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marketing yourself

The brand called You – why you need a personal brand

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Personal branding is becoming not just more important, but essential. Increasingly employees and consultants for projects will be resourced online via ‘Trip Advisor style’ sites. Just as videos and infographics have grown in importance to provide communication cut-through online, so defining your personal brand is a modern way to stand out.

Picture a sea of faces on a resourcing or recruitment web site. An avatar (headshot of you), and a couple of sentences maximum to get the message across, plus ratings about you from previous clients, employers and peers.

A busy executive looks at the site to find someone for an exciting career enhancing project or contract. How will you stand out and be chosen from the hundreds of choices? What will make the browser notice you in a good way so you are on their initial resourcing or recruitment list? Or will you be invisible – your online profile showcasing your high-quality experience not even read, because you didn’t get past the first hurdle.

So what is a personal brand and why is it so important for the future of work?

A personal brand is the territory you occupy in the minds and hearts of your target audience. It gets you noticed in a good way and positions you as the ‘go-to person’ for your specialism or niche.

The wording of your personal brand is crucial. The best personal brands are memorable, relevant and emotive. Articulating your personal brand in just three words follows in-depth analysis of yourself and the needs of your target audience, plus emerging trends, takes time and thought.

Articulate your brand in just three words.

Many people find it hard to create their own personal brand because they are so close to themselves that they can’t see their own unique talents. Synthesising, distilling and articulating the essence of you and the gift you bring to others in just a few words is a skill in itself.

Here are some pertinent quotes about personal branding.

“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.” Tom Peters in Fast Company.

“Building a profitable personal brand online is not a sprint, and something that happens overnight. Don’t aim for perfection early on. Instead allow your brand to evolve naturally over time and focus on providing massive value and over deliver to your target audience. Then you will get more clear over your message and brand as well.“ Navid Moazzez.

“Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don’t own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your ‘blind’ date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview?” Tim Ferriss.

“If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.” David Brier.

“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.” Sir Richard Branson.

My personal brand is ‘Talent Liberator’. I do what it says on the tin. Originally at the beginning of my business 20 years ago, my personal brand was ‘Energising Connector’ which was an accurate summary of what I do, but it lacks the emotive quality which makes a better personal brand.

Here are some examples of personal brands:

‘Network Navigator’ – a networking specialist

‘The Body Coach’ – a personal trainer

‘The Clean Food Coach’ – an expert in natural food to stay healthy

‘Mr Loophole’ – a lawyer who specialises in getting celebrities out of driving bans.

‘The Book Midwife’ – a writing coach who helps her clients to self-publish a book

‘Insight Integrator’ – A strategist specialising in insight to inform an integrated strategy

‘Career Sherpa’ – a job search coach for the digital age

‘Miss Masala’ – an Indian cook and food writer

Make time to think about and create your personal brand. It takes time, but is one of the best investments you will ever make to attract the work you really want.

If you would like to receive information about Energise Personal Branding individual mentoring service, please e mail me using the link below. Thanks!

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/

 

Who’s marketing you?

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Brand you
Do you hate marketing yourself?

Many people do especially women; it makes them feel very uncomfortable. With more competition for jobs and the trend to freelance and portfolio working growing apace, marketing yourself is something that cannot be ignored.

Rather than write lots of words, I thought you would appreciate some questions to ponder.

Here they are:

My desired outcome from marketing myself is …………..

I dislike/resist marketing myself because……………….

Ways I currently/historically have avoided marketing myself are ……………..

Ideas to market myself that feel more comfortable to me are ………..

The top 3 key stakeholders to my career success are ………………

1
2
3

Three S.M.A.R.T. actions I will take to market myself are ……………

1
2
3

If you found these questions, just imagine how useful coaching would be to help you market yourself.

For more useful insights and tips, follow us on Twitter.

Need to market yourself, but juggling priorities?

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Woman juggling clocks

Many people want to make a career change, but don’t start. Lacking time, they are always juggling priorities but investing time in marketing themselves, essential to create a career change isn’t one of them. Here are some tips:

10 tips to make time for marketing yourself

1. Language – use words that feel motivating when diarising marketing yourself activities, e.g. ‘career development project’;

2. Diarise – block out time regularly – 10 minutes a day adds up over time. So does 0 minutes a day;

3. Goal – have a S.M.A.R.T goal for your career (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed), and a clear step-by-step plan to achieve it;

4. Environment – Do tasks away from the office where client’s needs beckon e.g. in a coffee shop near work;

5. Enjoyable – focus on the aspects of marketing yourself that you enjoy, e.g. some people enjoy writing articles, other people prefer chatting 121;

6. Appealing – focusing your marketing efforts on attractive employers who you feel excited about working with because you relish their culture or because there are opportunities for progression and involvement in decision making;

7. Bite sized – creating timed small tasks e.g. tag LinkedIn connections or e mail an influencer an update reduces overwhelm;

8. Expert help – select an experienced career coach to keep you focused.

What tips would you add?

Making a career change takes time and investment in your own marketing, but if you action at least one of these tips, you will move forwards.

For more insights and tips, follow us on Twitter @talentliberator

Asking your clients for referrals Part 2

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Here is the second of 2 parts of a blog sharing tips on asking your clients for referrals. What tips would you add?

  1. Do a feedback questionnaire at the end of each project including prompting for referrals
  2. Choose your moment – when your client is especially happy with the work you are doing is a great time to ask
  3. Nurture your clients e.g. send them useful articles so that your request is part of regular communication, not out of the blue
  4. Have a clear niche, personal brand and verbal business card – this helps your clients to feel clear and articulate what you do and why you are good on your behalf
  5. Use LinkedIn – it is a great and efficient way to see who your clients know and ask them to introduce you quickly and easily
  6. Make time once a month to analyse the source of your work and plan the next month
  7. Thank your clients for referrals – e.g. send them a card or buy them lunch
  8. Get yourself into a resourceful state before picking up the phone – name how you want to feel e.g. confident and access a memory when you had this resource
  9. Picture a successful outcome, a proven technique used in sport
  10. Ask the advice of someone who is skilled at getting more work through existing clients for tips – this could also remind them to ask their clients for referrals for you too.

Which tips do you think are the most important ones? What would you say are the top 3 from this post, part 2 and

part 1?:

http://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/help-marketing-feels-like-a-maze/

If you found this blog useful: here is a useful related blog post: “How do I market what I do? 10 tips”: http://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/how-do-i-market-what-i-do-10-tips/

Have you read our Energise bulletin “What’s in it for them?” http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1104411157334.html

To opt in to receive future Energise bulletins, click on this link: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1102862873131&p=oi

If you have any suggestions for useful topics, do share your ideas by posting a comment. Thanks!