Reflections of a Square Peg

20 Personal Branding Tips to Make Your Career Recession Proof

1. Know where they are going in both life and career, work on your Vision and Goals it will set a clear path and focus
2. Identify and understand your strengths and how these can be used to your benefit in differentiate yourself in the job market and career
3. Seek the feedback and input of others, how is your brand perceived by others, is there consistency across all groups and where do you need to do more to raise your brand profile.
4. Know your target audience from an industry standpoint but also from an individual – who do you need to talk to and influence and where are those people likely to gather.
5. Understand who else and what else might be competing for the same job or promotion. Know what is similar about them and also identify why you are different, how you can positively stand out.
6. Develop a personal brand statement that can be used in various situations and opportunities – one for 15 seconds, one for 45 seconds and one that can be used in written communications and on profiles such as LinkedIn etc.
7. Have a brand identity – project the right, consistent image both physically but also in terms of font, colour, business cards, thank you notes, voicemail messages etc.
8. Understand how you can best communicate your message, what is relevant for your target audience but also how and what do you feel comfortable in delivering.
9. Decide on the key content themes for all communication, provide a strong and consistent message in a few avenues versus the scatter gun approach.
10. Be clear about who you are, what you offer and why you are different – know what is on brand and off brand for you and concentrate on the on brand actions.
11. Don’t get involved in actions that can dilute your brand, be consistent with your approach and message.
12. Be sure to be in front of your audience constantly, it takes 7 touches or exposures to catch someone’s attention, be sure that continue to be front of mind for your target audience.
13. Never miss an opportunity to connect your brand to the last experience. After a meeting always send a thank you or at the absolute least an e-mail, that is on brand, meet people in places that are on brand for you.
14. Identify all of the possible things to include in your brand environment and make a plan to get them all on brand. Aligning your environment with your brand will make you more confident and more memorable.
15. Re-activate old relationships, better to do it before you need them than call on them just because you need their help right then and there.
16. Continually nurture and develop your network, your professional contacts are an extension of your brand and may well be your greatest brand ambassadors – treat them that way.
17. Your brand is never stagnant it is always evolving, be on top of its development and refinement – never miss an opportunity to be more on brand.
18. Build your on line brand with passion. Look to place intelligent and valuable comment on line in forums, on blogs, at book reviews – each one becomes a new page on the web and raises your on line profile.
19. Understand that building a brand is not just for now or just in times of recession, its something that can be continuous for the rest of your life – it needs to be part of your daily routine, a little brand building every day will ensure a healthy brand.
20. Review and measure your brand strength annually – conduct a brand audit and compare the state of your brand now to where it was 12 months ago.

Seven Facts About Me (that maybe viewed as weird or at least unusual)

  I have just been tagged by a fellow career professional Chandlee Bryan over at The Emerging Professional to share on my blog 7 Facts About Me and then tag 7 fellow bloggers to do the same.

1. Going to an all boys high school meant that when someone had to play the lead lady in a school play there were very few hands going up - press ganged in to the role springs to mind (hence the photo above - yes that is me!)

2. I always play a selection of late 70's early 80's punk music before I do a speaking gig and I am getting set up - puts me in the right frame of mind!

3. For 5 years I sold medical devices and worked in biotech with no science qualifications - I had an 'E' grade average and my biology teacher had me labelled as an idiot!

4. Living in Canada means long winters - I cannot ski or skate and the closest I get to ice hockey is Hockey Night in Canada on a Saturday night if there really is nothing else to watch (like paint dry). Remind me why I moved here?

5. I am a Leyton Orient fan (this even came up as a weakness in my 360 Reach personal brand assessment!)

6. Being a Brit pretty much means you are a chocaholic - except I like white chocolate which my wife tells me is not real chocolate.

7. I like to offer advice and information on various on line media - and always sign off "Just my toonies worth" - here in Canada we have a one dollar coin called a loonie and a two dollar one nicknamed a toonie - well where does a cents worth get you nowadays??!!

Here are blogs I think you should check out, and their authors who I challenge to share seven things:

Sital Ruparelia - Six Figure Career Management

Jennifer Koretsky - The ADD Business Owner

Chris Barrow - Coach Barrow

Doug Emerson - Don't Look Back

Sandra DeFreitas - Tech Coach for Coaches

Jonathan Salem Baskin - Dim Bulb

Martin Buckland - An Elite Resume

for my fellow bloggers:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.

• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.

• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.

• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

Now that you know a little more about me perhaps you would like to follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/paulcopcutt 

Is your boss not listening?

 A question posted on the MarketingProfs.com forum that I regularly contribute to asked about what to do with what sounded like a narcisistic boss. Here were my thoughts;

Unfortunately situations like this are not as uncommon as you might think. Sounds like your supervisor is either inexperienced or has been trained in the old management model of control and fear.

Short of leaving to find a better situation and assuming you are not alone in being dealt with this way here are some thoughts:

- find someone with longer tenure who works or has worked in the past for this supervisor. Did they find similar things happening? How did they deal with it?

- what are your supervisors expectations? Do you know in detail what your key performance indicators (what you are going to be judged on) are?

- if she is prone to passing the buck, hate to say it but make sure you cover your butt just in case things get ugly. After she has outlined what needs to be done and you have agreed what she needs to do to help you do that confirm it in an email with dates for completion etc.

- if she is being insulting then you need to call her on it. Tell her that you do not feel that is necessary and you do not appreicate it.

- start networking internally to find another position working for a leader not an unconscious incompetent.

Do you have some other ideas? Let me know in the comments.

Or raise your Google ranking and at to your online personal brand by checking out the full thread of the discussion at MarketingProfs.com by clicking HERE and adding your own "toonies worth"

Scary times for the self employed

I have just been quoted in todays Globe & Mail about the challenges facing the self employed and the realities of whether to go back to the corporate workforce or ride it out.

"Ensure that your personal brand is clear and consistent so that clients can clearly understand what it is you have to offer in terms of unique skills and strengths"

Read the full article by clicking this link http://tinyurl.com/5awjfq

Are You Twittering, Tweeting or Just Being a Twit?

Some of you will know that I have recently taken up on Twitter, if not and you are on there you can follow me by clicking HERE. Most of you might not even know what it is.

Well I am still learning and trying to figure out Twittetiquette or whatever you might call it and who to follow, or not. The one thing I do not seem to be short of is something to say! But saying the right thing is important especially when thanking someone for the follow.

There is a great blog post over at Altitude Branding by Amber Nasland - she has written about the fact that people are using the thank you as a way of starting to sell their services or products - check it out, its good advice and also some of the hilarious comments at Thanks for Following - Now Click on My Junk it will bring a smile to your weekend, or, like I did, even get you laughing out loud - which is all good, right?!

Doom & Gloom – What to do about potential job loss

In the past, paralyzed by the present or ploughing ahead?

It is certainly not a great position to be in – either fearful of losing your job or being downsized. I know, I have been there twice myself, once in the last major recession in the late 80’s and the first time from one of my first sales jobs – the whole salesforce of over 200 was let go in one meeting – now that was an experience.

There are usually some immediate reactions when the axe falls or is about to fall and these are all normal human reactions to what is a stressful time – so here are some thoughts and actions to take that will help:

1.Help more, judge less

With so much negativity floating around it is easy for that to rub off and you start to judge people and make negative assumptions about them and even wish them ill fortune.

Take the reverse approach and offer to help more, who can you introduce them too? How can you help them with their job? When you genuinely give then it will come to you as well as you seek out help and assistance.

One of my continuous actions is to help – particularly those who are going through what I have, if there is any way that my experience and learnings can help others avoid or minimize what might happen to them I am there to offer that guidance.

2.Focus on the future

I know I hear you saying – well that’s easy to say and a lot harder to do. Absolutely. But when it all boils down there really is nothing you can do to alter the past, it is gone, happened, you cannot change it – it’s history. However you can certainly affect the future and your place in it, so spend your energy looking forward. I am sure this current crisis offers way more opportunity than we are being led to believe – we just have to believe it ourselves.

3.Take responsibility

Can you honestly say that everything you did and said were right? Probably not, so take some responsibility for your behaviour. Even if the downsizing’s I experienced could not be avoided, there was probably things that I could have done differently that might have had some influence, so I take responsibility for that and try to ensure that it does not happen again. . One lesson I learnt after my first downsizing was always have an up to date resume and to go interview once a year – for practice and to know my market value, so when the second time came I was ready and taking action.

4. Seek learning

There are always lessons to be learned even in adversity, the most successful people have usually had hardship and failure many times over before finally getting it right. My second downsizing taught me that I needed to leverage what I was good at and to make a complete career change and I ended up in medical devices and ultimately National Sales Manager of a biotech company – with no degree and no science qualifications.

5. Expand reflection

It is a fine line between positive peer support and the misery club so you have to be extremely careful. But getting together with like minded people in a similar situation can help with recovery and faster action moving forward. Collectively learning and supporting can be a powerful combination if handled right.

6. Watch your temper

I know I was angry the first time I was downsized, the package was generous which helped cushion the blow but bottom line was my ability was being questioned (or at least I thought so at the time). Don’t overact – take time to cool off and reflect, it is nearly always a sound business decision and a cost of doing business that things have happened the way they have, its usually never personal – so don’t get angry and make it so.

7. Know when to speak

Sometimes saying nothing, even if you are correct, it might be the right thing to do – it could be a bad news meeting where you are surviving (for now) or in your termination meeting, or even at an interview with a prospective new employer – do not think just “am I right?” – but also “is my contribution going to help the situation or the people involved?” - Sometimes not and better to be silent.

Rebutting Personal Branding

There has been a great debate about personal branding going on over the last few days on several blogs as well a lot comments on Twitter. Geoff Livingston has just posted a follow up to a blog post he did recently I Don't Care About Your Personal Brand (which prompted a very thoughtful post on his own blog by Mitch Joel Why You Need To Care More About Your Personal Brand ) with Rebutting Six Arguments for the Personal Brand.

Well worth following - regardless of which side of the fence you fall - or don't.

Here was my response to Geoff's first post;

" Fair point Geoff and great article that has stimulated a lot of comments not just here and even made a personal brand fan think a bit more. (Full Disclosure - I make a living from helping people identify what their unique skills and attributes are and to communicate them more effectively whilst being themselves = personal branding).

It is always intersting to note that when something rises to a level of mass consciousness - which is where I believe personal branding is approaching then the opposite opinion appears as well. Great for debate and giving people more pros and cons to make an informed choice is always a good thing."

Which in turn prompted me to write "Personal Branding - Is it About to Change?" and then response to his second post:

Geoff

Another thought provoking post to add to the conversation. You have some very valid points regarding personal brands and whilst I refrain from using the word (because I think it has been over used and lost its real meaning) personal branding is about being ‘authentic’ to yourself first and foremost and not creating false images or personas.

I believe that many people were ‘personally branding’ themselves way before Tom Peters wrote about it over 10 years ago. They used it to overcome potential career disadvantages or to maximise what they were good at to advance themselves - perhaps doing it unconsciously a lot of the time but still offering ” a service to the marketplace that’s communicated through visual and verbal communications, as well as the actual product/service experiences.” - ie. doing what they said they can do and producing measurable results.

The interesting shift with personal branding over the last couple of years has been that large corporations are embracing the concept of personal branding as an employee engagement and development initiative and myself and a number of other personal brand strategists are involved in several such programs with F500 companies to help them do that.

Whilst I agree people may not want to work for you just because you ride a Ducati, I would offer to suggest that it might be a deciding factor for someone weighing up whether they want to work with a ’suit’ or a ‘leather jacket’ !

Even you identify that “There is more than a handful of people operating under this masthead, all with their own personal brand identities.” - exactly the reason that other companies are embracing this approach to stand out, perhaps you have been ahead of the curve, or just did not put the personal brand ‘label’ on it until now, but I think its personal branding just the same.

Thanks again for the continued discussion, I look forward to tracking this conversation as avidly as the last."

Lest We Forget

As you go about your day today, take a moment and ideally two minutes at 11 am to remember and respect those that gave.

And if you have to explain to anyone why - send them to Terry Kelly's video and song - they'll get it then.

Is your personal brand as mad as a hatter?

Yesterday my kids went to the "Mad Hatters Green Tea Party" - it wasn't serving green tea (at least my two did not drink it!) - it was actually a fund raiser for the local Green Party candidate.

It is likely going to be a long time in our local constituency before the Green Party gets a real chance to elect an MP - given that there are enough Mad Hatters around to fill the void.

But the local candidate is obviously a long term thinker and is considering where the votes might come from in 10-15 years - hence - engage them now with fun activities and a green message and let it percolate with them for a few years.

Now there is some out of the box thinking about who your target audience is and how can you get your message across, of course they came with parents that are likely to already lean green in some way - but getting the next generation - that's smart thinking and not about immediacy.

What does a personal brand strategist look like at Halloween?

Pretty scary eh? My daughter Bryn looks a lot better as the sassy devil! We are holding a copy of "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?" - by Sandra DeFrietas, The Tech Coach for Coaches a fellow coach and masterminder, who was looking for photos of her book from around the world - the afterworld is pretty different!