Distinct Or Extinct: March 2013

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Find Yourself Online

OK. You've Googled your name, which everyone will agree is step one. How about the steps beyond that? Here are some strategies to find yourself online.

Use quotes — Have you searched for your name in quotes ("Fred Stutzman")? You'll see a more targeted result set. This general strategy works by itself or with any of the following strategies. A search engine's results are only as good as the query being put in. Ask many times, many ways.

Search all of your name(s) — Say you have a nickname, maiden name, or a name under which you publish. Search these names as well ("Fred Stutzman", "Frederic Stutzman", "F Stutzman", "Stutzman, F"), both with and without quotes.

Try spelling variations — People are bad at spelling, and if you've got a complicated name, people might be writing about you and spelling your name wrong. Try a couple of different spelling variations ("Terrell", "Terrill", "Terrelle", "Terell", "Terrelll").

Use name association — Say you are affiliated with a project, and people talk about you in the context of this project. They won't always use your last name. Fred, for example, has been affiliated with claimID and ibiblio. Searches like Fred ibiblio and Fred claimID may bring back new results. Don't limit yourself with name associations; you can search your name with things like your church's name, your hometown, your school's name, and so on. However, as the institution or place you associate yourself with gets bigger, the chances of the results matching you get smaller, so try and throw additional terms in there that may help you. An example of a more targeted search term would be your name, your company and your department (Example: Fred ibiblio systems).

Search for things that don't mention you explicitly — There's more about you online than just the stuff that your name! For example, your various profiles in services like Ebay, Flickr, Amazon, MySpace and Epinions may not mention your name. These are part of your identity, and if you want people to see these pages, link to them with claimID. If you've spent a ton of time writing Amazon reviews, why not help people find them?

Don't forget things you've created — Say you've written an article or designed a Web page about someone else. Unless you've created a portfolio page, people won't know that you're the creative force behind these things. ClaimID is really good for creating a portfolio of the work you've done. Sure, these things aren't about you, but they speak to your online identity. So go ahead and add 'em!

Remember memberships, past and present — Your college's website may not mention you, but isn't it a part of your identity? You can add links to schools you've attended, places you've worked, and organizations you've been a member of. When people visit your claimID page, they will be able to easily browse through these things that can speak volumes about your identity. Don't limit yourself; claimID is about presenting your best face on the net, and anything that is online that speaks to your identity is absolutely fair game!

Try lots of search engines — Don't limit yourself to just one search engine. The internet is much, much bigger than the size of all the search engines' indexes combined. Google, Yahoo!, MSN Search, Teoma, MetaCrawler, Clusty, Alexa, A9, Dogpile and Ask.com are just a few of the search engines out there. Find a huge list of search engines here.

via claimid.com

William Arruda's Personal Branding Predictions

1. Video, Video, Video
Thanks to greater bandwidth, cheaper storage, and a proliferation of products and services that make shooting, storing, viewing, and sharing video easy (Flip video, iPhone 3GS, YouTube, vimeo, blip.tv, vodpod, etc.), video will be king in 2010. Video is ideal because it allows careerists to deliver a complete communication and convey their personality—a critical component of branding.
2. Hiring Process
Companies will be hiring brands rather than employees. They will use social networks and Google to source talent, filter candidates, and validate credentials. "What's your brand?" will become as standard an interview question as "Tell me about yourself."
3. Branded Partners
Often more traditional in their approach to marketing and delivering their services, professional-services firms (accounting, law, consulting, etc.) are going to jump on the "brandwagon" with reckless abandon in 2010. In 2010, personal branding will be integrated into all levels in a firm—from hiring through becoming partner.
4. For-Credit Courses
Personal branding is a critical part of preparing students for successful careers.
5. Unified Search
We are already seeing many new services, such as addictomatic.com, that combine search results from many different search engines.Those who are building their personal brands will need to use various tools to ensure their visibility is positive and pervasive.
6. Video Search
With the huge growth in video on the Web (see prediction No. 1), we will start to see more sophisticated search capabilities within videos. Currently, most search tools use titles and meta-tags to evaluate the video content to include in search results. That will change—making video the most powerful tool for brand-building.
7. Increased Efficiency
New services are available to make the process of maintaining your brand online quicker, more efficient, and more integrated. Tools such as KnowEm, HelloTxt, and png.fm help you build your personal brand on the Web in less time and with less effort.
8. Personal SEO
SEO is just as important to people who are looking to build their brands. Of course, most of us cannot afford to have a full-time SEO expert on staff. That's why companies such as QAlias and PeoplePond have sprung up. Their services are great for career-minded professionals—especially those who have a common name or share their name with a celebrity. More such tools will become available and popular in 2010.
9. Digital Dirt Elimination
As Google results affect more aspects of our lives (getting a job, a loan, a date, etc.), people will engage firms such as ReputationDefender, Defend My Name, and Online Reputation Manager to eliminate digital dirt.
10. Permanent Mindset Shift
The confluence of Web 2.0 technologies and today's economic climate due to the subprime mortgage meltdown has changed the way we think about our careers.As we start to think of ourselves as companies of one, we will be more likely and more comfortable outsourcing activities related to our personal brands—building a management team to help us achieve our professional goals.

via marketingprofs.com

Personal Branding is about Fashion

I recently presented my pitch on personal branding at two lunch time events in Sunnyvale. On the first occasion I wore tan corduroy pants with the shirt you see above. And more recently I wore black pants with the same shirt. I didn't really think too much about it except that I know this is a good color on me.

I started a small buzz when people realized that the business cards I was handing out before the event matched my shirt. I had several people remark about it to my surprise. I have been dressing up a bit lately since I shifted from being a software architect to being a business development social media evangelist who just happens to be an expert in personal branding.
We should never discount the impact color and style can make with other people. Color and probably fashion can play an important factor in developing your personal brand. I like a strong emotional color like orange - because if feels like me - articulate, personable, and warm. Companies pay huge amounts of money to get their brand colors just right. In my case my wife Jacquelyn paid a couple of hundred dollars to get my colors done so that she could shop for me. I learned alot about how to use my eye extension colors in my tie - when going on an interview. But to tell you the truth - I usually just select things I like - but more often than not it a good color for me too.
When I want to make an impression about my personality I like wearing things with some color. In contrast I love grey - but its not the best color to project my enthusiasm or my emotion.
My wife by the way used to work for Oracle and we always remarked how many employees there wore black. I always thought that made Oracle more intellectual than emotional. So I guess if you dont make you living connecting with others - the neutral colors are fine.
Knowing about yourself and the colors you look good in helps promote your brand. And in my case Ive noticed Im more confident when wearing comfortable but stylish clothing. And you never want someone to think that your are "Out of Style" Just as its important to stay current in your profession - its important both to have a memorable style while not reminding people of the 70's.
Living at the nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism

Friday, March 8, 2013

The Brand Evangelist and Social Media

A Brand Evangelist is a person who promotes your brand without regard for compensation. Their reward is the association with your brand. Your brand becomes part of their identity. The goal of any brand is to find and cultivate Brand Evangelists who can promote your brand everywhere without costing you a cent. Social Media provides a great platform for you to grow some Brand Evangelists for yourself.

A Brand Evangelist:

Purchase and believe in your product or service
Passionately recommend you to friends, neighbours, colleagues
Purchase your products as gifts to others
Provide unsolicited feedback or praise
Forgive dips in service and quality
Are not bought; they extol your virtues freely
Feel part of something bigger than themselves

The place that Brand Evangelist congregate is online. You can use Social Media to create a place where your Brand Evangelists can thrive by catering to their passions and needs. Specifically Brand Evangelists:

Need to share experiences - Social Networks provide a place where they can publicly share their stories about your brand. We all know the power a personal story can be to influence others to buy your brand. The evangelists can become your ambassadors online.

Exhibit a high level of brand pride. You can connect with your evangelists by providing images, logos, other branded paraphernalia that they can acquire, wear and share.

Want to know as much as there is to know about you. You will need to provide intimate stories about your company online. Share the CEO's personal blog. Publish videos of how you get things done in house. Your Brand Evangelists will be empowered by knowing all the minutia about your brand and company.

Are looking for a place to hang out with other evangelists. You must provide online communities where they can congregate and share their stories. Facebook has done a great job of providing a public space where brand fans can show themselves. On the Fan Page you should take this opportunity to reward your evangelists in small ways and make them feel special.

Living at the nexus of Technology, Service, Marketing and Evangelism

The Well Branded Business Card

Ive seen many a business card in my day. Mostly all forgetable. When I meet someone interesting and get their card I usually invite them to join me on Linkedin as soon as I get home. The card gets tossed into a stack of other business cards never to be retrieved again. Sometimes after a large event I have a card for someone who I cant remember. Nothing on the card jogs my memory particularly if I havent made any notes.

Your business card needs to stand out just as your brand needs to stand out. It needs to be memorable so the reciever takes a look at it before slipping it into their pocket. Ive compiled a short list of branding business card tips.

Use a personal image if you feel comfortable with that. This allows the person to remember you later. We remember faces more than specific conversations.
Use a color on your card to make it pop. A colored card will stand out in a sea of plain white cards.
Some cards are noticiable because they are a different size. Im not crazy about the tiny or the larger cards because they dont fit into my stack of cards. But I have to admit that its memorable.
Dont use glossy print that someone cant write on. Often times I make notes on the card after the conversation. A glossy card looks good but if you cant write on it - then its defeating the purpose.
Dont use up every single bit of space on your card - front and back - since this will leave no room to take notes.
Use a tagline that summarizes your brand. Mine is "simplify organize finish". I cant tell you how many people have remarked about it.
Include your Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin urls so that they can connect with you later.
Include the usually stuff - but think about keeping it sparse. Name, email and phone are the basics.
I have seen the back of a card used to great effect - listing special skills like a mini resume. This could be effective for a job hunter - but mostly I think its overkill.
There is nothing wrong with inexpensive business cards that you get from VistaPrint.com. But pay to have their information not printed on the back. Dont use a generic template - I can spot them a mile away.
My friend Scott Monfort prints high quality custom business cards for specific events. He includes his image and the name of the event. Later a person will remember meeting Scott at the event - even months later.
I like to see a bit of personality in a business card - just like a good brand. My friend David Paktor has a wonderfully memorable card that uses a bug caught in a trap and the words "The Bug Stops Here" - he is a great software developer.
The design of your card should reflect what you do. My friend Katherine Spencer is a visual designer and uses drafting-like drawings to help other connect with her and her brand.
If you print your cards yourself at home - make sure that everything is nicely formatted and that its not obvious that its homemade. Sometimes its worth the money to just get some printed in order to protect your brand and the impression others have of you.
And lastly - never show up to a networking event without your cards.

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Jeffrey Blake

Your Personal Brand Can Change The World

I remember a comment Neil Young had about Live Aid and other similar events. He said "save yourself". I have always thought about that and realized that after I find my true self and act upon that fact - the world will change around me.

Personal Branding - Expertise vs Expert

I have found that when we talk about ourselves we might say that we have some particular expertise in something and only rarely do we say "I am an expert". This is a personal branding mistake. For example, I might say that I have expertise in Java Software Architecture. But it would be better expressed as saying "I am a Java Software Architecture Expert".

And another thing, the more you repeat this phrase - the more people will believe it and refer to you as the "Expert". Saying that you have "expertise" is a commodity statement that is cast away from consciousness faster than you can finish the sentence. When branding yourself - you must refer to yourself directly - and you must create real impressions in the minds of your audience.

Internal and External Brand Mantras

We have all heard about taglines sometimes called "brand" taglines. A tagline is really an external mantra for your customers to resonate with. Its also important when developing a personal career brand to have an internal mantra. Just like the word "OM" - which is chanted to bring inner calm - we need an internal mantra to guide our career and to give it meaning.

Finding an internal mantra that "fits" is not an easy task. It relies on some deep reflection of your core values and then simplifying them into a single statement. I have found it helpful to catalog my values formally on a piece of paper. It should be an expression that helps you find your way along your career path. For me its about using a combination of skills in my career. I have always felt that I work best when bridging ideas, selling ideas, and uncovering deeper meaning and understanding of things.

photo credit SanDiegoJoey

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Jeffrey Blake

Criteria for a Great Brand Name

DISTINCTIVENESS - always important in branding. You must standout. Ive seen some pretty interesting names lately that have been creative with spelling - apptizr.com as an example. This company provides a smart way to find iphone apps.
BREVITY - Often you want to have your brand name be your domain name. So some brand names or company names are just too long and you are forced to have a domain that is different from your brand. Not that good. The shorter the name the easier it is to remember. And it fits in small spaces.
APPROPRIATENESS - It should reflect what you are providing. It should remind you of what you are getting.
EASY SPELLING - You want people to be able to spell your name particularly when doing a Google search.
EASY PRONOUNCIATION - Man I hate it when I cant pronounce the brand name.
LIKEABILITY - If possible it should make your customer feel good. I think medicine names have been pretty good at this. But I think Cheetos might be a better example.
EXTENDABILITY - This insures that your company can extend into other categories.
PROTECTABILITY - You dont want your name taken from you later after you have established yourself.
PRINTABILITY - You have to think about where you are going to place your brand name. It should be easily reproduced in text and on various type of swag.

connect with me
Jeffrey Blake

What is a Personal Brand Tagline

Taglines aren't just for companies - they are for individuals. A tagline is a very short expression that conveys meaning to your audience. When developing a career we can use these short expressions in conversation or on our business cards to quickly help others understand who and what we are. A good tagline starts a conversation and provides context for everything that follows. Without any further preamble (Just do it), I am going to list some qualities of a good tagline.

Simple - A tagline should be very short - no more than 9 words.

Succinct - A tagline is to the point and not long winded.

Clear - A tagline is immediately understood.

Original - A tagline is not a stale reused expression.

Authentic - A tagline is genuine and conveys real values about you.

Positive - A tagline is best when expressed highlighting the good.

Memorable - A tagline is useless if its forgetable.

Believable - A tagline is credible.

Personal Branding is Outcome Thinking

Personal Branding - especially for your career has to do with setting and achieving goals. In essence - getting things done. We are not used to setting our own goals - more often we are buffeted about by forces around us. But branding ourselves in our career is about setting some personal goals and actually accomplishing them. In David Allen's book Getting Things Done he uses a term called "Outcome Thinking". He says "Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes is something few people feel they have to do. But in truth, outcome thinking is one of the most effective means available for making wishes a reality". Its probably another topic - but a person who sets and achieves their own goals is a person that people respect - they make an impression - which is one of the main goals of branding. And David reminds us that when we think of the desired outcome first before acting - we can more easily accomplish what we set out to do.

Personal Branding Is Repetition

Should I say it again? Personal Branding is the effective use of repetition. A curious thing about our brains is that after hearing something over and over - we begin to believe it. So when we set out to get "mind share" one technique is to repeat the message over and over. Let me amend my last statement and say that it is a necessary technique. Hey and guess what happens when you repeat something boring over and over? Your brand (if you call it that at this point) is boring. What you say is as important as the repetition. If you tell everyone you are an expert at something over and over and over - in person, on the phone, on your business card, in your email signature - then after a while people will peg you as an expert.

The 2009 Edelman Trust Report suggests that 60% of people need to hear a message three times before they believe it. So if you are positioning yourself as an expert by writing articles and making presentations - its imperitive that your listeners hear it repeatedly.

(As a caveat to this post - some might consider repetition as an aspect of marketing not branding. This might be true. I tend to think of branding as a process that results in a brand. Im saying that repeated sightings of your brand reinforces it in the minds of your customers - and just saying you are an expert doesnt make it so. However, repetition doesnt always need facts to be effective - just look at some beer commercials during a football game.)

The Personal Branded Avatar

Its important to present a representative image of yourself in all of your social network profiles. People respond visually and make very quick decisions about you. If your avatar is a cartoon its hard to take you seriously. One caveat to that is - if you are not concerned about your brand then the avatar could be anything. Sometimes you want to be anonymous or be known as something other than what you really are - thats playful and fun - but its not a personal brand.

In branding its important to make a quick yet distinquished impression that conveys your value. Your avatar helps people start to establish trust with you.

All that being said - Peter Huboi has created for himself what I call the "best avatar on the web". It has a clear image of his face but also includes some other elements which make you want to find out more. Its brilliant and I never seem to tire of seeing it. While Peter doesnt use it everywhere - its a refreshing change of pace.

Personal Branding Is Like Buddhism

One of the reason so much branding fails is that people arent aware enough of their circumstances - personally and in the marketplace. While I dont profess to be a Buddhist, I have benefited from some meditation and slowing down of my crazed monkey brain - thereby starting to notice a bit more nuance in my life. Personal branding is about personal awareness. We could learn a lot from the Buddha.

The 7 Keys to Social Branding

Insight “Know who you are, and what that means.”

Identity “Be who you are, become what you want to be.”

Resonance “Know whom you serve, and why they care.”

Clarity “Speak your messages in their language.”

Coherence “Look the part, be the part.”

Relevance “Put it together, and put it to work.”

Leverage “Own your brand, and keep it healthy.”

Evolution “This is a process, not an event.”

via conversationagent.com

I thought this was a lovely set of words to describe social branding.

Personal Branding Is Made To Stick

Like any branding - its about marketing and the ability to be memorable. Its unfortunate that most of us are terrible at making impressions. The good news is that there is a simple recipe which you can use to improve. I simply cant recommend the book Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath enough. You gotta read the whole book to get the whole picture - or at least start reading their columns in Fast Company. These two brothers provide some simple guidelines that can be remembered by the acronym SUCCES(S).

Simple - Keep your message short, tight and to the point
Unexpected - Say something unusual but poignant to keep attention
Concrete - Give me some vivid details to make it real
Credible - Give me some facts and statistics
Emotional - Tell me whats in it for me
Stories - Stories help people understand and move them to action

Six Best Business Books to Read for Your Career in 2010

1. "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," by Daniel Pink ($26.95) -- Pink makes the case that there's much more to motivation than money -- autonomy, improvement and a deeper sense of purpose push people more strongly.
Drawing on scientific research, Pink profiles companies and entrepreneurs who are taking a nontraditional approach to lighting fires under their workers.
2. "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?," by Seth Godin ($25.95, released January 26) -- The title is pretty explanatory in the latest from Godin, a powerhouse marketer/author known for books like "Purple Cow" and "Tribes." Godin argues that the best and most coveted employees connect coworkers, catalyze deals and see opportunities that others don't. He also tries to lay out a roadmap for how to become such an uber-pro. If Godin's advice for building a personal brand is as popular as his material on corporate brands and customer demographics, "Linchpin" will be well-received.
3. "Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard," by Chip Heath and Dan Heath ($26.00, released February 16) -- Weaving psychology and sociology through a number of anecdotes, the Heaths show that some of the most transformative managers follow a pattern of change. They argue that the trick to making things happen quickly on a large scale is to sync emotional thinking with rationale thinking. That sounds wishy-washy, but neither of these guys are on the New-Age circuit. Chip Heath is a business professor at Stanford University and Dan is a consultant at The Aspen Institute.
4. "Louder Than Words: Take Your Career from Average to Exceptional with the Hidden Power of Nonverbal Intelligence," by Joe Navarro ($24.99, released February 16) -- In poker, reading an opponent's gestures, or "tells," can make all the difference. The same is true in an office, according to Navarro. He breaks down body language, bad habits and behavioral ticks as essential to understanding what is really going on in a company, a business meeting or even a phone call. Navarro also advises how to use these intangible forces to get ahead on the job.
5. "The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE," by Thomas J. Peters ($24.99, released March 9) -- Peters, most known for his 1982 "In Search of Excellence," cranks out some more counterintuitive management advice in his latest offering -- encouraging bosses to cherish "weirdness," focus on common sense and step away from their computers. We're wondering if writing "excellence" in capital letters is one of the 163 suggestions.
6. "Rework," by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson ($22.00, released March 9) -- Dubbed as "inspirational" and a "mini manifesto," "Rework" comprises hundreds of simple rules for success. The little tome also plays the counterintuitive card heavily with advice ranging from "fire the workaholics" to "planning is guessing." More detailed descriptions have been scarce, but "Rework" has career counselors gushing.

via fins.com

Simplify Organize Finish

I am the 20 lb hammer of designing and communicating. I understand technology and software design to the core. My tagline is “Simplify, Organize, and Finish” because I am able to orchestrate and deliver complete solutions.

Personal Branding Is the New Black

A few years ago personal branding was more of a curiosity for individuals. Now we cant read a magazine without hearing about personal branding. I think in some ways branding yourself was considered vain. The "corporate man culture" had not died out. I think those days are gone. Just as women rely on having a black dress in the closet - professionals need to have some sort of personal branding going on - or they will seem out of it. Well I have to admit that many unemployed people I meet dont have any idea what Im talking about. Where once a well articulated resume was enough to land a job - now you must differentiate yourself and constantly deliver value. Right now if you are looking for a job and you dont have your "black dress" - no one is going to invite you to the ball.

Personal branding is now something everyone must have in their career "wardrobe" - it has become the staple for professional success. I for one am relieved that the expectations are so high. We can no longer just be cogs in the machinery where somebody else takes care of us. It was nice - now I feel like an adult and in full control of my life - and its not vanity but invention - its re-establishing my identity in an all too over-populated world where I am responsible for my own promotion. But I also feel comfortable and confident - knowing I can always pull out my black dress (slacks) to wear to the party.

Personal Branding - I am the Singularity

The number one rule of personal branding is to be unique - possibly the best in the world as Seth Godin suggests in his book The Dip. This is not as hard as it might seem - it just takes a bit of self reflection to find the things that differentiate yourself from the rest of the commodities out there in the world. Its a bit about finding your own personality and being ok with it - because being yourself and having a special point of view sometimes makes you at odds with the lemmings. When you find your own inner strength and creativity you will find that it also results in a great amount of magnetism that will draw energy and people toward you like a black hole.

Elements Of A Great Tagline

Your tagline is not your brand, your position statement or your brand promise. But it is a short versatile expression of who you are. It is a meaningful distillation of your brand. What I like most about a tagline is that it is sometimes experimental and can be quickly changed. Many websites have their taglines displayed next to their logo and interestingly enough they are often 3 things - like "Build Create Empower" - which I find a bit boring. Some sites actually name their site using a tagline.

My personal tagline is "Simplify Organize and Finish" which expresses some of my underlying ability. It doesnt express my current brand - but it does describe why I am good at what I do. I learned many insights from Chip and Dan Heath's book
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - which describes how to make something memorable.

tagline

I have compiled a short list of attributes that a good tagline might have.

ORIGINAL - Be different - its your best chance of being remarkable
SIMPLE - Dont mix in too many concepts - it should be complete but not complex
CREDIBLE - Stay on the ground and state something believable
SUCCINCT- Keep it short and to the point - You will be lucky if someone reads it
MEMORABLE - Similar to being original - but its a combination- does it stand out and repeatable
POSITIVE - Express using positive language which will leave a positive impression
CONCRETE - Be specific and tangible Unusual - Oh here is another way to be different and original - "Think Different"
THOUGHT PROVOKING - If you can get some mind share - all the better
CONVERSATIONAL - Make it easy to say and remark about Humorous - I personally like a little humor - can help you stand out
EMOTIONAL - If you can weave in some emotion - all the better.
DRAMATIC - this works too

The following is an interesting set of taglines I found and duplicated here

The Straight Dope: Fighting Ignorance since 1973 (It’s taking longer than we thought).
Maxim Philippines: The best thing that ever happened to men … after women!
The Consumerist: Shoppers bite back.
Random Acts of Reality: Trying to kill as few people as possible…
Joshuaink: Same old shit, different day.
The Superficial: Because you’re ugly.
Smashing Magazine: We smash you with information that will make your life easier. Really.
The Best Page in the Universe: This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong.
Scaryduck: Not scary. Not a duck.
The Art of Rhysisms: Chronologically inept since 2060.
Needcoffee.com: We are the Internet equivalent of a triple espresso with whipped cream. Mmmm…whipped cream.
Ample Sanity: Life is short. Make fun of it.
Rathergood.com: The Lair of the Crab of Ineffable Wisdom – a load of stuff by Joel Veitch that will probably crush your will to live.
The Breakfast Blog: In search of the best eggs in town.
Dooce: Not even remotely funny.
Pink is the new blog: Everybody’s business is my business.
Shoemoney: Skills to pay the bills.
Oh No They Didnt’t!: The celebrities are disposable, the content is priceless.
YouTube: Broadcast Yourself.
Waiter Rant: Do you want Pommes Frite with that?
Newshounds: We watch FOX so you don’t have to.
Sabrina Faire: All the fun of a saucy wench, none of the overpriced beer.
Defective Yeti: A maze of twisty passages, all alike.
All About George: All about George Kelly… you know, if you go in for that sort of thing.
Go Fug Yourself: Fugly is the new pretty.
kottke.org: Home of fine hypertext products.
Slashdot: News for nerds. Stuff that matters.
Gawker: Daily Manhattan media news and gossip. Reporting live from the center of the universe.
Get Rich Slowly: Personal finance that makes cents.
hi5: Who’s in?
Fotolog: Share your world with the world.
Jezebel: Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women, Without Aribrushing.
Autoblog: We obssessibely cover the auto industry.
Boing Boing: A directory of wonderful things.
Perez Hilton: Celebrity Juice. Not from concentrate.
DumbLittleMan: So what do we do here? Well, it’s simple. 15 to 20 times per week we provide tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.
Lifehacker: Don’t live to geek, geek to live!
Gizmodo: The gadget guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it’s unnatural.
John Cow Dot Com: Make Moooney Online with John Cow Dot Com
WebWorkerDaily: Rebooting the workforce.
The Simple Dollar: Financial talk for the rest of us.
TrafficBunnies: Making your hits multiply like rabbits.
Mighty Girl: Famous among dozens.
The Sneeze: Half zine. Half blog. Half not good with fractions.
Buzz Marketing: Because everyone is entitled to my opinion.

How to Brand A Small Business Website

Branding of your website is important because it contributes to the long term value of your business. It creates a sense of customer confidence. For a small business - your brand is the niche value you bring to the market. Its the expectation of value in the customers mind about your product. Part of building a brand is creating an impression in the market. There are a number of ways you can do that with your website.

Memorable Logo - a logo is not a brand although it represents one. All great brands have a memorable logo. Your website should have one too. Its not the most important thing - but it can symbolize the value you bring consistently.
Email List - You have to have a way to engage your customers. Email is one of the easiest. You can start having a small relationship by sending short emails to your customers.
Press Releases - You should publish anything of interest about your brand as often as possible. There are many free online press release sites.
Free Content - Give away something of value. This could be an small e-book or a pdf file. The kinds I appreciate the most are things that are of real value - not just sales pitches. Many online businesses use free content to get email addresses. I personally lean toward just giving material away without requiring an email address. You might try a combination if you must.
Blogging - Having a blog is a great way to demonstrate your brand. Google loves blogs and indexes the pages quickly for blogs that are updated regularly.
Twitter - Twitter is becoming a premier search site. If you have a truly unique offering - making updates about it on Twitter can drive traffic to your website. You can set up a Twitter account for your business.
Compelling Content - You will have to be prepared for your visitors by having interesting pages.
Newsletter or Ezine - Offer to your email subscribers a periodic newsletter. Your logo and brand slogan should go out with the email if you can. Try something like MailChimp.com
Auto-responders - Send an email out to any one who requests it - night or day. Most hosting companies provide this.
Domain Name - Use your domain name everywhere. Make sure its in your email signature and all your correspondence.

The Brand Called You - Tom Peters - Fast Company

It's a new brand world.

That cross-trainer you're wearing -- one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who's got you branded. That coffee travel mug you're carrying -- ah, you're a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion "C" on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi's rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker's symbol crafted into the end ...

You're branded, branded, branded, branded.

It's time for me -- and you -- to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that's true for anyone who's interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

It's that simple -- and that hard. And that inescapable.

Behemoth companies may take turns buying each other or acquiring every hot startup that catches their eye -- mergers in 1996 set records. Hollywood may be interested in only blockbusters and book publishers may want to put out only guaranteed best-sellers. But don't be fooled by all the frenzy at the humongous end of the size spectrum.

The real action is at the other end: the main chance is becoming a free agent in an economy of free agents, looking to have the best season you can imagine in your field, looking to do your best work and chalk up a remarkable track record, and looking to establish your own micro equivalent of the Nike swoosh. Because if you do, you'll not only reach out toward every opportunity within arm's (or laptop's) length, you'll not only make a noteworthy contribution to your team's success -- you'll also put yourself in a great bargaining position for next season's free-agency market.

The good news -- and it is largely good news -- is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.

Who understands this fundamental principle? The big companies do. They've come a long way in a short time: it was just over four years ago, April 2, 1993 to be precise, when Philip Morris cut the price of Marlboro cigarettes by 40 cents a pack. That was on a Friday. On Monday, the stock market value of packaged goods companies fell by $25 billion. Everybody agreed: brands were doomed.

Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services -- from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants -- are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.

Who else understands it? Every single Web site sponsor. In fact, the Web makes the case for branding more directly than any packaged good or consumer product ever could. Here's what the Web says: Anyone can have a Web site. And today, because anyone can ... anyone does! So how do you know which sites are worth visiting, which sites to bookmark, which sites are worth going to more than once? The answer: branding. The sites you go back to are the sites you trust. They're the sites where the brand name tells you that the visit will be worth your time -- again and again. The brand is a promise of the value you'll receive.

The same holds true for that other killer app of the Net -- email. When everybody has email and anybody can send you email, how do you decide whose messages you're going to read and respond to first -- and whose you're going to send to the trash unread? The answer: personal branding. The name of the email sender is every bit as important a brand -- is a brand -- as the name of the Web site you visit. It's a promise of the value you'll receive for the time you spend reading the message.

Nobody understands branding better than professional services firms. Look at McKinsey or Arthur Andersen for a model of the new rules of branding at the company and personal level. Almost every professional services firm works with the same business model. They have almost no hard assets -- my guess is that most probably go so far as to rent or lease every tangible item they possibly can to keep from having to own anything. They have lots of soft assets -- more conventionally known as people, preferably smart, motivated, talented people. And they have huge revenues -- and astounding profits.

They also have a very clear culture of work and life. You're hired, you report to work, you join a team -- and you immediately start figuring out how to deliver value to the customer. Along the way, you learn stuff, develop your skills, hone your abilities, move from project to project. And if you're really smart, you figure out how to distinguish yourself from all the other very smart people walking around with $1,500 suits, high-powered laptops, and well-polished resumes. Along the way, if you're really smart, you figure out what it takes to create a distinctive role for yourself -- you create a message and a strategy to promote the brand called You.

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via fastcompany.com

This is the article from Fast Company by Tom Peters that arguably started personal branding.

Personal Branding Is A Lens

Personal Branding is a way of looking at things. It is a lens through which we can interpret and decide if actions and behaviors are good or not. Most of the things about personal branding we already know about – but we dont always know what to apply and when. A personal branding lens groups and guides our thoughts and actions. It’s actually very exciting because I can now prioritize what I do using this “branding” lens.

I was thinking about this today when I set up my first Squidoo page. Squidoo is a site set up by that marketing genius, author and agent of change Seth Godin. It allows you to set up any number pages which they call a “Lens”. These lenses are just a particular persons view of things – their perspective. So I think Personal Branding concepts are a lens which gets placed on our lives and our careers. And I know that when we have a “focus” things are easier.

Personal Branding - Dont Be the Invisible Man

Everybody has heard of the Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. The Invisible Man in the story is a scientist who theorizes that if a person’s refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will be invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but cannot become visible again, becoming mentally unstable as a result.

Without personal branding most of us are exactly like the Invisible Man – but without going through the “procedure”. Personal Branding is a procedure in which we make ourselves visible to the marketplace. We want to become the opposite of the Invisible Man. Personal Branding helps us find shelf space in the market by actively presenting ourselves consistently, repeatedly, and authentically.

I wasnt going to describe the whole “procedure” of becoming visible (and regaining your mental stability). But just off the top of my head you can start with these things:

It sounds simple – but just show up to events. Ideally show up early. As Woody Allen said “90% of Life is just showing up”.
Have and express a opinion. Nothing makes you noticed more than saying something pertinent.
At work – volunteer to run meetings, to set things up, or to organize events. Your name will be splashed everywhere.
Blog about something that you are passionate about. Your simple reflections are valuable to others. Share some of your “hard earned” insights.
Set up a personal web site at “yourname”.com. This is the quickest way to show up in a google search on your name.
Develop and nurture personal profiles on LinkedIn and on Facebook. Employers are looking online at your profile before they look at your resume or CV.
Be friendly and introduce yourself to others. Make a point of using other peoples names and saying hello. Find out about other people and offer them something you have learned that would interest them – this is a great way to start a conversation – and have them remember you.
Take any opportunity to speak to groups. Develop some insights in small portions on a blog – then share a set of these ideas to a group.
Build and nuture your rolodex. Remember
“Your Network = Your Networth”.
Contribute to conversations on the web. Join some groups on LinkedIn and participate.
Try “micro-blogging“. You can Twitter or send “Status Updates” on LinkedIn and Facebook. This gets your name in front of everyone on your network – a great invisibility killer. If you Twitter – add 100 things of value before you tell me what you are having for dinner. And for Status Updates – remind people of your expertise and that you are constantly learning.

Personal Branding is Telling Authentic Stories

Lately, Ive been attempting to come to grips with telling my personal story more effectively. I know its important to tell a good story in order to have people remember you positively. But I didnt really understand the power of story telling until I read Seth Godin’s book called “All Marketers Are Liars”. And before you misunderstand the title I have to tell you the subtitle is “The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World”.

liars
The whole book is interesting but Im only going to relate a single story about Riedel drinking glasses. You probably know that Georg Riedel is a tenth-generation glassblower and his company produces all sorts of drinking glasses. He and his staff fervently believe that there is a perfect shape for every beverage. And according to the website “The delivery of a wine’s message, its bouquet and taste, depends on the form of the glass”. As it turns out, connoisseurs all will tell you that the glass makes a profound difference. In fact, I bought a couple of “special” scotch drinking glasses a few years back and always thought that they were the perfect delivery mechanisms. The funny thing is that in blind tastings – there is no difference. What does that tell you?

What it tells you is that we have a better experience because thats what we believe. The belief becomes the truth. In personal branding we want to tell people about ourselves – for career advancement, for money, for a new job – whatever. The point here is that the amazing and remarkable achievements in our career have an impact only if the listener is properly prepared to hear and accept the information. To be affective, we must talk about ourselves using authentic, engaging and believable stories. The “story” is the perfect delivery mechanism for our skills and accomplishments. Just like the glass that makes the contents better – the story makes our accomplishments better.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Tips For A Well Branded Blog

You cant blog unless you already have a personal brand. I joke about this – but I really believe that you cant blog sustainably unless you find your voice, have an opinion, and have something valuable to say. Having a brand is like being in the groove – and when you are in a groove – things roll along.
Start with an attention getting title. If you dont capture an audience in the first sentence – you have lost them. The title is going to show up in a list of your blogs and that is all that will be visible. It has to stand out.
Make your first sentence powerful – if not controversial. I often cross post my blogs to writerspan.com in order to get more visibility and let them monetize it for me. WriterSpan.com takes its content and shoves the title and the first sentence or two out to 30,000 community websites. So the whole post isnt visible – but the first sentence is.
Make your Blog Readable. Nobody has the time nor inclination to read something that is so dense your brain hurts. So one technique is to judiciously use bolding. Making a keyword or concept bold draws the reader into the story.. You probably already know that bullet lists are easy to read – so I wont mention it (ha).
Feel free to add some multimedia. Just text can be boring. If you have a image that you have rights to publish – add it to the page – it adds visual variety. Here is a picture of young jeffrey conteplating his future as a writer.
Help your blog get Google Mojo. We all know that google pays attention to blogs and catalogs them regularly. You must ensure that your blog is tagged sufficiently. Tags are one way content gets classified and found on the net. So I always at least tag my articles with the word “Brand”. You can also sprinkle keywords here and there in your text to help getting found. Keyword analysis is both a science and an art but its worth knowing a little bit about it. If you use words in your title and your text that google users enter into the search field – then your article has a greater chance of rising to the top of the search engine results page (SERP). Another thing to pay attention to is the link (anchor) text. This is the underlined text as in this blog that opens another location. The best text is a keyword loaded phrase. So I might tell you that I am a forward thinking and charismatic software architect and social media evangelist to call attention to my domain or company. Having good keywords and well articulated link text is essential to be found.
Develop your Writing Style. I think style comes from practice. You cant belabor everything you write. So the key is to let out some of your personality in the writing. Let some of it flow. I learned a lot from reading Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. One thing I learned was to mix up the length of my sentences and paragraphs. Small is good. It adds variety and keeps the reader engaged. There is a billion other tricks – I suggest that you try some out in your writing.
Blogs can be Short. Dont be afraid to write a short blog. I myself have little paragraph ideas. I have friends that write essays. But I think I have been more successful at getting something written and published with the small pieces.
Be Personal and Tell a Story. Don’t fear revealing a bit about yourself in everything you write. Writing is not just expressing intellectual ideas – its about expressing your “full” idea – its thoughts AND emotions. Develop your ability to tell a story. Chip and Dan Heath remind us that stories are a key element to making things stick in other people’s minds – which is an essential element to personal branding.
Always Promote Yourself. There is always a chance to promote yourself in your blog – beyond being read or being syndicated using RSS. I always add my tagline at the bottom of the page with a link to one of my web pages. Its a simple reminder to others of my brand but also accumulates inbound links to my target site.

Twitter Tips For Personal Branding

I have been reflecting on how to be most effective on Twitter – and to use Twitter to convey my brand. Since my primary trade is a software architect – I immediately recognize what I think are best practices – in fact are probably patterns for success on Twitter. So here they are:
twitter_logo

First start with an interesting design. You can customize the Twitter page using what Twitter gives you. Or you can upload a custom background. I uploaded a simple image of the ocean – an image large enough to cover the entire background even when the browser is enlarged. Many others seem to upload images that have a lot of personal information about themself. See Chris Brogan’s page for example. Try viewing the background image to see what he is uploading. Im not entirely certain how these images are actually created. I have to report back later.
Include a concise (Ha Ha Ha) profile that describes your brand. Make these words count. Sometimes, I use these words to make entire judgments about fellow Twitterers. Expressions like “Having Fun, Hanging Out” do not promote your brand. Say something significant so that others can follow you easily.
Customize your Twitter ID. Mine is http://twitter.com/jeffrey_blake. I recommend that you use your own name – but without the underscore. (There seems to be some other jeffreyblake out there who grabbed it before me). So it behooves you to capture your name sooner than later. This is good advice for all the social networking sites. You are the brand – use your name or at least your tagline.
Enter your real name so that when you are listed people don’t have difficulty identifying you.
Upload a clear professional image of yourself. As a rule I don’t follow people who have goofy avatars or don’t wear shirts in their image – In fact, just like on linkedin I have a habit of removing those connections to protect my brand.
Dont protect your updates. I think its important to share your ideas and fully take credit for them.
As for Tweets – say something pertinent. Have a conversation. Add value when you can. Have a hundred relevant comments before you tell me what you are having for dinner.
Follow everyone relevant to you. I started twittering because of Guy Kawasaki after hearing him talk about his new company alltop.com. Ideally, have real conversations with these people. In time these connections can expand to Linkedin or Facebook and beyond.
Learn the Twitter Etiquette whatever that is. I enjoyed this one which had some relevant points.
Cross advertise yourself in your blog, your website or in your social net profiles. Add your twitter address into your emails.

Go forth and converse!

Personal Branding Makes Blogging Easy

Many people around me seem to be interested in blogging. Its almost as if they feel they are missing something if they don’t blog. Beyond selecting which blogger to use to create the posts – most people I know have difficulty figuring out what to write about sustainably. The primary reason people dont know what to blog about is that they don’t know what their personal brand is. If you have a clearly defined personal brand (especially for your career) – then blogging is easy. The reason is because a personal brand is about proactively pursuing ways to find meaning and providing value to the marketplace. It is about some amount of curiousity for new material. Blogging is a way for the personal brander to clarify thoughts that occur to them during a week, satisfies the need to share ideas, and establishes the brander as a person who has opinions and ideas. They establish themselves as a thought leader.
banner_crowd_standout6501

Ok, I understand its hard to clarify what your brand is. But if you have a personal tagline – you might start just writing about that. Sometimes we come up with these taglines for ourselves without really understanding them – they just ring true – thats a good sign. If you dont have a tagline to write about you might think about getting one – to help you clarify your brand. Im still working on mine – but I received a lot of insight after writing a personal marketing plan. I heard recently from Eric Rosen that one way to discover your tagline is to take a look at the recent parts of your resume. Either way – once you are clear about where you are going – writing about it becomes a lot easier.

Branding Experts

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