Best of Branding: Top 5 This Week | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

Here is the Top 5 This Week – @andywergedal

Communication is the key this week. If you lose you job, tell everyone. And, here are some tips to help if you are uncomfortable talking to real people.

Here are this weeks Top 5

1. Don’t be a Stealth Job Hunter – [Career Rocketeer]

Are you trying to find a new job without letting anyone know you’re unemployed? Many people try, very few succeed. Especially in today’s job market, it is extremely difficult to get a new position without extensive networking!

2. Relevance Outweighs Details – Save the Whole Life Story for Your Momma! – [Great Resumes Fast]

Forget what your parents told you. In today’s job market, a resume doesn’t have to—and generally shouldn’t—include every single thing you’ve done at your past jobs. Tailor each resume to highlight your most relevant accomplishments, and employers may actually spend a little more time reading it over.

3. Networking for the Socially Inept, Introverted and Reluctant – [Career Rocketeer]

You know our type. We’re the kind of people who for whatever reason don’t really know how to start up a conversation. We’d rather hide under the table than start chatting with an unknown person or stay at home watching reruns than go to a party. We’re your awkward cousin or the kid that sat behind you in biology. Is there networking hope for us? There is hope and you will find comfort in knowing (for all of us procedural nerds) that it can be a process you can quickly and painlessly use.

4. How To Communicate Well With Anyone – [Brand-Yourself]

You communicate daily with those around you. People you like and get along with, and people you have a hard time being around, but are forced to deal with. Luckily communication skills are flexible and can be tweaked to any situation, no matter how grim. Mastering the art of being flexible is the key, as that is the ticket to success in academia, career and life.

5. How to Make a #Career Change Doable for You – [Career Chaos]

A first step is to get back in touch with what goes on in the world beyond your current workspace. Start by reading recent business magazines such as Forbes or Fortune and Business Week. Include the Wall Street Journal AND the New York Times. Discover the current trends in your industry, in your field, in the world. Reflect on how these trends will affect your current career, and on how the skills you already have can impact these trends. When contemplating a career change, think about what your choice will look like 5-10 years from now. It’s important to select a career you can grow into and thrive in.

In case you haven’t figured it out, yet. Getting a job is always about the people, not the process or the company.

As a pioneer in thought leadership Andy is capable technologist. His primary professional role is the communication bridge between technology and executive staff. An expert in project management methodologies Andy excels as the agent of change. Alternatively in the real world, Andy has a passion for helping people find jobs while playing a ukulele. He takes great pleasure in thinking out of the box and the numerous opportunities to laugh at himself. Checkout his blog at 40×50.com and on twitter @andywergedal.

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How A Strong Personal Brand Can Make You Rich | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

A few months ago Chris Brogan sent the world into a brief tizzy by revealing his services are worth up to $22,000 per day.  Startling number indeed.  Would you like to replicate even 10% of that daily haul?  If so, here is my take on how you can get there.

Whether you love him, hate him, or are easily intrigued by unique facial hair, you probably know of Chris Brogan.  He is everywhere.  My Google Reader feed tells me that chrisbrogan.com averages 8.9 posts per week, all free for anyone to read.  In 2008, Chris produced this personal branding e-book, and charged a whopping $0 for it.  The guy sends out this newsletter full of information and charges….you guessed it, nothing.

The result of all this incredible content being pumped out for free?  A lot of folks salivating to take it all in.  48,200 blog subscribers and 136,000 Twitter followers soaking it up 140 characters at a time.  Essentially, Chris has been building brand equity over time, keystroke by keystroke.

Today, it is easy to recognize Chris’ authority on new media marketing, and realize just how valuable it would be for a company to secure his uninterrupted focus.  Yes, even $22,000-for-a-single-day valuable.  So then…

The secret to building a money-making personal brand? Give great stuff away for free today. Offer even better stuff tomorrow for a price.

Chris Brogan isn’t the only one to have perfected this art.  Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV is on episode #862, and all 862 are available for less than a penny.  Guy Kawasaki has been giving away advice across platforms for years.  Problogger Darren Rowse essentially teaches a free course on professional blogging that you and I can read freely every day.

But, if you want 1-on-1 time with one of these three (or any other guy or gal who has taken the same path) for consulting or speaking – you might want to plan an extra trip to the ATM, it’s going to cost a pretty penny.

Now, on to you.  How do you compare?  What are you giving away for free today that will build a powerful (and lucrative) brand for tomorrow?  Are you…

• Blogging regularly?
• Making certain your tweets/articles/updates add value to your community?
• Engaging in conversation?
• Sharing the work of others as much as you promote your own?
• Building relationships, not empty follower counts?

What about at your day job?  The same principles apply at the office too, in an even more concentrated way.  Are you…

• Putting in extra time without being asked?
• Working on projects above and beyond your “job title”?
• Helping co-workers without expecting anything in return?

Essentially, Chris Brogan’s $22,000 revelation is the world’s most effective case study on the positive effects of a personal brand (no, not a contrived brand built just for appearance’s sake, but an authentic brand built organically over time).

Compile every public tweet, blog post, guest article and keynote speech – and imagine that instead, Chris kept all that “valuable” information to himself.  He’d still be the same brilliant dude today.  But, who would know it?  Without established credibility, what company would want to shell out even $22 for his day of work, let alone $22,000?

No, you won’t become filthy rich overnight because you gave away great insights and added value today.  Building a brand isn’t a sprint.  To do it right, you are going to be running a long, long time.  And don’t expect the path to be paved with riches.  But the destination? It just might be.

Create a Brand-Yourself.com Account to Manage Your Online Reputation!

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For personal branding advice from Ryan Rancatore and a great group of guest bloggers, visit Personal Branding 101. Or, connect with @RyanRancatore on Twitter and be sure to say hello.

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Personal Brands: Get Naked | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Are you playing “dress up” to match the expectations of others? Is there an ever thinning veil, between the real you and the ideal you that you’ve invented and are now struggling to project?

Are you still clenching to maintain the “first date” behavior code with recruiters, your boss or clients? Is your armor cracking (or scorching, if you saw Iron Man 2)? Is it becoming clear that the emperor (or whatever title you hold) has no clothes?

How did you get in this mess?

You pretended to be detail oriented, self-motivated and an early riser. You pretended to be an advanced user of Excel, Final Cut, Wordpress and Spanish. You said you were willing, in fact eager, to work weekends, late nights or be on call 24/7/365.

Are you faking it in hopes that you will be making it sometime soon? Are you keeping the lid on your volcano of real strengths that are now screaming to be exploited while you ply your trade with your weakest suit?

Or have you simply outgrown the persona you still attempt to play by being underemployed or dis-employed or just phoning it in?

What is the naked truth about who you really are and what you really want to do?

The closer you can get to the true you, the happier and richer you will be. Richer: as in making lots of money. Happier: as in rich in every way: spiritually, mentally, physically and once again, financially.

Why? To have phenomenal success in any field or even with any project, you have to have unstoppable, intrinsic and sustainable motivation. Problems have to appear as puzzles that you are delighted to decode.

A deep vein running through you must declare: I would do this even if I won the lottery. I might wear better shoes or drive a cooler car and take way better vacays, but I would still be doing “this” for work, for this company or my own company, and my clients, or whatever the “this” and the “who” are for you.

What is your IT?

A lot of us have names for your Highest Goal (Michael Ray), your Sweetest Fruit (Laurel Mellin) or Ultimate Outcome (me). These are just labels for your IT. What is IT? IT is the thing screaming to get out of your mind or body and put onto this planet. It is the truth you may be hiding from yourself, as well as others.

Here’s my embarrassing truth. I am someone who needs other people’s dreams and ambitions in order to be self-actualized. I am meant to help, encourage, find the right way, take the first bullet, stay up all night to get it done on time, and make the most money possible for the people I work for.  I respond so easily to the red light on the camera because I believe I am helping the audience. I teach for the same reason. In fact, it’s why I write to you each week.

My clients often write “thank you” in the memo of their retainer checks.

If I were a dog, I’d be a golden retriever – a working dog that loyally runs into the rushing waters of a cold river to get the stick and get it back to you. Simply put, my personal brand is this: I am a helper, with vision and grit.

If we stripped away all the varnish (and that’s the nice word for it), what is your naked truth?

Planet Earth is 71% water. Take a skinny dip into it, baring your real personal brand.

Author:

Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen.

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11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Results - Stepcase Lifehack

All of us have goals. Goals like losing weight, earning more money, finding a life partner, setting up our business, achieving performance targets, being fitter, building better relationships, and so on. Some people seem to have no problem achieving their goals. Some, on the other hand, don’t seem to be able to make any progress.

I’ve a good amount of experience with goal achievement, having been actively setting goals since 10 years ago. I’ve experienced setbacks and successes in my goal pursuits. Running The Personal Excellence Blog (which is all about how to live in excellence and achieve our highest potential), I often receive reader mail seeking help for situations they are stuck in. I work with clients who are not getting results in life and want to turn things around. This has given me a lot of insights on what keeps people from success.

At the end of the day, if you find yourself stuck in your goals, it boils down to one (or some) of these 11 reasons:

1. You Procrastinate. You keep putting things off. You talk about how you want to do something but you don’t act on it. You are like the howling dog. I recently wrote the story of the howling dog at The Personal Excellence Blog. The story refers to this dog, who keeps howling because it’s sitting on a nail. However, he refuses to get up from the nail. Why? Because it’s not painful enough. You procrastinate on taking action because the situation is not painful enough for you yet. However, the times when it does become painful enough are often the times when it’s too late to do anything. Either you start taking action, or you forever lay in peace. Your call, I’ll leave it to you.
2. You underestimate your goal. Achieving a goal is about getting from point A to B. From point A, you create an action plan that gets you to point B. Sounds foolproof, except the action plan isn’t 100% valid. That’s because you’re setting the plan from point A. You haven’t even been to point B, so how do you even know if it’ll get you to B? At most it’ll be help to bring you closer to point B, but it’s not going to be 100% accurate. Almost all the time, people fail because they underestimate what it takes to achieve their goals. What should you do then? Over-commit your resources and review your progress constantly. (See Step #11 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity). Adjust your plan of action and adapt accordingly.
3. You spend more time defending your problems than taking action. You complain how you are not getting XYZ results. When people try to give you suggestions, you spend more time justifying why their suggestions will not work and defending your lack of results than brainstorm with them on how to get out of your rut. Spend less time talking about your problems and use that time to think about solutions. Then act on them. You’ll get a lot more results this way, and you’ll be happier.
4. You’re too enclosed in your own world. You don’t venture out beyond your normal routine. You do the same things, talk to the same old friends, act the same way, circle around the same issues. It’s no wonder you stagnate. Open yourself up – take active steps to grow. Get to know more people – people who are driven, positive and focused. Get new, refreshing perspectives. Read new books. Add new blogs to your subscription. Ask for feedback on how you can improve. Read my other lifehack guestpost – 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself.
5. You’re not working smart. You do the same thing over and over, even when you don’t get results. You apply brute strength to your goals, without strategizing how you can apply this strength more effectively. If you are not getting what you want, it’s a signal it’s time to change what you have been doing. See how you can do this in a different, smarter, more effective way.Look at people who have achieved the same results before, and learn from them.
6. Avoidance (Fear). You avoid taking action because some of the things you have to do intimidate you. You rather delay the process as much as possible. Unfortunately, results are not going to come automatically from delaying. Results come to people who pay their dues, not people who avoid the work. The fear isn’t going to go away by waiting it out. Face the fear and do it anyway.
7. You’re easily distracted. You get distracted by things thrown in your way. Your attention gets diverted from your goals. Your ability to stay focused is instrumental to achieving your results. Be clear of what you want and stick to it. Don’t let anything (or anyone) distract you. These are the obstacles the universe sends your way to see how serious you are about getting what you want.
8. You over-complicate situations. Common among the neurotic perfectionists. If you are a neurotic perfectionist, you blow the situation out of proportion and create this mental image that’s so complicated that it’s no wonder you don’t get anything done. Things are usually simpler than you think – be conscious when you are adding unnecessarily complications for yourself. I wrote about this in detail in Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect.
9. You give up too easily. You give up before you even get anywhere. If you read “The Dip”, you’ll know all big goals comes with a dipping point – a chasm where it seems nothing you do is giving you results. It’s normal. This is the point that differentiates those who deserve the goal and those who are just taking a casual stab at it. I’ve a client who has a penchant for giving up in his goals early on. He realized soon that there’s no “easy” way out, and all goals have their own set of obstacles to be overcome. Persevere, press on, and it’s a matter of time before you reap the fruits of your labor.
10. You lose sight of your goals. You settle for less, forgetting the goals you once set. That’s bad because then you are just stifling yourself and making do with what you have – and this isn’t who you are meant to be. You have to first reconnect with your inner desires. If you cannot fail at all, what would you want to do? What are your biggest hopes and dreams for your future? What is the future you want to create for yourself? Reignite your vision and don’t ever lose sight of it. It’s your fuel to your success.Read more about goal-setting in Step #1 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity.
11. You’re too stuck in your ways. You insist on doing things a certain way. You don’t open yourself up to new ideas. Guess what? You’ll remain stuck in your situation, too. Open yourself to new methods. Experiment. You can only improve if you are willing to try new things.

If you haven’t noticed, these 11 reasons are self-created problems – you can easily dismiss them just as you have created them. The more accurate title for this post should be “11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Successful – Yet“. Your goals are in your hands – you can achieve them as long as you strive for them. Address the 11 things blocking you from your success, and it’s a matter of time before you achieve results you seek.

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3 Steps to Taking Your Job Search Into Your Own Hands | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

Tired of searching endlessly through online job boards and employment Web sites hoping to find a position that matches your background and criteria? I think it’s time to take matters into your own hands. One of my colleagues was kind enough to pass along a YouTube video called The Google Job Experiment. I watched the one-minute video and thought it was ingenious! Here’s the link in case you haven’t seen it yet: .

Talk about “thinking outside the box” to get the job you want! I have a feeling it’s going to catch on; all of a sudden, we’re going to start seeing ads, springing up everywhere, targeted at well-positioned executives and hiring managers saying, “Hire me”. The concept itself to me is inspiring and creative, and had me thinking...

Well, for those of us who may not be as creative and “outside the box” as others, I’ve put together a list of tips on how to get started:

Step 1: Research – The easiest place to start is the company Web site. Check out the about us page or any other pages that would have information concerning those personnel in key leadership positions. This is the most logical place to start. Next, I would go to LinkedIn. Look up the company by name (assuming you know exactly where you want to work—just like this guy did), and then scroll through the results to find matches. Look for those people who are in positions with decision making abilities and who are most relevant to your industry. Can’t find them on LinkedIn or the company Web site? Then turn to Google. I use Google for everything (I probably earn millions for them every year). If I have a question, I Google it. Want to know who the “so-and-so” person is at Microsoft? Google it. I’ll bet you can find some information somewhere on which person does what. It’s just a matter of investing some time to conduct the research. When all else fails, pick up the phone and call the company. Tell them you’d like to mail a letter to the advertising director (or other head honcho of your choice) but need his or her name in order to address the letter. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t provide you with it. And be sure to ask for the correct address for your specific letter; the person to whom you are writing may prefer to receive mail at the office, but there is a possibility that he or she prefers the company’s post office box or e-mail correspondence. Don’t make any assumptions about this. If they aren’t willing to provide an address then back to your best friend Google. More about what to do with this information is included in step 2.

Step 2: Make Contact – The most obvious way to do this is to submit a LinkedIn connection request. This opens the lines of communication to some extent; and then you can begin to identify the areas that you have in common and potentially open a dialogue about employment opportunities. Outside of LinkedIn, you can find them on other social networks and contribute to discussions they’ve initiated, or you can reach out by sending a letter. If you made contact with the organization during step one, you will have the name of the person you need to reach out to, as well as the company’s address. I recommend sending your resume and cover letter in an envelope that doesn’t look like it would contain a resume/cover letter. I also recommend addressing the envelope by hand and, if possible, use a thank you- or greeting card-sized envelope. Who doesn’t love getting a thank you card in the mail unexpectedly? Plus, it’s guaranteed they’ll open it. Then your resume/cover letter will have about five seconds to make a great first impression (so insert awesome, professionally written, and branded resume here).

Step 3: Follow up – Take the time to make a call. And ask for the person by name. If he or she is not available, leave a voicemail indicating that you sent a copy of your resume last week and you are following up to ensure it was received. If you’re a connection on LinkedIn, you may be able to see the person’s work e-mail address on his or her profile (some users include it, but not all). I wouldn’t go overboard and e-mail daily, but one e-mail just to state your case or follow up once you’ve forwarded your information is acceptable in my book.

It’s not about stalking the person who has the decision making ability; it’s about making a connection, doing your research, and potentially opening a door that previously was closed. From here you can find all kinds of creative ways to get the person’s attention—much like the Google campaign that one creative job seeker used to land himself an interview—and a job. Your imagination is the limit. All I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to conduct your job search “outside the box”.

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Author:

Jessica Holbrook is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, speaker and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates high-impact, best-in-class, resumes and cover letters that win interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com/ or for a free phone consultation call 1.800.991.5187.

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Career Coaching - What is it and why are people resistant to it? - Career advice blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

At Position Ignition we do not claim to do or be 'career coaches' or to do 'career coaching'. What we do is guide people from A to B. We work with them - combining the elements of coaching, mentoring, guiding, advising and consulting - to help them get back in control of their careers and make their next move.  Our guides are experienced individuals who can draw from their own experiences, skills, insight as well as from their guiding training and ability.  This is why we call each member of our team a 'Guide' (Meet the team)

Now - if we take a look at the career coaching market - we believe there is resistance to this so called 'career coaching' for a number of reasons:

There is an ingrained expectation that career advice, help, guidance and coaching should be readily available and is already embedded within our learning/education system. So if you are at school or go to University or work for a company – you expect there to be learning and development provided for you.  When you need it – you expect it there, provided for you and free.   The fact that what is provided may not be any good is a different matter!

In Britain, as a society we aren’t really used to investing in our own development. We have a tendency not to value ourselves or want to spend money on ourselves in terms of growth and development.

Great career coaching takes a holistic approach.  Looking at your career shouldn’t be done in isolation but often it is – which is why it doesn’t always work well. Just taking a look at your CV or interview technique isn’t really what proper career coaching is about, although some ‘career coaches’ focus on just these aspects which makes the value people get from working with them variable.  With us, we look at your whole life and everything that impacts it because it will have an effect on your career. 

The ‘coaching’ and ‘career coaching’ market isn’t well understood. It’s also very fragmented and there aren’t any clear standards in the market.  This means that finding a good career coach can be challenging – given how easy it is to become one.  So here lies 2 problems – the first being that people don’t always know what real career coaching is or how it should be done (or what they can/should get from it) and those delivering it are of varying standards and varying degrees of expertise.

A lot of career coaching you get out there isn’t directly linked to results. Sessions aren’t designed to really support you or direct or guide you to achieve your goal.  With Position Ignition, we place a strong emphasis of guiding our clients from A to B. We make sure that the client moves forwards and reaches their end goal.

The level of personal investment that a career coach and their client put into the process can affect the results of the work they do together. Unless the career coach really cares or gets to know the individual well – they will be able to help that client only so much. So – we - in all of our work - make sure that when working with an individual we spend the time making sure we know them and can help them get the role they want.

Author: Nisa Chitakasem and Simon North

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How to Become a Millionaire | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

At a Job Search 2.0 group presentation I lead a few months ago, a successful executive in the audience told me that he felt like a character in the 1983 movie Trading Places. In the movie Trading Places, you may recall a street hustler, Eddie Murphy, and a commodities trader, Dan Akroyd, switch positions/careers.

What this job seeking executive was lamenting is that he views himself as a hard working, intelligent and successful business person…and now he sees himself peering through a sidewalk window where life appears beautiful and even indulgent. It was “his life”, but now he is on the sidewalk. He wants his old life back.

I found this executive’s perspective very visual and very real.

So what to do?

For the answer, we turn to actor Steve Martin. He started his career as a stand-up comic. Then he became, the wild and crazy guy, on Saturday Night Live, followed by major motion picture actor.

One of his famous lines from his early routines went something like this:
He would say, “Listen closely and I will explain the sure fire way to become a millionaire. An absolutely fool proof, guaranteed plan that will make you a millionaire. This is a secret, so please promise that you will not share it with anyone. Ok, here you go ….first you find a million dollars…”

How does this tell me what to do? How do I avoid being the guy on the sidewalk peering through the plate glass window?

“First you need to find a job.”

The job search game has changed. The economy is getting better, but it is far from great. There are still millions of people looking for work in the United States. Many of these folks are highly qualified, motivated and talented people. Assume you are competing with them for every single opportunity.

My suggestion to you today, is re-adjust your job search scope in 4 simple steps:

1. Do not focus on re-finding your last position.
2. Instead, target companies who appear to have a bright future with obvious growth possibilities.
3. Brainstorm on how you could help this company be successful and develop a clear solution-oriented personal marketing message.
4. Now, simply take this message to the hiring managers at the companies you identified in step 2.

The reality of the job market is that, despite your capabilities and track record, you cannot target the last position you held.

By example, assume you were Head of Customer Service at your last job.

In a 2010 job search you should not fixate on looking for a “Head of Customer Service” role. Instead you should have a personal marketing plan that leads with, “I’m looking for a role in your customer service department.” Yes, you may be over qualified for many open positions, but you need to consider getting in the door to position yourself for the job you really desire. In the current economy, taking a position a notch below your last job, at a quality company, is a better course of action than waiting for the “Head of Customer Service” position to open.

If you target the right company that is growing, taking a lesser position and showing your talents will position you well to secure the “Head of Customer Service” position when it opens.

In 2010, it is important to check your ego, mute the past, and secure a job.

Do not stay on the sidewalk peering through the plate glass window, instead, engage in a sure fire way to become a millionaire.

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Guest Expert:

Ian Levine is the founder of Career Brander. The Internet’s first personal marketing portal focused on individuals in career transition. Career Brander’s site includes software tools for dynamic job networking, creating resumes, instantly building personal career websites, financial planning calculators, professional business card printing, and proprietary content & links. Career Brander’s Job Search Radar, is a robust tool that integrates Hoover’s premium content, social networks and web agents into an effective career transition platform. You can read additional personal branding and career articles by Ian Levine on the Career Brander Blog.

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