Personal Branding Done Right
Posted on August 2nd, 2010 by admin in Personal Branding
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
The seemingly ever proliferating debate over personal branding had more fuel poured on the fire last Friday when @RohitBhargava called out a CNN/Forbes reporter for taking a cheap-shot at @ScottMonty (head of social media at Ford Motor Company). Rohit made a laudable attempt to bring some clarity to the topic by sharing his observations about the practice of personal branding while justly defending Scott, however I don’t think he went quite far enough. In the text that follows I’m going to be a bit less politically correct, and get a bit more granular as I peel back the layers on the topic of personal branding.
Want to stand apart from the masses? It’s not that hard, just keep your commitments. When I was just starting out in business one of my original mentors told me to “just do what you say you’re going to do, and that, in and of itself, will place you in a very select group within the business world.” Being young and naive at the time, it seemed impossible to me that doing something so basic could lead to great success. Well, now that I’m older and more experienced, all I can say is “how right he was!” It never ceases to amaze me at the number of people that fail to deliver on their commitments. The old cliche of “over-promising and under-delivering” has sadly become all too commonplace in business. Is it really that hard to fulfill on promises made? So my question to you is this…Can you, and do you, walk the talk?
While a brand without exposure is not much of a brand, I consistently find that brand exposure is an aspect of brand management that is all too often overlooked as a success metric. Whether you’re assessing the strength of a personal or corporate brand, finding the appropriate level of brand exposure is key to sustainable growth in brand equity. As I stated above, having an underexposed brand, or what I like to refer to as having a brand in stealth mode, means that you really don’t have much of a brand. Conversely, having a brand that is mismanaged through overexposure can cause a brand to go into decline by diluting hard earned brand equity. In today’s post I’ll take discuss the issue of brand exposure.
Looking for a way to enhance your direct marketing initiatives? Look no further than Twitter. Why is Twitter so hot? Why is it the fastest growing microblogging/social media platform on the planet? Because it produces real value, and it does so very quickly. Twitter is arguably the best and most powerful direct marketing tool to come along since email assuming two things: 1,) you understand how to use it, and; 2.) that you do in fact actually use it. In today’s post I’ll provide a few thoughts on how to leverage Twitter without going into the technical aspects (there is already plenty of information in circulation on that).
I’m often asked how to tangibly measure personal brand equity and my answer is quite simple…The value of a personal brand is directly proportionate to its ability to create and wield influence. When it comes to the subject of personal branding much has been written about authenticity, transparency, marketability, thought leadership, etc., but it is the ability to leverage the sum of these individual brand components for influence that determines the true strength of a personal brand. Put simply, a personal brand that cannot open doors, or influence actions and decisions, is not much of a personal brand.
One of the basic foundational elements in the PR arsenal for C-level executives is to have a well designed and crisply articulated press kit. The press kit should not only highlight the executive’s value to the enterprise, but it should also support their personal brand, provide a solid competitive value proposition, and enhance the credibility of the executive by positioning him or her as a thought leader, innovator or subject matter expert. As fundamental as this is, it is nothing short of astonishing to me how few senior executives have a crisp executive bio much less a professionally prepared press kit. In today’s post I’ll examine the pay-off of creating a world class press kit
“15 Seconds of Fame” – It’s been said that at some point in everyone’s life they’ll have their 15 seconds of fame…Your 15 seconds of fame may come to you in good times or in bad, it may happen as a result of tremendous diligence and hard work on your part, or it may simply occur as a matter of chance. Regardless of the reasons or circumstances surrounding your moment in the sun, my question is this…what will you do to maximize the opportunity when it presents itself? In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts on how to leverage your 15 seconds when it arrives…
CEO job searches are extremely competitive in today’s market. Other than running for political office, there is no interview process that will subject you to such a rigorous vetting process. I was recently interviewed for the September issue of ”CareerSmart Advisor” in which I was asked to articulate what it takes to successfully secure a CEO position. In the text that follows I have provided a copy of the questions I was asked, as well as my answers, in hope that this information will assist you in preparing for your next job search…