What makes You different?
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Starting today you are a brand.
You're every bit as much a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop. To start thinking like your own favorite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 15-words-or-less contest challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Several times.
If your answer wouldn't light up the eyes of a prospective client or command a vote of confidence from a satisfied past client, or -- worst of all -- if it doesn't grab you, then you've got a big problem. It's time to give some serious thought and even more serious effort to imagining and developing yourself as a brand.
Start by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors -- or your colleagues. What have you done lately -- this week -- to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most noteworthy (as in, worthy of note) personal trait?
When you've done that, sit down and ask yourself one more question to define your brand: What do I want to be famous for? That's right -- famous for!
So how do you brand You?
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If you're a better writer than you are a teacher, try contributing a column or an opinion piece to your local newspaper. And when I say local, I mean local. You don't have to make the op-ed page of the New York Times to make the grade. Community newspapers, professional newsletters, even inhouse company publications have white space they need to fill. Once you get started, you've got a track record -- and clips that you can use to snatch more chances. This works online too, through Social Networking Communities.
Try teaching a class at a community college, in an adult education program, or in your own company. You get credit for being an expert, you increase your standing as a professional, and you increase the likelihood that people will come back to you with more requests and more opportunities to stand out from the crowd.
Nobody understands branding better than professional services firms.
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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.
Please read this entire article and concept here http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html
Some things to Think about
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What makes You different? - Without your personal profile and picture. - What makes You different?
Starting today you are a brand
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You're every bit as much a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop. To start thinking like your own favorite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 15-words-or-less contest challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Several times.
Take advantage of this revelation. Update your profile and picture.
What's the pitch for You? _________________________________ fill in the blanks
So how do you market brand You?
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CMU7 Profile page, blogs, forums and your personally branded wesite.
Is here for you to personify you.
The second important thing to remember about your personal visibility campaign is: it all matters. When you're promoting brand You, everything you do -- and everything you choose not to do -- communicates the value and character of the brand. Everything from the way you handle phone conversations to the email messages you send to the way you conduct business in a meeting is part of the larger message you're sending about your brand.
What's the real power of You?
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Do you have power? Yes, you do and you have the power to brand you, today. In many ways both on and offline. Here at CMU7, you can brand you, with your personal profile page, personal
What's loyalty to You?
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Everyone is saying that loyalty is gone; loyalty is dead; loyalty is over. I think that's a bunch of crap.
I think loyalty is much more important than it ever was in the past. A 40-year career with the same company once may have been called loyalty; from here it looks a lot like a work life with very few options, very few opportunities, and very little individual power. That's what we used to call indentured servitude.
Today loyalty is the only thing that matters. But it isn't blind loyalty to the company. It's loyalty to your colleagues, loyalty to your team, loyalty to your project, loyalty to your customers, and loyalty to yourself.
What's the future of You?
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It's over.
No more vertical.
No more ladder.
That's not the way careers work anymore. Linearity is out. A career is now a checkerboard. Or even a maze. It's full of moves that go sideways, forward, slide on the diagonal, even go backward when that makes sense. (It often does.) A career is a portfolio of projects that teach you new skills, gain you new expertise, develop new capabilities, grow your colleague set, and constantly reinvent you as a brand. (CMU7 helps you do just that.)
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These are just some highlights of branding you. Most of the content has been paraphrased from an article written in 1997 and printed in "Fast Company" Magazine.
The full rendition can be found here http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html
Let us help Brand You today! We promise it won't hurt or leave permanent scars or marks. But, you will become recognized!
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html
Always to YOUR Success,
Jim Allen III
PS:
I have recently found these two resources and you may find them helpful too.
Laws of Success
http://LawsofSuccess.ULearn2Earn.net
Internet Marketing Explained
http://IME.ULearn2Earn.net