Paul Copcutt - Just My Toonies Worth

Completing & Remembering 2011

Of course this time of year is probably the most popular for goal setting and we all know the many disappointments by mid-January (or even earlier) as we fall off all the good intentions. 

The challenge with a lot of goal setting is that we tend to do it in isolation, versus building on where we are coming from. So before you sit down to set those goals for 2012, take a few minutes to 'ground' yourself by reflecting on 2011;

Completing & Remembering 2011

1. What was your biggest triumph in 2011?
2. What was the smartest decision you made in 2011?
3. What one word best sums up and describes your 2011 experience?
4. What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2011?
5. What was the most loving service you performed in 2011?
6. What was the biggest piece of unfinished business in 2011?
7. What are you most happy about completing in 2011?
8. Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life?
9. What was the biggest risk you took in 2011?
10. What was the biggest surprise in 2011?
11. What important relationship improved the most in 2011?
12. What compliment would you like to have received in 2011?
13. What compliment would you like to have given in 2011?
14. What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2011?
15. One thing you never got around to and wished you had?

Now go forward and start to plan that fantastic 2012 you are going to have. 

 

 

You Inc - The Art of Selling Yourself

You, Inc. The Art of Selling Yourself.

© 2007 Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith – 316 Pages Hardback

5R Score: 21/35

The ‘Steps’

1. What people buy
2. Planning and preparing
3. Communicating
4. Listening and speaking
5. Relating
6. Attitude and beliefs
7. Tactics and habits
8. Successes and delightful failures

On a scale of 1-7   

Relevance - is it right for personal branding? - 5

Resonance does it make sense to the reader? - 5

Relation is there a connection for everyone? - 4   

Remarkability - does it stand out, will it get noticed? - 4

Real - does the personal brand come through? - 3

Would you pick it up?

Probably one of the more instantly recognised books on personal branding, this book left me a little disappointed or rather confused. In the Introduction the former husband and wife team comment that this is really a fusion of three books that they were working on at the time – hence I suspect the con-fusion. 

Having said that, there are a wealth of nuggets to be gleaned that can be applied to personal branding. What is really missing is a true process, there are steps but the content just seems to be haphazard. Harry Beckwith’s other books seem to have better structure. 

Relevance

This is a personal branding book that has more sales emphasis than most. In part caused by one of the authors being very sales focused, in the instances that this area is covered it almost seems disconnected from the rest of the book.  

Resonance

If you are looking for a personal branding book with structure and step by step instructions and actions this is not the one. There are a number of others published that are much clearer and simpler.

This book reminded me strongly of Tom Peters original personal branding book The Brand You 50. The ideas and tips are in short 2-3 page format. So punchy and quick. This makes it a good book to pick up and put down numerous times in the week, or to dip in to when you need something specific.

Relation

There are many references to the world or product/service marketing and branding, naturally given the authors line of business and backgrounds. Much of the advice is very applicable for the company employee, perhaps less so for the small business owner – although the sales aspects may be more appealing to that group.

Remarkability

I liked the fact that I could pick up and put down this book, especially as I normally have two or three books on the go at the same time! The whole tactics and habits section is the best part of the book, with lots of common sense ideas and good etiquette reminders too!

Real

The personal brands of the writers do not really come through at all, although there are some good final examples of delights and failures of other personal brands at the end of the book.  

 

 

There's No Such Thing as a Personal Brand Emergency

Just around this time last year, I was 95% certain that all the medical appointments, tests and scans were leading to one inevitable conclusion, I had cancer. Just a few days after Christmas last year it was confirmed. 

This Christmas I will be celebrating that I am cancer free, loving life and truly grateful for my family and friends, spending time with them and being present in the moment.

The importance of this was highlighted for me just this week in a quote by Christopher Hitchens, the celebrated journalist who just died of cancer.

He wrote in Vanity Fair - "“My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends.” 

For everything else that goes on in our lives and the world, without love and good health, I feel it's kind of a mute point! 

Enjoy the holidays, the brand plans can wait a few days - there is no such thing as a personal brand emergency! 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to you and yours. 

Paul

 

How E-mail Damages Your Personal Brand

The recent report of an executive recruiter in the UK being fired for e-mailing a job candidate to go away using colourful language - but accidentally copying everyone (all 4,000+ of them!) on the candidates blast list, highlights the dangers of damaging your personal brand and career by relying too much on technology. What is that recruiter going to say when the question comes up "Why did you leave your last job?"

The candidate also was obviously damaging their brand (and job search chances) by sending out such a generic application to so many people. I am seeing far too much of that at the moment. I get you that finding a job is tough, but use time wisely to be more targetted, not spray and pray job seeking that says I don't really care. 

Just last week, I was talking with both a colleague on the very subject of e-mail versus picking up this still very useful piece of technology called the telephone and also coaching a client on the dangers of mis-understood communication, when a quuick conversation would have eliminated all the angst that they ended up experiencing. 

All the 'gurus' are telling us that 2012 is going to be the year of mobile, but with that will come an even greater temptation to say it in text versus verbally. 

Some quick tips to keep your conversations live and real in 2012; 

1. Resist the temptation to respond to an e-mail straight away. A client once said to me there is rarely such a thing as an accounting emergency, and the same should apply to your situation. 

2. Before you pen an e-mail or a reply, consider if this form of communication is the best way to get your message across?  If it is, be sure to re-read it once and double check the to, cc and bcc box recipients.

3. When in doubt pick up the phone or arrange a face to face. So much can be mis-interpreted by the written word, if it's important let the other person know that by having a conversation. 

4. Make time for 15 minutes every day. We are all guilty (me included) of not connecting properly with people because we feel that we have no time. Stop the Facebook likes, Twitter re-tweets and Four Square check-in's and use that 15 minutes a day to pick up the phone to three people you know and say hello. 

As my colleague Dave Howlett said, "I am much more likely to remember you for that call than a tweet, like, poke or follow". 

 

Your Business Card is NOT a Queen of Spades

We love to play various card games. My kids especially love Crazy 8's, it's a fast paced game with the main goal to get rid of all your cards before any opponents. They get extra enthusiastic when they lay a card down that causes you as the next player to pick more cards up - especially the Queen of Spades, where the penalty is 5 extra cards! 

Unfortunately at many events people treat it like a game of Crazy 8's and use their business cards in the same way - they come around trying to put their cards down (or in your hands) as quickly as possible, many times moving on before even asking you anything or getting your card in return - more worried about their next turn instead. 

At two recent networking events I experienced two classic examples of this, which resulted in the damaging of each person's personal brand in a big way. 

1. At the first event I was standing at a small drinks table with three other people, all of us in conversation. This person 'barged' in to the group, had their business cards in hand like a deck of cards and proceeded to 'deal' us each one card on the table in front of us, with the comment of "I am X and I do Y" and then walked on to the next group.

We all looked at each other slightly bemused, continued our conversations and when we did depart not one of us picked up a card.  

2. At the other event I was in conversation with one other person who I had not seen for a while and was really interested in catching up. This person just came up to us both and shoved their card in our hands and walked on.

Not more than 10 minutes later they were back, had completely forgotten who they had already given cards to, and tried to give us their card again. My blue recycling bin was the only place I filed that card! 

Your business card is very often the only physical reminder someone has of your personal brand, so make sure you are using it wisely. 

Establish some kind of rapport or relationship with someone before offering your card, or wait until they ask for it. Or if you feel you can offer some value to that person make sure to ask for theirs. 

But however you decide to exchange cards, as the American Express ad's say -  don't leave home without them!