Fundamentals of Personal Branding
Before you can make money, you must make meaning.
What you mean must fulfill a specific unmet need in a well-defined target audience, AND be perceived as special and valuable.
Your target audience is the people who can hire you, buy from you, invest with you or refer you to people who are able to …
The Bain of Obama’s Brand
If everything good about you was eclipsed by someone’s loud voice, if everything you believed was in the shadow of someone else who communicated better – you would be angry. But if anger were the cryponite of your brand – the one thing that if you were, you would never get where you wanted to …
Oh Canada, Why Did I Say That?
You might think of Canada as a suburb of the USA, after all that is for the most part, the way we treat it. It seems to be moving through space just a bit north of us. Canada has cowboys, entrepreneurs, waiters, teachers and the assortment of “ologists” and others we have.
But on my …
What’s Wrong with Romney’s Personal Brand?
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” The New York Times’ David Brooks shared a historical perspective that puts Mitt Romney in a unique position. The candidate’s unfavorable ratings are 50%, causing Brooks to pronounce Romney: “the least popular candidate in history.”
David Gregory, host of the show, attempted to define Romney’s personal brand:
“Personally, I think …
Avoid the “Curse of the Expert” While Brand Building
When building your personal brand, try to avoid the 7 undesirable traits often associated with experts.
I’ve been reading Nance Rosen’s recent articles, like How Does Your Personal Brand Sound? Her series does a wonderful job of describing behaviors that undermine, rather than build, personal brands.
As she’s pointed out, often simple attitudes or …
Does Your Resume Scare Recruiters?
A student asked me to review her resume. She had just failed my business development class because she turned in no work.
I always worry about the effect on someone’s career, student visa, chances of getting into another graduate program, and just their general state of mind when I have to turn in a failing …
How Does Your Personal Brand Sound?
Like breaking glass accompanied by nails on a chalkboard, this lovely girl at Sephora talked to me while I bought $358 of hope in a jar (actually three jars of faux lifting and smoothing bamboo sap based gunk from Amore Pacific for my face). She was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and screeched like tires on …
What do The 10% do Differently?
Frightening but true: only ten percent of people who’ve undergone radical surgery to save their lives actually change their habits to benefit from the operation. From Harvard Business Review, we learn that those clotted, fat-filled arteries are pretty much refilled with more grease and cheese, rather than kept open with a better diet and exercise …
Does Karma Matter? Try It and See
Not being from India or anyplace where the concept of karma is taught much less embraced, I am unexpectedly buoyed by the idea that something you do today will effect your next life or next meeting. Once again, not having been formally schooled in karma, I’m not quite sure of the details, including just how …
Be Careful What You Call Yourself
There’s a local tavern in West Los Angeles named Mom’s Bar. Given that we have an extraordinary gastropub in town named Father’s Office, Mom’s fits in as part of the cool, local scene. You can raise a few after work, or pop in later when the trendier crowd arrives and creates a hip club scene.…