Paul Copcutt - Just My Toonies Worth

What is holding you back from your personal brand?

Through my wife's business I have had the opportunity to be connected to Keith Kochner at Mentorfish.com for the last few months and have found his teaching exactly what we need in the 21st century. Lots of great content, he is prolific with new insights and learnings - even for someone like me who tends to explore and read a lot! 

Keith is coming to Toronto next week to hold a live evening event so you can get a full experience of what he has to offer. Cost is just covering running costs of the event, but I know you will get way more value - hope to see you there. 

Who are you fooling with your personal brand?

Okay, I admit it, he got me - April Fool. One of my favourite business people Sir Richard Branson announced that due to the uncertainty over currency fluctuations for vacationers he was launching his own currency within Virgin Holidays. Of course the launch was the morning of April 1st! 

What made it such a good April fool trick was that given his personal brand this actually could be the kind of stunt he would do! Also it displayed the kind of humour that is also part of his brand. He certainly got me! I doubt he upset anyone with this joke. 

This is key to communicating your personal brand. When you are thinking of doing something to get your message noticed consider the following 5 things; 

1. Relevance - is it right for your industry and vocation?

You have to be mindful of what is appropriate. In the role you perform will this be viewed as right or a little too out there? Are your peers going to view this as embarrassing to them? If your industry is conservative , something too extreme will certainly be frowned upon. 

2. Resonance - does your target audience see easily how it makes sense to them and their brand? 

Consider the message you are setting and how it sits in to the bigger goals and messages of all parties involved. Is it going to add value to the experience and conversation? 

3. Relation - is everyone able to see the connection to you - easily?

Usually many people are not being completely true to who they are at work. We all hold back. But if humour is a brand attribute you have and want to communicate and you go from no jokes to a 5 minute stand up routine that might be too much of a leap for people to accept initially. 

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

It does need to be enough though to get noticed AND remembered. You want people to be commenting on it later and relating it straight back to you in a positive way. 

5. Real - is it a true reflection of who you are? 

Stay authentic and true to you, it will feel more natural and come across that way. If you try too hard it comes across that way and usually fails. 

I'm working with clients right now to help them bring more of who they are to work. They are becoming more engaged and more productive. If you need help with your career or small business in 2012, call me or e-mail me to to learn how we might work together to make every work day a brand YOU day.

Oh the places your personal brand will go!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

Theodore Seuss Geisel !

It's your 107th birthday!

 

You have attributes that stand out. 

Skills that show you've paid your dues.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose. 

You're on your own. And you know what you know. 

And YOU is your brand, you decide where to go.

 

You won't fall behind, you'll find those with a need.

You'll pass by the others, because you're so branded to lead.

Wherever you work, you'll be the best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.  

 

Oh the places you'll go. Following your passions is fun. 

Being true to yourself, means that we all feel we've won. 

And with values aligned and purpose all set.

Achieving your goals is one sure fire bet. 

Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be. 

But it's all been authentic, because you said "It's all me!"

 

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and three-quarter percent guaranteed)

KID YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS

 

So....

buy your web site domain 

Before someone else does it

Because owning your name

Certainly matters a bit. 

But the critical part is developing your brand foundation.

Owning the definition of YOU makes you live with elation. 

You're off to great places!

Today is your day!

Your brand consultant is waiting. 

So get on the phone right away! 

 

With poetic apologies on his 107th birthday to Theodore Seuss Geisel - Happy Birthday! Looking forward to seeing The Lorax on its film release this week.  

 

 

 

Is there a magic pill to deal with those extra 24 hours?

Rather predictably, especially given the current economic climate, the news headlines for today, February 29th have been about the extra costs the leap year brings. Extra payroll for hourly or weekly paid workers, extra power to run businesses, extra IT costs to deal with computers and chips that cannot allow for the extra day. 

There’s also a leap second — the extra moment added to atomic clocks to keep them in sync with the earth’s rotation, which is slowed by the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon. It’s been added 24 times since 1972, the year the International Telecommunication Union defined Coordinated Universal Time. Last month, a timekeepers’ meeting failed to agree on whether or not to scrap the leap second, (perhaps they ran out of time!). This has come under criticism because every time a second is added, the world’s computers need to be manually adjusted, a costly practice that also boosts the risk of error. Defenders of the leap second say without it, hi-tech clocks would race ahead of solar time, amounting to a discrepancy of about 15 seconds every 100 years.

However on the positive side here is what an extra day means for your personal brand;

• One extra day for you to work on defining and developing a clear brand message. 
• More opportunities to communicate that brand at work or to clients and get noticed. 
• Using a leap year to do something on brand that really gets noticed because its only one every 4 years! 

And finally Happy Birthday if you are one of the approximate 5 million 'leapers' globally. You probably have to make up at least 4x for missed birthday opportunities! 

 

100 Toonies Worth

With consistency and progression comes change. As you spend more time consistently delivering on what you say your brand is and find your career progressing in the right direction, you are going to reach a point where new challenges and opportunities arise. New skills are developed and new ways to communicate your uniqueness present themselves. 

This week see's the 100th edition of the Tuesday Toonie weekly e-tip, which I feel is quite a milestone. Thank you for reading, commenting and recommending to others for the last 2 years. 

It is also a great time to announce some small changes to the format and delivery of this weekly resource. When we started the Tuesday Toonie the rise of Facebook and Twitter was really starting to gain traction and people subscribing to news and blog feeds was rising. Now this weekly Tuesday Toonie is only being read 10-20% of the time by people via the e-zine delivery method - the rest of the time you are reading it or getting to it via social media or directly at the blog. 

This does not make the content any less valuable but with our inundated in boxes and busy lives it does beg the question about sending it out in full format in an e-zine rather than a quick mailing, linking to the blog for the full content. So going forward the Tuesday Toonie is going to be a 21 second or less read. Enough for you to maybe stop and think for a moment about your career and if you want to understand more then go to the blog to get more on that weeks topic.  

We will be continuing with the monthly Inukshuk e-zine that delves deeper in to the subject of career management and personal leadership branding and provide in there links to all the previous months weekly Tuesday Toonies for anyone you might have missed. We also continue to blog and post other very latest links and resources via social media - especially our Facebook page and my LinkedIn updates, or you may just prefer to be made aware of the Tuesday Toonie via one of these methods - so if you have not done so please connect with us at;

www.facebook.com/personalbrand and http://ca.linkedin.com/in/paulcopcutt 

Thank you again for reading and we look forward to continuing to serve you. 

The 7 Signature Signs of Jimmy Savile - An Original Personal Brand

It was sad to see the news earlier this week of the passing of Jimmy Savile, two days short of his 85th birthday, a truly authentic if slightly eccentric personal brand. 

Many years ago my aunt experienced a stroke and was in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the UK, world renowned for it's work in spinal injuries, but also a hospital supported and visited on a regular basis by Jimmy Savile. We happened to be visiting one weekend when he was 'doing his rounds' as a volunteer porter and experienced first hand his overwhelming generosity, humour and uniqueness.

Apart from his core attributes, he had many ways that he exuded his brand that were signature to him and made him perhaps one of the early authentic celebrity brands.

He was;

1. Known for wearing shell suits and clothes with the very loud colours and patterns - an early CHAV.
2. The "King of Bling' wearing very flashy jewellery and adornments - long before it was hip for rappers.
3. Recalled often for his memorable phrase that was mimicked by every comedian - "Howz about that then?" - an early celebrity tagline.
4. Also known for a yodel that made an almost monkey sound at the end of many introductions on the popular Top of the Pops, TV show accompanied with other catchphrases -  "Now then, now then, now then", "Goodness gracious", "as it happens" (pronounced "as it 'appens") and "Guys and gals". 
5. A keen and regular marathon runner, raising thousands of pounds for charities - long before it was socially expected to be seen being charitable. 
6. Always seen to be chomping on a big fat 'cohiba' stlye cigar - long before the stoggie was a must to be seen with.
7. His life was lived on his terms and although he was certainly a character and showman it never seemed to be contrived or inauthentic - a sadly rapidly disappearing trait in todays 'celebrity circles' and those that want to be in them.

And like any star struck young kids, we also got him to sign his autograph, which again was unique with a happy face in the circle round of his 'J', the 'S' was a dollar sign and the 'L' he made in to the pound sign. 

Thanks Jimmy - RIP. 

 

Is this the latest workplace Eye-Pod?

For most of the 43 years that my Dad worked, he always took 15-20 minutes after lunch for a nap, even though he worked in a traditional, professional, office environment. It would appear that this idea of rest time is becoming more common and accepted - this company Podtime have been installing sleep pods in UK workspaces for some time now. 

And according to a Pew Research study from a couple of years ago, napping for those earning above $30,000 but below $100,000 a year was below the norm, but above $100k it went back up.

So if you are looking to jump a pay bracket or two get the (sleep) blinders on! 

Is Personal Branding Just Skin Deep?

You may have heard me speak or write about my wife’s business in the past? Well, two years into the business, she is now a Regional Vice President, Independent Consultant with Arbonne, a Swiss company offering vegan herbal botanical based health and wellness products www.kericopcutt.myarbonne.ca and continues to look for opportunities to share these amazing products with others.

Well we were talking about this and the fact that I have 50 one year memberships to an online self-study personal branding program that includes workbook, interactive modules and lesson plans, from Reach the leader in personal branding along with 50 passwords to the really popular 360 Reach personal brand assessment that need to be used in the next week and decided we could combine the two and give you and your friends the benefits of personal branding and great health and
wellness products, especially as the summer time is a great time to get together with friends and family.

So we are offering a chance for you and 4 friends to each get a membership and 360 personal brand assessment (worth $200 per person) if you book an Arbonne summer party, first come first serve, plus a special hostess gift to you as the person hosting the party.

THIS OFFER IS ONLY GOOD FOR THE FIRST 10 PEOPLE WHO RESPOND BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 29^TH.

If this is all a little too much and you would just like to try these amazing products for yourself, let me know and we can arrange to get a sample or even a full tester kit to you to try.

WHAT TO DO NEXT IF YOU DO WANT A PARTY……..

- Pick a day or evening to hold your party, in July or August, about 90 minutes is all you need.

- Decide who are the 4 people you want to come, invite them and confirm they are going to come and what e-mail address they want the login and passwords sent to.

- Contact me directly to reserve one of the only 10 spaces and send me the following information;

Location, date and time of the party
Names, emails and telephone numbers of the attendees

- We will then confirm the party and hostess gift

- Then finally we arrange to get the logins and passwords to everyone

Don’t delay this offer is only good until June 29^th at midnight or the first 10 bookings – whichever comes first.

Thanks for considering this and have a great summer

Cancer is personal, so it's part of my brand

"You're not alone, in fact this type of cancer is the fastest growing type of oral cancer in men under 55, who do not smoke and are not heavy drinkers"

That word "cancer" immediately causes a heightened level of awareness as well as obvious concern.

Last October after a great summer vacation with my family in Jamaica and what I thought was a viral lump in my neck gland had seemed to go away and come back, I finally went to see my family doctor.

Within 72 hours I had most medical exams and tests you could imagine for this and was told that nothing appeared sinister and that I was being referred to an Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist. After two appointments with him and two inconclusive biopsies, he felt it was better to refer me to a head/neck colleague.

The appointment with this Dr came within 5 days (I figured not a good sign) and just a few days before Christmas last year, he sat down with me and very calmly and with much care said "I'm sorry, but I am 95% certain this is HPV cancer."

The week between Christmas and New Year the results of his biopsy came back and he confirmed that the lump in the lymph node was the secondary site of a head/neck cancer and that I was going to be referred to the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton for next steps. As you can imagine my mind went in to overdrive - all the negative, worse case scenarios as well as positive and even humorous takes on the whole situation.

The early January meetings with a round robin of Dr's resulted in mixed courses of action; surgery, immediate radiation, etc but the senior Dr wanted to take a little more time to see if the primary source could be located. He won out the day and after a left hand side tonsillectomy it was confirmed the tonsil was the primary source AND that it was HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Believe it or not I was actually quite excited for a couple of reasons. Having lost my step mother to a cancer where they were never able to find the primary source and therefore treat it effectively, with me this meant we knew what we were dealing with. Secondly through the power of Google I was becoming quite well informed about HPV cancers in men, various treatment approaches, clinical trials - prognosis and success rates were encouragingly high.

After the surgery, a course of radiation and chemo treatments were recommended and at the beginning of March, I embarked on the first of three chemo and the first of 35 consecutive weekday radiation treatments. The treatments are now concluded and I am awaiting further tests to determine levels of treatment success and next steps.

Overall the whole process was probably better than was first laid out to me, side effects and the severe burning (like extreme sunburn outside and inside the whole neck throat area) have quite quickly subsided. Although I need to put back on some weight and muscle tone, my levels of energy are improving daily and I am back to eating almost normally.

But what I have also discovered on this journey so far, are a number of far more impactful things;

1. Most people, that I have come across, who are diagnosed with cancer ask a question of themselves along these lines - "If this was it, am I going to be happy tomorrow doing what I am doing today?" - for me this was probably in part one of the easiest questions to answer because I love what I do - helping people realise the impact of personal branding. I am going to be re-designing my business model in a number of areas over the coming weeks and months and priorities for some things are going to less and for others more (you will be reading more on all this in the blog over the coming months), but personal branding will still be at the centre.

2. You're not alone - everyone you speak to has been touched either directly or indirectly by cancer and have stories and words of encouragement to share. Do not be afraid to reach out and ask for perspective and insight from others.

3. I am very grateful and blessed to be surrounded by a loving and supportive family, fantastic network of friends and colleagues and many more I hardly knew but who have become more to me through this experience.

4. There is always someone who has it way worse than you, it may not make easier to bear, but it puts it all in perspective. You can find much strength from others who face the same challenge, there is a 'club' to which you belong and immediately you have a new set of cheerleaders.

5. Kids especially can help that perspective, we were very upfront from the beginning with our two about the whole situation, not hiding facts or conversations from them. They have been amazing and the card that my daughter gave to me within days of knowing what was happening says it all for me "Be happy and healthy - I will always love you" - I will be reading that in my father of the bride speech in 20 years (or hopefully longer!).

I spent a lot of time considering whether this type of post or topic has a place in a blog that has always had a business bias, but the more I realise what it is I offer, the more it made sense.

In the re-worked words of Larry Winget - "They call it PERSONAL branding for a reason" - cancer is very personal, but its part of my brand - thanks for reading.

Canadians - Have your vote now - What do you think are the personal brands of the leaders?

 

The first week of the recently announced election here in Canada has been an interesting start to the campaign and already people are starting to compare the leaders personalities and styles as potentailly being the determining factor as to who wins and loses.

Each party is playing to the personal brand of the leader to varying degrees, either seeing it as a strength or potentially a liability and based on what has been happening already it will be interesting to observe how this develops over the coming further four weeks.

But most of what we are relying on are the opinions of experts, either from the media or the various PR, marketing and strategists that each party employs, when really what matters is what Canadians who get to vote think.

So what are your perceptions of the personal brands of each leader?

Would you like to know what others think too?

Well now you have that opportunity. Using our unique online anonymous personal brand assessment tool you can let us know what you think of each leaders personal brand and see how what you think compares to everyone else who responds in a detailed report which we will post on each leader before the election.

The assessment takes just a few minutes to complete and asks what your perceptions of the particular leaders personal brand are using a few questions, there is even room at the end for extra comments if you feel so inclined.

All you need to to to get started is to scroll down to a leaders picture and send an e-mail to the one by their name with Personal Brand Leadership in the subject title. We will then send you a unique login and password to complete the assessment on that leader. You can complete an assessment for each leader.

All the responses are collated together and once the final reports are published we will let you know and you can see if the rest of the country agrees with you! 

We look forward to receiving your assessment and lets have a little fun in this election!!!

     elizabethmay2011g@gmail.com

     gillesduceppe2011@gmail.com

     jacklayton2011@gmail.com

     michaelignatieff2011@gmail.com

     stephenharper2011@gmail.com