of working from our strengths, and letting go of the rest. That gives us the synergy to  tackle the biggest challenges. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The conventional way doesn’t always resonate. Go with the flow? Not us. We’re known to do it differently.

We’re smitten with the charm of the city: used book stores, farmer’s markets, old linens, foreign films, and can always find an excuse to throw a dinner party.

When we’re feeling blue, we buy fresh flowers, take a spring walk even if it’s raining, and paint our toes “coral reef.”

We don’t stand for everything. We stand for something.  Not everybody will like us, but that’s ok.

In my eyes, that pretty much describes our personal brand.
Am I right? How do you see it?

5 Tools to Measure your Online Personal Brand

Everyone knows, what google says about you matters.

It matters if you need to find a job, get a date, land a client. . . people are making decisions based on what google reveals about you.

How can you measure the way you show up online?

William Arruda, Founder of Reach Personal Branding, shares 5 tools you can use to measure your online brand.

1.  Google alerts – This allows you to be notified every time your name appears in some new content on the web. To activate this, go into Google alerts and put your name in quotes, and every time your name shows up on the web, you’ll know about it.

2. Tweet Beep – this is just like google alerts, but it’s for Twitter. When people are tweeting about you, you want to know it, so set up a Tweet Beep for your name. Every time sometime talks about you in the twittershpere, you’ll be notified.

3. Online ID Calculator – Created by Reach, this helps you identify the four measures of your online reputation: volume, relevance, purity, and diversity. Simply go in and fill out a short questionnaire, submit it, and you instantly learn how you show up.

4. Bit.ly – This allows you to shorten those long url’s. For example, if you use an url in a twitter stream, you don’t use up all 140 characters on a link to something.

That alone is a great feature about bit.ly, but the best part is, it allows you to track the number of people who click on the link you created. You can understand the relative popularity of the things you’re pointing to.

5. Addictomatic – it takes a lot of the search engines, and shows you how you show up all on one screen. You can see how your personal brand shows up in Twitter, Bing, Truveo, YouTube, Flicker, google, etc, all in one place. You get a one stop shop of how you show up on the world wide web.

Google is important.

Knowing what people see about you on google is critical in managing your online personal brand.

What are your favorite online brand management tools that you can add to the list?