Spending several years as the sole foreigner in a rural town high in the Japanese Alps taught me more than words can express, giving me the ability to view life through a different lens. I learned the real meaning of gender inequality, the importance of cultivating your own food, and how to live and think more communally. But the biggest lesson I learned was about face, a … [Read more...]
Establishing a Leadership Brand Within Your Organization
The term, leadership brand, was first used by David Ulrich and Norm Smallwood in 2007. Not only were these university professors describing---in their book with the same name---a way to assess the competencies that individual leaders must possess, but also to address the importance of leadership within the organization. In other words a company needs both individual leaders to … [Read more...]
Building and Protecting Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is the reputation you have built over time. It is what people say about you when you are not in the room. Did you know that your personal brand travels with you as you journey through life becoming more refined and defined through your life experiences? If you review your past, you can notice that the various chapters of your life have different … [Read more...]
How to Market Your Best Asset
One of the biggest challenges for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs is effective marketing on a shoestring or with no budget. You can’t get or do any better than word of mouth. Word of mouth is mainly based on an impression you made with a client or prospect who would like to do business with you in the future. That impression has value. You can trade on that … [Read more...]
Build a Brand – Not Just a Career
Guest Post by Laura Ries (learn more about Laura at the end of this article): Talk about "having it all." How about the 37-year-old woman, pregnant with her first child, named the new CEO of a $5 billion company that last year had net profits of $1 billion. With Marissa Mayer's Yahoo appointment, there are now 20 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. So how do you … [Read more...]
Marketing Yourself Through Social Media
Social Media is becoming a mandatory part of every day life and an essential part of career success in this day and age. Brands that had been having trouble or are just looking for an additional push in sales are seeing resounding success due to their digital media campaigns like Old Spice, Google, Chrome, and Starbucks. If brands can do it, so can you. In this article I will … [Read more...]
Using Benefit Language to Communicate Your Value
If you've ever had an introductory course in sales, you know what WIIFM’s are. WIIFM stands for “What’s In It For Me?” and these statements focus our sales efforts on how our product or service benefits the customer. They are meant to shift our mindset from our own agenda to what the customer wants and needs. It has been my experience that using this benefit language is … [Read more...]
If you were Brick and Mortar, would you Shop (Hire) YOU?
Ask yourself honestly, if you were going to shop for a stellar, top-notch player for your team, would you shop you? A simple yes or no will suffice. If you answered yes, fantastic! Read on and see if your answer is still yes at the close of today’s read. For my retail fans, I am dedicating today’s blog to you! This includes corporate Product Managers, Buyers, Operations, … [Read more...]
What Kind of Brand Do You Have?
If you were to act with conduct that causes extensive negative public relations, would your entire company disintegrate? How closely tied are your individual actions to your company’s brand and well-being? In general, if an individual at a corporation caused trouble, that position in the company would be replaced, the company would manage the bad PR, and everyone would move on. … [Read more...]
The Three Things You Must Do Before You Engage in Social Media
Many small business owners are reluctant to enter the social media arena because while it is presents a wealth of online branding opportunities, it can be a bit overwhelming – not to mention time-consuming. However, the key to successfully navigating the social media landscape is to develop a strategy for your marketing efforts. Below, I’ve outlined a 3-step guide that … [Read more...]